Mere Burial
Early Medieval, 7th–8th century AD
In 1995, two workmen digging the foundations for a wall at Mere discovered the partial remains of a human burial. It is assumed that, because of the nature of the finds, the remains were those of a woman. Possibly the most significant of all the objects found with her is the gold pendant with the bead and coloured inlay.
The bead appears to have been deliberately set so that the coloured inlay forms a cross motif. This may indicate that the woman was a Christian. At this time the old pagan tradition of burial with objects was disappearing with a new tradition of burial without objects becoming the norm.
