London - The remains of an 800-year-old monk have been found after a beach walker spotted his leg bones sticking out of a cliff face.
Mandy Ewington took a picture of her find and sent it to a leading archaeologist who explained how they came to be there.
University lecturer Karl-James Langford said Monknash, in South Wales, was a burial ground for Cistercian monks in the Middle Ages.
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“There was a monastic community close to the area and these bones indicate a male in their late 20s who was in good health,” he said. “I would say they belong to a monk from the 1200s, due to previous archaeological digs, the depth of the bones in the cliff and the history of the area.”
Mr Langford, who runs Archaeology Cymru, said the winter storms had caused huge swathes of the British coastline to collapse and precious archaeological sites were being revealed and lost to the sea.
He added: “Unfortunately nobody can touch or excavate these bones because they are in such a dangerous position.” - Daily Mail