"High on the walls of Winchester Cathedral in southern England, six painted mortuary chests have long carried a promise - that the bones inside might belong to some of the most famous rulers and churchmen of early medieval England. Now, after more than a decade of scientific testing and careful reorganisation, the cathedral says the remains are being reinterred in the chests."
"Winchester Cathedral Curator, Eleanor Swire, says: "This project demonstrates the combined power of science, the study of human remains and historical research to discover new information about the six mortuary chests and their occupants which would not have been available to us a generation ago.""
"Latin names painted on the chests include the kings Cynegils, Cynewulf, Ecgbert, Aethelwulf, Eadred, Edmund, Cnut, William Rufus, as well as Bishop Wine, Bishop Alwine, and Queen Emma - though the cathedral notes that other early medieval individuals not listed are also likely to be among the remains."
Winchester Cathedral completed a decade-long Mortuary Chests Project that used scientific testing, conservation and historical research to reorganise and reinter medieval human remains. Reinterment was guided primarily by radiocarbon dating, grouping individuals from broadly similar periods into the six painted chests. The remains date roughly from the 7th to the 12th centuries, with many believed to originate from the Anglo-Saxon Old Minster. Latin names painted on the chests include multiple kings, bishops and a queen, though identities remain uncertain because the chests were toppled in 1642 and remains were mixed. Likely-identities findings are expected in 2026, with project completion by 2027.
Read at Medievalists.net
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