Butser Experimental Ancient Farm, southern England

Although the real past will always elude us and we will never know EXACTLY what it was like to live in the Late Iron Age and early Roman periods of Britain, for almost 40 years Butser Ancient farm has been effective in offering a fascinating insight into ancient times. Recently, I wrote a blog post about the educational hands-on activities that are offered at Butser and further details may be found here. 


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A 2,000-YEAR-OLD human skeleton has been unearthed alongside Iron Age artefacts near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

From: This is Gloucestershire

Discovery: Experts believe the skeleton could be of national significance

A 2,000-YEAR-OLD human skeleton has been unearthed alongside Iron Age artefacts near Tewkesbury.

Metal detector hunts in recent years had led historians to suspect an ancient community might be found there.

That was confirmed when contractors who were laying a new water pipeline began digging.

Senior project manager Stuart Foreman is leading a team of archaeologists on a six-week excavation at the site.

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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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Derbyshire Iron Age bones were of pregnant woman

From the BBC:

Tests carried out on a skeleton discovered at an archaeological dig in Derbyshire have found it was that of a pregnant woman.

Experts said they were surprised by the female find because the site, near Monsal Dale in the Peak District, had been believed to be a military scene.

Now, extra lottery funding means there can be a second dig at the Fin Cop hill fort site to find out more.

Archaeologists unearthed the Iron Age skeleton last August.

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Rabbits Threatening Iron Age Mound on Small Hebridean Island

From The Telegraph:

 

A Hebridean Island which spent £600,000 getting rid of rats has now become over-run with rabbits

"We don't want the rats back - but the rabbits have become a major problem. They are threatening our archaeology which goes back 8000 years here. An Iron Age mound is a particularly target for them. It is a scheduled monument but it is being burrowed into by the rabbits and being eroded.

"Stone Age huts and dykes from the Clearances are having their foundations destroyed. They are in people's gardens - and being so far away from the mainland we rely a lot on growing our own vegetables.

"The only thing that are happy are the sea eagles. They have been having a real feast but obviously nowhere near keeping up with the rabbit population."

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Bob Geldof's Land Being Surveyed for Iron Age Remains

The former pop star and anti-poverty campaigner, Sir Bob Geldof, has allowed local Kent archaeologists to survey his land for Iron Age and Medieval remains.

Lynette Eyb (Heritage-Key.com) has written a post about the project, which can be found here.

There is also an article by Kent News here. 

Chariot find is a victory for Scots

From the Guardian:

The centuries-long tussle for prestige between England and Scotland may be about to end in victory for the clans, with new archaeological evidence suggesting that the first national leader of the British Isles was a Scot.

The remains of a mysterious figure found in an Iron Age chariot burial under the A1M motorway was of "exceptional significance" according to academics, who have also unearthed the leftovers of one of Britain's biggest feasts at his funeral site in Yorkshire.

Decorated with jewellery and finely wrought harness and chariot gear, the 2,400-year-old grave is thought to have been a rallying-point for Britain's tribes 500 years later when the Romans moved north. Some 300 young cattle from all over the country were brought to Ferrybridge to feed an assembly running into thousands not far from where a Little Chef now stands.

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