Thoughts & Things

Archaeological Discovery of the Year

For those of you who might not know, I am a huge fan of history. I read books and articles and watch documentaries, all for the sheer joy of it. History is much like fantasy, but it actually happened in our real world. I try to follow new discoveries in this field as much as I can for someone who does is not in a related profession. I genuinely believe the discovery of the year, in terms of archaeological findings, is not in a site that was newly discovered this year, but a site that was properly excavated this year.

I am referring to Must Farm. In Cambridgeshire, England, a small settlement has been discovered and excavated. This settlement, known as Must Farm, has been dated to the Bronze Age, dating to approximately three thousand years ago. Some have dubbed the site "Britain's Pompeii", as it is one of the best preserved Bronze Age settlements ever discovered. Prior to this year, archaeologists had found long ships and a few weapons, but as the village has been excavated further this year, more discoveries have been made.

Remains of the round, wooden houses that existed in this village have been found, preserved in the silt of a fire from three thousand years ago. This has given us more knowledge about British Bronze Age structures than we have ever previously been able to access.

Within the remains of the houses, archaeologists were able to find bowls still filled with food, glass beads that suggest perhaps there were better trade arrangements in this era than we ever could have anticipated, and intricately woven textiles that are among the best preserved Bronze Age textiles ever discovered. They were also able to find Britain's oldest, most intact wheel, presenting us with new information about the technology used in transportation methods. A horse spine found nearby suggests the use of horse drawn carts.

It is rare for complete settlements from this period to be found so well preserved, and this provides us with a better picture of Bronze Age Britain than we ever could have hoped. Whatever tragedy that led to the fire that drove these settlers away from their homes has also given us some of the best archaeological discoveries in Britain 2016. A three thousand year old tragedy, has given us a modern day history gold mine.

For anyone interested in further information, I recommend the articles at BBC   or Archaeology Magazine  .