Moray building site yields Iron Age finds

From Archaeology Daily News:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL finds at a Moray building site have been described as exciting by experts.

Burial memorials are among the evidence of an Iron Age settlement uncovered on the latest Springfield Properties housing development on Grantown Road, near Forres.

Archaeologists said some finds could hold key evidence for research into the neolithic period, sometimes referred to as the New Stone Age. They include pottery, metal and ironwork which show people occupied the area before it became an Iron Age farm.

Construction work is on hold until Edinburgh-based AOC Archaeology completes its examination of the Knockomie Meadows site.

The finds suggest a late Iron Age occupation from around 600AD, with evidence of a food storage pit, round houses and fencing for animals.

The site is thought to have been occupied during neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman times. Previous digs in a field next to the current site in 2007 and 2008 indicated people lived in the area more than 2,000 years ago.

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New center for replica Iron Age attraction

From The News Portsmouth:

A new eco-friendly visitors centre is set to be built at a replica Iron Age farm.

Butser Ancient Farm, in Chalton Lane, Chalton, has seen its visitors soar by 10,000 to 20,000 over the last 10 years.

A bid had now been launched to build a £150,000 visitors centre at the site, which was founded in 1972 as an archaeological research site.

Reconstructed roundhouses and a villa at the farm give an insight into the life of Romans and Celts in ancient Britain.

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'Oldest in Britain' Hallaton Roman coin may be evidence of early trade links with Corieltavi tribe

From the BBC:

A silver coin dug up as part of a hoard is the oldest piece of Roman money found in Britain, experts believe. The coin which has been dated to 221BC was found near the Leicestershire village of Hallaton with 5,000 other coins, a helmet and decorated bowl.


David Sprason, county council cabinet member for communities and wellbeing, said: "Leicestershire boasts the largest number of Iron Age coins ever professionally excavated in Britain in the Hallaton Treasure. To also have the oldest Roman coin ever found is something very special."


The Hallaton coin is on display at the Harborough Museum, Market Harborough, alongside other coins that were excavated at a late Iron Age shrine of the Corieltavi tribe dating to the first century AD.

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Iron-age dig hitch for planned 1,200 homes in Scarborough

From the Scarborough Evening News:

The discovery of a possible Iron Age or Roman settlement could scupper plans on land earmarked for a massive housing estate.

A 13.5-acre section of land owned by Scarborough Council – part of the planned 1,200-home scheme at Middle Deepdale – may cover the remains of an early Iron Age or early-Romano British ladder village.

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Silchester dig hints at a larger Iron Age town

From the Times Online:

Renewed excavations at the Roman city of Silchester, near Basingstoke, have shown that the grid-planned Iron Age town discovered last year was much larger than initially thought.

Silchester, known as Calleva Atrebatum in Roman times, seems to have been at its largest and most densely populated before its destruction by fire in the later 1st century AD, possibly in the rebellion of Boadicea.

“Not only is there evidence of closely packed timber buildings . . . within our excavation trench, but there is also a great number of wells, greater than in any subsequent period,” said Professor Michael Fulford, of the University of Reading. “Indeed the total number of wells which predate the destruction is greater than the total number thereafter for the rest of the life of the town within our excavation trench.

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‘Rare and Significant’ find declared as treasure

Today, “TheComet” news for North Herts reported of a collection of Bronze, Iron Age and Roman artefacts that are considered both ‘rare’ and ‘significant’. Items dating back to the Iron Age include pieces of armour, but there are also a variety of other finds such as numerous coins, pottery and animal bone fragments.

You can read the article here

Archaeologists find remains of 2,000-year-old roundhouse

From The Press and journal:

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered the floor and timber beams of a 2,000-year-old roundhouse in the heart of a Moray farm, it emerged yesterday.

Experts believe the structure unearthed at Dykeside Farm, Birnie, was once the multistorey-power centre of an Iron Age settlement.

Last night, the archaeologist leading the excavation said it was the best-preserved roundhouse discovered on the site.

National Museums of Scotland curator Fraser Hunter said the “huge, impressive building” had a diameter of 50ft and had stood nearly 30ft high and showed how sophisticated the Iron Age settlers really were. He added: “People tend to think they were scratching around living difficult existences and staying in huts, but this is no hut. This was a huge and impressive building.”

The archaeologist said he believed there had been lots of smaller structures around the roundhouse but this had been the major power centre. “It’s absolutely remarkable,” he said. “Each time we come here it throws up surprises. It just shows what an important place this was 2,000 years ago. It’s giving us completely new insights into the Iron Age.”

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Norfolk Boudicca site ‘of national importance’

From EDP 24:

The Boudicca temple

One of the county's most important Iron Age and early Roman sites has been recognised as being of national importance.

The Boudicca Temple site in Fison Way on the outskirts of Thetford has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument by the Department for Culture Media and Sport, recognising it as a site of national importance and protecting it from the threat of future development.

Artefacts from the Iron and Roman age were first discovered at the site in 1973 when an aerial photograph recorded the cropmarks of an enclosure, just beside the A11 Thetford Bypass.

Six years later a hoard of gold jewellery and silver spoons dating back to the 4th century AD, was found during the construction of the Travenol Factory on Wyatt Way.

It is thought the treasure may have been associated with a late Roman temple and the god Faunus, a woodland deity.

Norfolk County councillor and cabinet member for culture, Derrick Murphy, said: “Recognition that this site is of national importance is long overdue, and it is really good news for Norfolk and Thetford that after a long and concerted campaign it will now be protected from future development or damage.”

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Archaeological dig finds Iron Age and Roman artefacts in Norton

From The Comet:

THE summer archaeological dig at Norton ends this weekend with more progress made on the site.

Carried out under the direction of the Norton Community Archaeological Group the dig has been supervised by Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, the archaeological officer at North Herts District Council.

Tonight (Thursday) members of the public interested in the dig should attend a special event at the site in Churchwick Field, Norton, at 7pm when the discoveries will be revealed.

The field is the site of a partially abandoned medieval village. During the current dig new road systems have been uncovered, Iron Age and Roman artefacts found and the group says it is close so finding the medieval house that was on the site.

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Celts and Romans exhibition opens in Kirkintilloch

From Kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk:

A NEW exhibition has opened at Kirkintilloch's Auld Kirk Museum.

'On the Frontier' puts the spotlight on the clash bewteen the Celts and the Romans and aims to challenge people's perceptions of East Dunbartonshire's heritage.

Sculptor Tom Allan aims to explore the conflict and interaction between the Celts and Roman forces along the Antonine Wall.

The museum is actually sited on the line of the wall, which was built by the Romans in the second century AD and was recently recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Iron age town found at Roman site

From the BBC News:

Archaeologists from Berkshire say they have discovered evidence of an Iron Age town underneath the remains of a Roman settlement in north Hampshire.

The University of Reading's Archaeology Department has been excavating at the Silchester Roman site, Calleva Atrebatum, since 1997.

Now the team believe they have found evidence of one of Britain's earliest Iron Age towns with a planned layout.

A street-grid was found to have been in place before the Romans came in AD 43.

Archaeologists have also discovered evidence of widespread burning at the site.

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Artefacts found at nature reserve

From the BBC News:

Human remains and Roman artefacts have been unearthed in an Iron Age ditch at a new nature reserve in Cambridgeshire.

Archaeologists made the discoveries at a former quarry at Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge, which is to open

to visitors for the first time in 100 years.

East Pit has been transformed by the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust into a haven for wild flowers and birds.

English Heritage said it was "very significant" as the site of one of the few Iron Age ditches in the region.

Over the past few months, archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology East have been excavating the ditch.

They have found 300 fragments of Iron Age pottery that are being used to accurately date the monument.

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Dig's treasure trove on show

From the Harborough Mail:

Published Date: 21 May 2009

THE story behind one of the most significant Iron Age and Roman finds in Europe is being told at Hallaton Museum.

The Rituals, Hoards and Helmets exhibition tells the exciting tale of The Hallaton Treasure being discovered by a group of walkers in a field near the village eight years ago.

It opens at the museum, in Hog Lane, on Sunday from 2.30pm to 5pm. There will be opportunities for children to try on a replica Roman helmet and cloak and have their photograph taken, as well as piece back together a broken pot and sort through shards of pottery.

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Conference about Iron Age Leicestershire and the Hallaton Treasure

As a former student of ULAS (University of Leicester Archaeological Services), I am always thrilled to hear about projects associated with them, particularly when they pertain to the Iron Age period of Britain.

Ongoing archaeological excavations undertaken by both ULAS and local community archaeologists have resulted in the unearthing of a large number of Iron Age and Roman artifacts from an internationally significant ritual site in Southeast Leicestershire. The finds generally date from the time immediately prior to the Roman invasion of Britain to the 1^st century AD. Declared as treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996, objects include an exceptional gilt Roman helmet (as pictured), jewellery, pottery and a considerable quantity of silver and gold coins. It is believed that the local Corieltavi tribe had deliberately buried the Treasure, although many questions remain about the nature of contact between Britain and Rome during that time.

The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure (SELT) Project was launched in order to make the objects accessible to the general public, as well as to preserve, understand and promote the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure. Exhibits will be made available at both the Hallaton Museum and the Harborough Museum, which are due to reopen on 24^th May 2009 and 19^th September 2009, respectively.

Please click here for the Leicestershire Treasure Project Newsletter, the “Harborough Helm” for further information relating to this remarkable discovery.

The Conference

A conference is being held next month to foster discussion about the implication of the Hallaton Treasure in the context of the area’s Iron Age period. Details are as follows:

27.6.09
Held 10am to 4pm at Rattray Theatre, University of Leicester. The event will be chaired by Prof. Haselgrove and speakers include Pete Liddle, Ian leins, Dr Jeremy Taylor, Vicki Score, John Thomas and Lynden Cooper.

In the first public conference of the Hallaton Treasure, the speakers will be re-evaluating the importance and development of the East Midlands in the decades preceding the Roman invasion in light of the incredible finds from the Hallaton site. The Hallaton Treasure is the collection of over 5000 silver and gold Iron Age coins, a silver-gilt Roman parade helmet and some mysterious silver finds excavated from a unique shrine site in southeast Leicestershire.

Fee includes refreshments and buffet lunch. Cost £10.

For more information and for a booking form please contact Frank Hargrave, Project Officer, Harborough Museum, Council Offices, Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough LE16 7AG, tel 01858 821085/7, email fhargrave@leics.gov.uk, web www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/museums/harboroughmuseum.htm

For additional facts about the Iron Age period please visit the related web links provided on this blog site.