At the Must Farm excavation site between Peterborough and Whittlesey archaeologists have uncovered one of the best preserved settlements dating to the Late Bronze Age (1000 – 800BC). Initial excitement was generated by the discovery of log boats, fish traps and a wooden platform.
Full Answer
What was the Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement?
Recent excavations near Whittlesey in eastern England have uncovered a Late Bronze Age (1100–800 cal BC) occupation site, comprising wooden structures built over a freshwater palaeochannel—the Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement ( Figure 1 ).
What is the Bronze Age settlement project?
Thanks to funding from Historic England and Forterra, in August 2015 we began a new project – Bronze Age Settlement. T his was a 10-month excavation of a settlement at the site that was destroyed by fire, causing it to collapse into a river channel, preserving the contents in situ.
What can archaeology tell us about the early Middle Ages?
The archaeology of Early Medieval England shows that this is neither a time of intellectual darkness, nor a period we know nothing about as a consequence of a lack of written records. And here is the evidence, for England at least.
What is the archaeology of Must Farm like?
There is a paradox at the heart of Must Farm. By any measure its archaeology is both spectacular and exceptional: digging revealed gutted roof rafters splayed across rings of blunted timber uprights, while charred detritus lay strewn across the site.
What did Archaeologists find at Must Farm?
Must Farm has the largest, and finest, collection of textiles from the British Bronze Age. These extremely delicate objects were preserved by the unique combination of charring and water logging resulting from the destruction of the settlement.
What did they find at Must Farm?
The settlement yielded the largest assemblage of domestic metalwork from Britain, including axes, sickles, gouges and razors. Metalwork from the Bronze Age is rarely found associated with settlement, so these artefacts are particularly important in the study of household inventories.
Can you visit must farm?
The Must Farm Timber Platform Project is an excavation running from September 2015 to April 2016. As the site is situated in a working quarry we are unable to accept general visitors, volunteers or host a public open day. There are opportunities for local interest groups to visit the site by appointment.
Where is Britain's Pompeii?
CambridgeshireThe level of preservation at the site, in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, has been compared to that seen at Pompeii, a Roman city buried by ash when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.
When did the Bronze Age begin in Britain?
around 2200 BCBronze Age Britain Initially items were made from copper, then from around 2200 BC bronze (which is harder than copper) was made by mixing copper with tin. Bronze gradually replaced stone as the main material for tools and by 2200 BC the period known as the Early Bronze Age had begun in the Britain.
Why do some archaeologists refer to the Must Farm site as the British Pompeii?
The discovery is also being described as "the British Pompeii" because the site is so perfectly preserved. According to CNN, the settlement was actually destroyed by a fire 3,000 years ago.
How much of Pompeii is original?
But what visitors often don't realize is that only two thirds (44 hectares) of ancient Pompeii have been excavated. The rest -- 22 hectares -- are still covered in debris from the eruption almost 2,000 years ago.
How did they find Pompeii?
The archaeological site was first discovered in 1549, when an Italian named Domenico Fontana dug a water channel through Pompeii, but the dead city was left entombed. Within a century, the age of royal treasure hunting and piracy swept through the ancient city.
Who discovered Pompeii in 1748?
of important objects in three dimensions and making detailed plans of architectural remains laid the foundations for the indispensable procedures of modern archaeology. De Alcubierre shifted his focus to Pompeii, which had just been (re)discovered in 1748.
When was Pompeii found?
Ancient Roman Life Preserved at Pompeii | National Geographic. When Mount Vesuvius erupted cataclysmically in the summer of A.D. 79, the nearby Roman town of Pompeii was buried under several feet of ash and rock. The ruined city remained frozen in time until it was discovered by a surveying engineer in 1748.
How many roundhouses were found in the Bronze Age?
Historic England funded a £1.1 million project to excavate the site to gain as much knowledge of Bronze Age life in Britain as possible. Archaeologists found two roundhouses, from about 1000–800 BCE, and concluded that they were damaged by fire and that the platform on which they sat then slid into the river, where the fire was extinguished and the buildings and objects within them were preserved in the silt. About half of the settlement is thought to have been lost due to modern-day quarrying.
Where was the Bronze Age settlement of Pompeii?
www .mustfarm .com. Part of a Bronze Age settlement was uncovered at Must Farm quarry, at Whittlesey, near Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, England. The site has been described as "Britain's Pompeii " due to its relatively good condition, including the "best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found" there, which all appear to have been abandoned ...
What is Must Farm?
Must Farm was named Best Archaeological Project and Best Archaeological Discovery at the 2012 British Archaeological Awards, and Best Discovery at the 2016 Awards. An article describing the settlement won the Antiquity Prize 2020.
When were wooden posts discovered?
Wooden posts were first recognised there in 1999, leading to preliminary excavations in 2004 and 2006. Early finds at the site include a rapier and a sword in 1969. Between 2011 and 2012, eight Bronze Age log boats were discovered. The boats were found in a small freshwater palaeochannel and were preserved due to waterlogging.
When was the wheel found?
The specimen, dating from 1,100–800 years BCE, represents the most complete and earliest of its type found in Britain. The wheel's hub is also present. A horse's spine found nearby suggests the wheel may have been part of a horse-drawn cart.
Is the Coprolites site reburied?
As of August 2016. [update] , the archaeology had been removed and the site reburied to be left sealed. In 2019 researchers at Cambridge and Bristol universities revealed the results of a study of human and dog coprolites found at the site.
What were recovered from must farm?
All of the stages of textile production were recovered from Must Farm, including finished textiles. (Photo: CAU, taken by Dave Webb)
What are the items that were recovered from the roundhouses?
Among the everyday items recovered from the roundhouses, it is the textiles and metalwork that stand out as truly remarkable. ‘There are fragments of very fine linen textiles’, says Susanna Harris, from the University of Glasgow, ‘and this is something that really is exceptional for Britain. One way that we think about the fineness of textiles is by counting the number of threads there are in a centimetre of weaving. When I first saw one of these textiles, I was checking and rechecking my measurement, to make sure that it was right, because the linen had 25 to 28 threads in a centimetre. Our own linen summer clothing is not usually that fine; often it only has 14 to 18 threads a centimetre. When looking at Bronze Age Europe, including Italy and Greece, this Must Farm linen sits among the finest. So this really brings Britain into that European context.’
What was the activity of the roundhouses?
Activity within the roundhouses did not occur haphazardly throughout the interior. Instead, as has long been suspected, the availability of light seems to have dictated how space was used. As a rule of thumb, the western half of the roundhouses produced little more than the occasional socketed axe or some lamb bones. In the eastern half, it is a very different story. Here buckets, platters, pots, tools, quern stones, and the paraphernalia of textile production all point to a hive of activity where a range of everyday chores were tackled. This dovetails neatly with the general pattern of late prehistoric houses. As the entrances usually face east and thus catch the rising sun, natural light is most abundant in that part of the interior.
What is the paradox of must farm?
By any measure its archaeology is both spectacular and exceptional: digging revealed gutted roof rafters splayed across rings of blunted timber uprights, while charred detritus lay strewn across the site. For anyone used to experiencing Bronze Age roundhouses as smudged stains in the soil or perhaps discreet arcs of stones on remote uplands, being confronted with what look like freshly fallen buildings is stunning. Removing this superstructure exposed the contents of Bronze Age roundhouses for the first time. Stacked crockery or sets of tools may be less visually dramatic than flattened buildings, but the picture such artefacts present of home life is breathtakingly intimate. It is also the true value of Must Farm: the extraordinary archaeology seemingly provides a glimpse of entirely ordinary life. For the first time, we can begin to get a sense of what was normal.
What happened to a bronze sword blade?
One fragment of a bronze sword blade, which was disturbed when a pipe trench was sunk across the site in the 1960s, may have endured a particularly eventful working life. ‘It looks like it was broken rather than cut up,’ says Grahame. ‘It’s a brittle fracture, so the metal has failed at that point. This sword also received some massive whacks from another edged implement. People have done edge analysis to see whether this was deliberate damage related to recycling the metal or ritually killing the object, or if this was a consequence of combat. What I can tell you is that at some point this sword was resharpened. It was also hit by a blunt implement. Because that point of brittleness exists, a thwack from something like a shield edge – that’s pure speculation – would be much more likely to break the sword than an edged weapon.’
What is a must farm axe?
Must Farm metalwork: a socketed axe, still fixed to its haft. (Photo: CAU, taken by Dave Webb)
What are the most important archaeological finds of the last decade?
The remains of a Shakespearean theatre, 17th Century shipwreck and bones of Britain's first rabbit have been named among the top 10 archaeological finds of the last decade in England. Historic England drew up the list to mark the imminent arrival of 2020. Chief executive Duncan Wilson said: "This has been a truly remarkable decade ...
What is the Bronze Age settlement made of?
Although archaeologists knew there was something important at this site, it was not until 2015 that a major excavation revealed the remains of a remarkably intact Bronze Age settlement, made up of timber roundhouses raised on stilts above the marshy ground.
How many wooden coffins are there in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery?
In 2016, archaeologists uncovered an Anglo-Saxon cemetery containing 81 extremely rare wooden coffins that were preserved in the wet ground. They were discovered during an excavation by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) funded by Historic England, in advance of a new lake and flood defence system being built.
How did the Roundhouses get destroyed?
Shortly after being built, the settlement was destroyed in a catastrophic fire and the roundhouses, with most of their contents still inside, were preserved in the water-logged ground, giving a glimpse of everyday life 3,000 years ago.
What did medieval folklore say about the death of the dead?
Medieval folklore held that the dead could rise from their graves, spreading disease and menacing the living. In research published in 2017, experts from Historic England and the University of Southampton found many of the bones had knife-marks consistent with decapitation and dismembering.
Where is the graffiti found in the Roman quarry?
New Roman graffiti was discovered in the remains of a quarry near Hadrian's Wall at Gelt Woods in February 2019. Known as The Written Rock of Gelt, the inscriptions were made by the Romans while they were repairing Hadrian's Wall in AD207.
Where did the rabbit bone come from?
The small bone came from a rabbit that was probably a Roman resident's pet. A tiny rabbit bone found at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex was confirmed to date from the first century AD, revealing the animals arrived in the country 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
What were the objects that were preserved in the fluvial silts?
A tragedy for the inhabitants, but serendipitous for archaeologists, as the fluvial silts have preserved ‘wooden artefacts, pottery sets, bronze tools and weapons, fabrics and fibres, querns, loom weights, spindle whorls, animal remains, plants and seeds, coprolites…’
What animal was found at Must Farm?
Some of the plant and animal remains found at Must Farm are rare for this period in British prehistory, including pike bones, sheep/goat dung, and currently unidentified entire charred tubers. Strikingly, most of the food sources, including wild boar and deer, are not from the wetlands.
Who owns the Must Farm quarry?
The major excavation was funded by Historic England and Forterra Building Products Ltd, which owns the Must Farm quarry.
What is a must farm?
Must Farm represents a routine dwelling in a rarely excavated fenland setting, which is incredibly valuable. It shows the typical patterns of consumption and deposition for this kind of site.
Where are the best examples of Anglo-Saxon churches?
One of the best surviving examples of Anglo-Saxon church architecture however can be found at All Saints’ Church in Northamptonshire.
Who is the father of English history?
Often thought of as ‘The Father of English History’, the Venerable Bede was a monk and scholar who achieved fame for authoring The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which has become one of the most important textual sources for Early Medieval Britain.
What was the Medieval period?
Sandwiched in between the departing Romans in 410 AD and the arrival of the Normans in 1066 AD, the Anglo-Saxons, Germanic peoples from northern Europe, did much to shape contemporary England. A number of attractions relating to this period bear testimony to the significant changes that took place during these 500 or so years – a period that lies at the margins between legend and historical documentation. From archaeological sites to religious architecture, open-air museums to collections of artefacts in museums, England’s early Medieval period has something for anyone with a passion for archaeology and/or history.
Where is the Ashmolean Museum?
Photograph © Ethan Doyle White. First established in the seventeenth century, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford houses a number of treasures from the era of the Anglo-Saxons, including the fine Late Anglo-Saxon Abingdon Sword and the unique Alfred Jewel, known for its links to the famed King Alfred the Great.
Where is the stone cross in Cumbria?
Bewcastle Stone Cross, Cumbria. St Cuthbert’s churchyard in Bewcastle, Cumbria. The symbol of the cross played a major role in the Christian conversion and the subsequent emergence of a unified English kingdom.
Who ruled the world from 757 to 796?
Although associated with the Mercian King Offa who ruled from 757 to 796, recent archaeological investigation has revealed that much of the earthwork was erected by earlier Mercian rulers, between the fifth and seventh centuries. Visit Offa’s Dyke >>. 5.
Who was the greatest ruler of England?
The Anglo-Saxon King Alfred, said by many, from King Henry VI on, to be one of the greatest rulers of England. For a long time the early Medieval period was referred to as the ‘Dark Ages’, contrasted with the ‘light’ of the preceding Roman Empire and the following Italian Renaissance.
Who monitored the excavation of the Cambridgeshire ruins?
The project was monitored by the Historic Environment Team of Cambridgeshire County Council.
Where was the Bronze Age?
Its destruction by a catastrophic fire has provided an exceptional opportunity to investigate how people inhabited and affected their world in the final decades of the Bronze Age in Britain. The soft, waterlogged fluvial silts have preserved extensive structural remains and diverse material culture, including delicate organics, such as textiles and foodstuffs. These are the most completely preserved prehistoric domestic structures found in Britain, and are comparable to the lake-dwellings of the Circum-Alpine region in terms of their architectural detail, material diversity and spatial-temporal definition.
What is the significance of the thin stratigraphy, architectural clarity and highly structured artefactual and biological assemblage?
The settlement's limited life span is most vividly expressed by the close stratigraphic relationship between the woodchips from construction and the collapsed, charred structural remains of its demise, with the latter resting more or less directly on top of the former.
What is open area excavation?
An open-area excavation strategy was adopted to reveal the spatial distribution of structures, artefacts and ecofacts within and around the palisaded enclosure in full. A temporary shelter was constructed to ensure controlled conditions for excavation of the anticipated delicate organic remains and intricate contextual detail. Within this shelter, careful single-context hand excavation of the channel silts was undertaken using a 1m 2 sampling grid, with small- and large-scale temporary baulks employed to investigate contextual relationships. This work uncovered the condensed stratigraphy of the settlement: the collapsed timber superstructure overlying a horizon of fire-damaged material deposited directly onto the settlement's formative middens (created during the brief life of the settlement) and construction debris.
What is the material culture of the pile dwellings?
Overall, the inventory of material culture associated with the pile-dwellings consists of hundreds of Late Bronze Age items, including over 180 fibre/textile items (categorised as fibre, textile, twinning and knotted net), 160 wooden artefacts (including bobbins, containers, withies, furniture or fittings, hafts and vehicle parts), 120 pottery vessels, 90 pieces of metalwork and at least 80 glass beads ( Figure 10 ). Notwithstanding this impressive list, the number of loom weights (ten), spindle whorls (eight) and saddle querns (six) appeared to be proportionate to the scale and timeframe of the site, implying that the overall assemblage of material culture was also in proportion to the short-lived settlement.
What is the must farm site?
At the Must Farm site, the superstructure's untimely and catastrophic demise means that we are able to investigate the undisturbed remnants of an active, functioning pile-dwelling settlement ( Figure 6 ). Its foreshortened life span ensured an absence of later superimposition; as a result, the settlement's brevity is matched by its stratigraphic simplicity. In effect, the entirety of the pile-dwelling settlement is encapsulated in two layers—one representing its construction, the other its demise—with material representing settlement use sandwiched between and amongst the two. Most importantly, the rapid and catastrophic nature of the site's demise has preserved significant elements of the settlement's architectural and spatial organisation. The timber skeletons of individual structures, with fans of subsided rafters and joists, and reoccurring patterns of material culture, suggest that the collapse occurred more or less vertically, with the falling, heavy roof structures bringing everything down with them into the base of the channel.
How many stilted structures were there in the Pile dwelling?
In plan, the remains of the settlement consisted of hundreds of uprights or pile stumps, which together define the outline and internal settings of at least five stilted structures (structures 1–5) enclosed within a 49.3m-long, curvilinear palisade with an internal walkway ( Figure 5 ).
Bronze Age Settlement
Thanks to funding from Historic England and Forterra, in August 2015 we began a new project – Bronze Age Settlement. T his was a 10-month excavation of a settlement at the site that was destroyed by fire, causing it to collapse into a river channel, preserving the contents in situ.
Bronze Age River
In 2011 the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Forterra, began to unearth a series of extraordinary finds. What we found, what we learnt and what we know about the history, geology and archaeology of the area, can be explored in Bronze Age River.
