The first Queen of Windsor? Skeleton of 4,400-year-old woman wearing golden jewellery is discovered in royal borough

Ancient 'princess or queen' dug up near to the royals' Berkshire residence

She is adorned with some of Britain's earliest gold jewellery

Copper Age site dates back to with a century or two of Stonehenge



The discovery of the 4,400-year-old burial site of a woman adorned with gold jewellery has prompted speculation that Windsor's royal connection goes back further than suspected.

Archaeologists working in a quarry near the royal family's Berkshire residence have unearthed a rare Copper Age grave of a middle-aged woman buried with some of Britain's oldest gold ornaments.

The find is doubly significant since grave sites from the era containing such fine jewellery, which also included lignite and amber, are usually associated with men.

The first Queen of Windsor? This computer-generated image imagines how the Copper Age woman found buried near the royals' Berkshire residence may have looked wearing her gold, amber and lignite finery in life

'It is interesting to think who this woman was within her community,' said site director Gareth Chaffey of Wessex Archaeology, who has worked on the site for the past seven years.

'She was probably an important person in her society, perhaps holding some standing which gave her access to prestigious, rare and exotic items.

'She could have been a leader, a person with power and authority, or possibly part of an elite family - perhaps a princess or queen.'

The Windsor Castle that stands to this day was begun by William the Conqueror in the decade following the 1066 Norman Conquest, which overthrew the Saxon kings who had previously ruled England.

He established the site as part of a ring of forts around London intended to cement his new position of power and guard against potential usurpers.

Beaker burial: She as found with a large pottery drinking vessel, dating her to communities which lived across Europe at around 2,500 BC

But experts believe the recently unearthed woman was interred much, much earlier.



They estimate that she was buried between 2,200 and 2,500BC - just a century or two after the construction of Stonehenge.

That stone-circle, which many believe had mystical significance to early Britons, is located just 60 miles to the south-west.

She was found with a large pottery drinking vessel, which archaeologists term a 'beaker', dating her to communities which lived across Europe at around 2,500 BC.



In more westerly regions like Britain these beaker-using communities were the first to use copper and gold.

At the time of the woman's burial, she wore a necklace containing small tubular sheet gold beads and black disc beads of lignite - a material similar to jet.

A number of larger perforated amber buttons were also found in a row along her body, indicating that she may have been wearing clothing, perhaps of woven wool, at the time of her burial.

Further lignite beads from near her hands suggest that she also wore a bracelet.



The Royal Standard flies from Windsor Castle: The castle that stands to this day was begun by William the Conqueror in the decade following the 1066 Norman Conquest as part of a ring of forts surrounding London

Stonehenge, Wiltshire: Scientists estimate the woman was buried just a century or two after Stonehenge was completed. The mystical site is located ust 60 miles to the south-west of the quarry where she was found

Dr Stuart Needham, an expert in Copper Age metalwork, who studying the gold beads said: 'Beaker graves of this date are almost unknown in South East England and only a small number of them, and indeed continental Europe, contain gold ornaments.

'The tubular beads that were found at Kingsmead Quarry are certainly rare in Britain, and this gives the grave tremendous research importance.'

Lead isotype analysis has been used to determine that the gold used in the jewellery most probably came from deposits located in south-east Ireland and southern Britain.

The lignite beads used in the necklace are believed to have come from the east of England, while the amber may have come from as far away as the Baltic.

Scientists hope further analyses will shed light on the patterns of gold procurement and the extent of trading networks in prehistoric Britain.

Rare find: Lead isotype analysis has been used to determine that the gold used in the jewellery most probably came from deposits located in south-east Ireland and southern Britain

Osteologist Jacqueline McKinley examined the skeletal remains. She said they appear to be those of an adult aged 35 or over, possibly female.

She admitted however that the high acidity of the soil around the grave had led to the degradation of the the bones and collagen precludes the possibility of radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis.

Beaker burials of this type are rare in this region of England and, it was an unexpected find, the researchers said.

The Kingsmead Quarry site: Experts say there is an 'extensive prehistoric landscape' buried beneath the quarry and surrounding areas on the edge of West London and East Berkshire

This map shows the relative locations of the archaeological site at Kingsmead Quarry, Windsor Castle and Stonehenge, which was completed just a century or two before the woman was buried with her jewellery

However, as Dr Alistair Barclay of Wessex Archaeology noted, 'we know from recent research that an extensive prehistoric landscape is buried beneath the edge of West London and East Berkshire.

'The Kingsmead Quarry project is currently adding much new and significant information to this unfolding story and challenging our perception and understanding of prehistory.'