Doncaster Council expects the bones of the 35 people whose grave was found during site preparations for the construction of the new North Ridge Community School in Adwick to be returned when archaeologists finish working on them.

But it is unlikely all the bones will be put on public display at the Chequer Road venue and may be kept in storage by the authority.

Jane Miller, director of neighbourhoods, said: "The excavated material is currently undergoing conservation and analysis but it is hoped that an exhibition will be held in Doncaster to give local people the chance to look at some of these finds within the next few months."

The timescale is likely to be influenced by the amount of time needed to carry out carbon dating tests, which can take two or three months.

The graveyard where the bodies were found probably dates from between the fifth and ninth centuries AD, when the area was occupied by Saxons and Vikings.

The direction the bodies were facing suggested they belonged to a non-Christian community.

Archaeologist and project manager Richard O'Neill said when the site was first uncovered: "This is tremendously exciting – this could be the first Anglo-Saxon burial site found in South Yorkshire."


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