article_snippet.sent: But the discovery of cremated bone, thought to be the earliest ever identified in Britain, could re-write the history of Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age burial practices.
article_snippet.sent: the discovery of cremated bone, thought to be the earliest ever identified in Britain, could re-write the history of Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age burial practices .
article_snippet.sent: Three radiocarbon dates, two from bone fragments and one from charcoal, have confirmed the remains are around 7,614 years old and fall within the the late Mesolithic, between 6,000 BC and 4,000 BC.
article_snippet.sent: Nick Gilmour, who lead the excavation, said ‘Nick Gilmour, who lead the excavation were expecting this cremation to date to the Bronze Age - Nick Gilmour, who lead the excavation were so surprised when the first radiocarbon date came back as Mesolithic that Nick Gilmour, who lead the excavation did two more to double-check.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Louise Loe, head of burials at Oxford Archaeology, analysed the bone to find that the bone represents the remains of at least one adult, despite the total weight being around seven per cent of what would be expected from a complete individual.
article_snippet.sent: Three radiocarbon dates, two from bone fragments and one from charcoal, have confirmed the remains are around 7,614 years old.
article_snippet.sent: Here, the bone fragments are sorted into types .
article_snippet.sent: Before the discovery, just 20 examples of human bone dating from the British Mesolithic, which spans from 10,000 to 4,000BC, were found – and none of just 20 examples of human bone dating from the British Mesolithic, which spans from 10,000 to 4,000BC had been cremated.
article_snippet.sent: But a group of three cremations from the period have been found in Ireland, so the ‘new’ site seems to fit into a wider European pattern of behaviour.
highlights_snippet.sent: Bone from more than one human dates to the Late Mesolithic in 5,600 BC .
  