Archaeologists find 'early Eastenders' on Olympic site

Archaeologists working for the Museum of London have unearthed four prehistoric skeletons on the site where the Aquatic Centre is set to be built.

The 3,000-year-old skeletons, billed as early 'Eastenders', were unveiled as the Olympic Delivery Authority announced archaeological investigations on the 'big five' permanent Olympic venues were complete.

Previous archaeological finds at the site include:

• a Roman coin
• Second World War gun emplacements
• a complete 19th-century boat used for hunting fowl

Museum of London chief archaeologist Kieron Tyler said: "The Olympic site has been developed through mainly industrial use but 3,000 years ago when it was an open river valley the area of the Aquatics Centre was close to where the rivers Lea and Thames met.

"Such an area, on the banks of the Lea, was attractive to early settlers who could hunt on the dry land and fish on the river. This exciting evidence for early settlement shows us how early peoples used the Olympic park."

The ODA's news that it has discovered four skeletons comes hot on the heels of its revelations that it saved 150 cats and kittens from the bulldozers last month.