Archaeology History >>Discoveries >> Amesbury Archer
Amesbury Archer
(or King of Stonehenge) is an early Bronze Age man, dating to around 2300 BC, whose grave was
discovered in May 2002, in Amesbury near Stonehenge. His grave is of particular
importance because of the rich valuables and the earliest gold objects
ever found in England.
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 Recent research using lead isotope
nalysis identified the origin of the man as being Central Europe. He is believed to have been one of
the earliest metalworkers in Britain. He is nicknamed the "archer" because a longbow
was among the artifacts buried with him.
The
Amesbury Archer is important for many reasons
This was a time when the first metals were brought to
Britain, and the Archer was buried with two gold hair
tresses which are the oldest securely dated gold still
found in Britain (dated to around 2,400BC).The Archer
was important for another reason: he was buried three
miles from Stonehenge at the very time
when the massive stones were being brought to Salisbury
Plain in Wiltshire to erect the world-famous monument.
The Archer is essential because he is the first example
of a powerful elite who may well have organized the erection
of Stonehenge |
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