According to an East Anglian Daily Times (EADT) report, Culford School, in Culford, near Bury St Edmunds, asked for an archaeological survey to be carried out by Suffolk County Council’s archaeological service before building work began on a new tennis court next to the school’s sports centre.

Archaeologists, who have been working on the site for two weeks, first discovered some human teeth, then fragments of bone before finding a skull that is believed to be a child of seven or eight.

It was discovered with a food vessel and some flints that archaeologists believe was left as an offering for the afterlife.

As the remains were found in isolation it is thought that the child may have had some status within the settlement group, perhaps the son or daughter of a tribal leader. The remains will now be taken for analysis to determine the child’s age and sex.

Archaeologists will finish examining the site within the next two days.

Work on the tennis centre, which is a joint project between the school and the Lawn Tennis Association, will begin next year.

“This is an extraordinary find. It is extremely interesting for our pupils and some of them have been able to visit the excavation site and take a look at the work the archaeologists have been doing,” Deputy head teacher Belinda McCrea was quoted, as saying. (ANI)