20 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Silver coins found near the ruins of the medieval monastery in Holy island

Archaeologists have discovered a silver coin on Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, in the northeast of England.

Dig Ventures is doing its sixth-year excavation on the cemetery site near the remains of Lindisfarne.

A silver coin from the reign of a Northumbrian warrior king has been discovered during the latest archaeology dig on Holy Island.

An example of a coin unearthed during the excavation at a cemetery site near the remains of Lindisfarne’s medieval priory is one minted during the reign of King Eadberht, who became king in AD 737 when his cousin Ceolwulf abdicated the Northumbrian crown and took asylum at Lindisfarne.

“The silver coin is in utterly mint condition,” said Maiya Pina-Dacier, community manager at Dig Ventures, a social enterprise that uses crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, and digital means to encourage public engagement in archaeological research.

The Lindisfarne dig site - Dig Ventures
The Lindisfarne dig site – Dig Ventures. Photo: Dig Ventures

On one side, the coin features a fantastical, four-legged beast. On the other, the name Eadbertus circles a small central cross.

Eadberht was the brother of the Archbishop of York, and after the king abdicated, he became a monk at the monastery at York.

“The cemetery seems to have been in use for several hundred years,” said Maiya.

Most of the burials have been similar, simple affairs but the latest dig has revealed two which are different.

One is a possible shrine burial, in which an altar is placed over a high-status grave, which is raised above ground level. A possible marble-like altar fragment was found nearby.

What is thought to be a chest burial has also been revealed. This is where an individual has been buried in a chest rather than a coffin.

The chest plate or lock was found for what is a type of burial found in places associated with the Northumbrian church. This is the first to be uncovered on Lindisfarne.

Another intriguing find has been part of a bone comb – with runes carved into it.

The runic writing is now being studied to see if it is a case of an individual carving their name into a comb that was valuable to them.

Part of a free-standing medieval cross, thought to date from the 8th or 9th centuries, has also been discovered.

These stone crosses stood between 1.5m-3m tall and were among the first monumental public sculptures to be built in Britain since the Roman period, with shafts often decorated with panels whose borders enclosed scenes and stories.

Related Articles

Thousand-Year-Old Christian Viking-era Graves Found in Sweden

28 June 2021

28 June 2021

Seven Christian tombs dating to the Viking Age have been found at Sigtuna. According to archaeologists, the tombs date to...

New insights into Scotland’s ‘bodies in the bog’

31 March 2022

31 March 2022

Fourteen bodies were found at Cramond near Edinburgh in 1975. New research suggests that two of the remains of these...

Iron Age Children’s a Unique Funerary Building Discovered in Oman

3 March 2024

3 March 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique Iron Age children’s funerary building at the Manaqi archaeological site in Rustaq, South Al Batinah...

Karahantepe will shed light on the mysteries of the Prehistoric period

7 October 2021

7 October 2021

Karahantepe’s ancient site, which is home to Neolithic-era T-shaped obelisks similar to the ones in the world-famous Göbeklitepe, will reveal...

46 Eagles in vivid color revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south...

Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Paleogeneticists analyze 3,800-year-old extended family

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

A Bronze Age family living 3,800 years ago in the Southern Urals may have taken a flexible approach to marriage,...

A 3,400-year-old Pyramid from the Scythian-Saka period found in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan

2 November 2023

2 November 2023

A pyramid belonging to the Scythian-Saka period was found in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. Experts announced that the Karajartas...

Archaeologists discover traces of ancient Jalula, the city that witnessed the famous battle of the same name 1386 years ago

23 November 2023

23 November 2023

The  Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) has announced the discovery of the boundaries and various structures of...

Traces of a 3,600-year-old settlement have been discovered in Qatar’s desert

8 February 2022

8 February 2022

Researchers looking for underground water sources on the Eastern Arabian Peninsula have accidentally uncovered the outlines of a settlement that...

The first Bull Geoglyph discovered in central Asia

29 September 2021

29 September 2021

Archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of History of Material Culture (IIMK RAS) and LLC Krasnoyarsk Geoarchaeology discovered...

Ancient tools discovered in Maryland show the first humans came to America 7,000 years earlier than previously thought

23 May 2024

23 May 2024

When and how humans first settled in the Americas is a subject of considerable controversy. A Smithsonian Institution geologist now...

Dominican mission discovers 1,305-meter Greco-Roman ancient rock-cut tunnel in Alexandria

4 November 2022

4 November 2022

A Greco-Roman tunnel measuring 1,305 meters in length was discovered beneath Tapuziris Magna, an Ancient Egyptian city, by an Egyptian-Dominican...

Archaeologists have discovered a 2800-year-old Urartian Castle in eastern Turkey

17 June 2021

17 June 2021

Archaeologists discovered the ruins of a castle going back 2,800 years on a mountain 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea...

Woodhenge Found in Denmark: A Link Between Denmark and Britain’s Neolithic Past

1 March 2025

1 March 2025

In a stunning revelation, archaeologists have unearthed a remarkable structure dubbed “woodhenge” in Denmark, a discovery that not only illuminates...

Papal bull discovered in a former cemetery dated to the 14th century

10 May 2023

10 May 2023

A medieval bull found in 2021 in Budzistów village (Kołobrzeg district), Poland has been restored and placed on display in...