Ancient urns are handed to museum

The urns are thought to date from the 2nd Century AD

Two ancient Roman pottery urns discovered in Cornwall are being handed to the county's Royal Museum.

The urns, containing a woman's remains, were found by Cornwall County Council's archaeologists at Tregony, during development there.

Before being handed over to the museum in Truro the urns were preserved at the Salisbury Museum's Conservation Centre.

Sara Chambers from the museum said the find, thought to date from the 2nd Century AD, was "hugely significant".

"Although Roman period cremations are fairly commonplace in southern England, the find is highly unusual in Cornwall where burials dating to this period are rare and cremations are almost unknown," said the council's senior archaeologist Andy Jones.

Cremated bone

The vessels were found buried on the edge of a rectangular enclosure at the edge of the site of the Roseland Parc Retirement Village, overlooking the River Fal.

The owners of the land had commissioned an archaeological assessment and excavation before construction started there in 2005.

The larger vessel contained the cremated remains of an elderly woman.

The other, a small handled jug made from clays from the Lizard, contained a small amount of cremated bone.