Recent excavations, in advance of development, uncovered 'unprecedented' Bronze Age burials at a Northumberland leisure centre.

The findings at Ponteland Leisure Centre uncovered by Appleby Archaeology Group included a ring ditch with a 'remarkable' sequence of human burials, which are 'unprecedented within the region.'

The ditches are thought to date back to the Beaker period, which is part of the early Bronze Age, when people from the continent used distinctive pottery vessels.

The archaeologists found a pit containing fragments from a Beaker vessel, flint flakes, and a charred barley grain.

The ring ditch was heavily damaged by later ploughing and the creation of a trench for a modern electricity cable.

However, the archaeologists were able to document six burials and the remains of structures and other features relating to potential 'domestic or further funerary activity', both prior to and potentially associated with the development of the ring ditch.

The burials included one of an adolescent female and one of a child, along with the cremated remains of an adult, all found within the ring ditch.

The adolescent female had suffered significant trauma at the time of her death.

The cremated remains had included metal ornaments as well as bone which had been buried in a bag.

The archaeologists also found a rectangular building in which there was flint debitage, a knife fragment, and a thumbnail scraper.

The fills of the ring ditch and some of the features associated with the structure contained charred wheat and barley grains, as well as sedge seeds, suggesting that cereal agriculture took place.

The Appleby Archaeology Group will hear more about the findings at its next meeting on Thursday, October 10, when the speaker will be Milena Grzybowska, a bioarchaeologist at Archaeological Research Services.

She will present the prehistoric remains from the site with a special focus on what human remains can tell us about life, death, and funerary practices of the early Bronze Age population.

The meeting will be held in the Supper Room above the Market Hall in Appleby at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 10.

Talks are free to members of the Appleby Archaeology Group.

Non-members are welcome (£5 donation).