Bones find in Weymouth confirmed as human (From Dorset Echo)

Bones find in Weymouth confirmed as human

11:00am Saturday 11th February 2012 in News By Samantha Harman

HUMAN remains found at a Weymouth house are thought to be from an ancient burial site.

The mystery surrounding the bones, which were dug up in Verlands Road, Preston, on Thursday, is being solved by a team of archaeologists.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police confirmed the bones were part of an archaeological burial site.

Builders made the grim discovery as they worked on an extension at a house in the road.

Experts say that the bones, which belong to a single individual, will now be tested to determine their date.

Bournemouth University anthropologist Elizabeth Craig-Atkins, who is investigating, said: “We were called by Dorset Police and were asked to identify some remains as being potentially human. We confirmed that they were.

“At that point we went to look at the site because it is very difficult to determine what has been found by looking at photographs.

“There was no evidence to suggest that they were recent.

“The bones have been lifted and will now be assessed to try and determine their age.

“The remains do appear to be of one single individual buried alone.

“We know there was a lot of burial activity around Weymouth, so this finding is not inconsistent with that.”

She added that the investigation will take a couple of weeks.

There are several options for what will happen to the remains once they have been tested – they can either be buried in a suitable location or kept at the university for teaching purposes.

It is understood that the current owner of the property will not return until March.

Building work is under way to convert the garage into a bedroom and build a link extension between that and the house.

A former owner of the property, who lived there for more than 25 years, said: “When I first came to this road there were only two houses and number 26 was one of them. “The road wasn’t even made up back then, so I paid to have it laid.

“But they never found anything when they were doing that, or when they were building the house next door.”

In 2004, another homeowner in Verlands Road unearthed ancient bones, including a child’s skull, in his garden.

The Echo reported how Steven Leake was flattening the rear lawn of his home when he came across the bones Ancient burial sites have been discovered in several locations across the county.

Close by, at Jordan Hill, there are the remains of a Roman temple.

In 2008, contractors found more than 54 dismembered skeletons at Ridgeway Hill as they created the Weymouth Relief Road.

Last month it was revealed that the bodies dated back to the 11th century and the men killed were from Scandinavia.

Archaeologists believe the area was a focus of ritual activity for thousands of years.

A spokesman for Dorset County Council said that their archaeologists will examine the Verlands Road discovery next week.