Flowers which date back 4,000 years have been found in a Bronze Age grave in Scotland.

Proof that pre-historic people placed bunches of flowers in the grave when they buried their dead has been found for the first time, experts have said.

Archaeologists have discovered a bunch of meadowsweet blossoms in a Bronze Age grave at Forteviot, south of Perth.

The find is reported in the journal “British Archaeology”, out this week.

Pollen found in earlier digs had been thought to have come from honey, or the alcoholic drink mead but this find may finally rule that theory out.

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A fire which destroyed a church 12 years ago exposed 100 medieval tombstones which were hidden in the walls.

The grave covers known as cross slabs are decorated with swords, crosses and emblems including a pair of shears to signify a housewife, and are related to figures in the history of the village.

Many had been hidden high above ground near the church roof and a popular theory is that a former Bishop of Durham, John Cosin, had secreted them there 450 years ago.

Jim Merrington, of the Brancepeth History and Archive Group, explained: “After the roof burned off we discovered a ring of cross slabs high up around the perimeter of the clerestory which was built in 1638 by Rector John Cosin, who later became Bishop of Durham. All were neatly placed facing skywards. It is possible that Cosin had them gathered up from the churchyard and secreted them away on the very top course of the building safe from vandals and reformists. It was obviously quite a task to get them up there for no real structural purpose.”

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Archaeologists have uncovered a Pre-Columbian cemetery dating back between 300 and 800A.D.

According to Corrales, the cemetery was built by an indigenous group of the Huetares who inhabited the area between 300 and 800 AD. “During this phase, known as La Selva, these groups existed within a complex social organization that centered around a chief and then everything else structured into sectors,” he said. “The burial system we see here reveals the high level of development of those communities.”

A few mysteries surround the archaeologists’ discoveries. The two excavations carried out so far revealed two very different mound configurations that intrigue anthropologists. “The first sector does not have a definite form, it is like a messy blob, whereas the second is shapped like an oblong mound. The structure features two interlocking semicircles that fail to close. This design is not very common,” said Corrales.

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The skeletons of more than a thousand people have been recovered from one of Ireland’s largest medieval cemeteries.

According to a report in the Irish Examiner, the ancient bones have produced evidence of several suspected murders and one case of leprosy – an extremely rare occurrence in medieval times.

Osteoarchaeologist Carmelita Troy, of Headland Archaeology in Cork, said yesterday she has studied the ancient remains of nearly 1,300 individuals – adult males and females along with children – who were buried at the site at Ardreigh, Athy, in Co Kildare.

It is one of the largest skeleton assemblages in the country.

It is believed the site served as a huge regional cemetery for the south Kildare region from perhaps the 7th or 8th century, with classic Christian-style burials – bodies aligned west to east – taking place right up to the 1400s.

A possible slave cemetery of 40 unmarked graves has been found in Dumfries, Virgina.

While there is no documentation about even the existence of a slave cemetery—much less a location, Smith said stories about such a cemetery in the trees at the back of the school property have always been rumored.

“All of my life I’ve always been told that the stand of trees is a slave cemetery,” Smith said. “It’s one of those stories that you hear.”

The Dumfries Cemetery is directly beside and behind the elementary school property.

“Our cemetery dates back to 1647, and we don’t know exactly where the boundaries are,” Smith said.

But before the curious decide to go out to the school and investigate for themselves, they should know there is nothing to see but an open field.

There are no headstones or markers. There is nothing to indicate what lies beneath.