Human remains thought to be about 4,000 years old were unearthed during building work at a hotel.
Development work had been taking place at the Tankerville Arms Hotel, in Wooler, Northumberland , when the discovery was made last Friday.
They were laying drainage pipes and hit what turned out to be a Bronze Age stone chest - or cist - which contained human remains in a crouched position.
Archaeologists were then called in to investigate the find.
Estimates suggest the cist dates from some time between 2,200BC and 1,750BC.
Roger Miket, an archaeologist who helped with the initial excavation, said: "They were doing some development work when they hit the cover slab of a cist - a stone chest. Internally, the cist was just over a metre in length by 80cm in width.
"There was a hollow underneath the slab and bones were evident inside it. Some of the bones were burnt and some were not. That's an interesting insight into the burial process."
He explained that this type of burial involved placing items in the chest that were useful for the afterlife, such as food and drink.
In this case, they found a small flint knife in the box, measuring around two inches in length.
"It would have been a precious item at the time of the burial and was included in the cist for use in the afterlife," said Mr Miket. "Why it was important to the person? We don't know."
Specialists will now investigate further to find out more about the history of the cist and the remains inside.
Mr Miket added: "Every find is important, every find adds a little bit to the picture. And this discovery will help to build a bigger picture of Wooler 's history."
Discussions are also taking place to see if it is feasible to reset the cist stones within the grounds of the hotel for the community to see.
"The cist has got to be moved. But this is a unique opportunity to make this into a little visual piece of local archaeology that people can visit," said Mr Miket. "It's just an idea at the moment."
Charlotte Lowery, hotel manager, said everyone was surprised but excited by the discovery.
She added: "It's quite surreal. But it's an absolutely fantastic and amazing discovery."
A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: "The council's archaeology team was alerted to this discovery last Friday, and has been on site this week supporting the recovery of a Bronze Age cist, and checking to make sure that there are no associated remains.
"This was discovered by the developer when digging service trenches for new buildings on the site."
The Tankerville Arms was built by "Lord of the Manor" the Earl of Tankerville in the 1700s.
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