Location | Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 53°55′34″N0°46′05″W / 53.926110°N 0.767918°W Coordinates: 53°55′34″N0°46′05″W / 53.926110°N 0.767918°W |
Type | Burial ground |
History | |
Founded | c. eighth–third centuries BC |
Periods | Middle Iron Age |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 2014–present |
The Pocklington Iron Age burial ground is a prehistoric cemetery discovered in 2014 on the outskirts of Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Excavations carried out on an ongoing basis since then, have uncovered more than 160 skeletons and more than 70 square barrows thought to date to the Middle Iron Age that are attributed to the Arras culture, an ancient British culture of East Yorkshire. A variety of grave goods have been found along with the human remains, including weapons, beads, pots, and a rare chariot burial.
The burial ground consists of several dozen barrows located off Burnby Lane on the southeastern edge of Pocklington. They were discovered during the construction of a new housing development by David Wilson Homes. The area is known for previous Iron Age discoveries, so as a condition of planning permission, the developer was required to fund archaeological fieldwork. An initial geophysical survey of the site was carried out by the Malton-based MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd in 2014, which identified at least ten square burial mounds, each of which was situated within a small enclosure. A double-ditched trackway also was identified by an aerial survey; it is associated with eight probable square barrows and a square enclosure located north of the site. [1] Excavations have continued since then, unearthing more than 160 skeletons and more than 74 square barrows. [2]
A number of notable discoveries have been made at the site, including weapons, brooches, pots, and hundreds of amber and glass beads buried alongside human remains. [3] In one barrow the remains of a warrior were found. He had been placed on top of his shield – the first example of a shield burial to have been found in Britain. In 2016, the well-preserved remains of another warrior aged between 17 and 23 years old were discovered. A broken sword had been placed by his side, which had probably been broken as part of a funeral ritual. The skeleton also was interred with five spears that had been used ritually to pierce the warrior's body. Four had been placed along his spine and another in his groin, probably as part of a ritual to release his spirit. [4] Another skeleton was found with severe injuries inflicted by at least two weapons, buried face-down, and at an unusual depth. The uncommon nature of this burial may have been intended to prevent an unquiet spirit from rising to haunt the living. [5]
In 2017, the ongoing excavations uncovered a rare chariot burial comprising an Iron Age chariot and two horses dated to about BC 320 to 174. [5] Although chariot burials have been found elsewhere in the UK, the one at Pocklington is the first to have been found with horses also interred, which had been positioned in a standing position in the grave [6] . The chariot was intact and upright rather than dismantled, which is also unusual in the UK [6] . The remains of the presumed driver, most likely a high-status individual, also were found, along with iron fragments from the chariot's body. The wooden elements of the chariot had rotted away, but had mostly been preserved as stains in the ground. One wheel had been destroyed, probably by ploughing. The metal tyres had survived, each forged as a continuous ring of iron rather than strip welded into a hoop [6] indicating sophisticated metalworking skills [6] . A bronze shield in the grave was exceptionally well preserved. [5] [7]
The shield's boss bears a resemblance to the Wandsworth shield boss (circa BC 350 to 150), owned by the British Museum. One design element on the Pocklington shield, a scalloped border, "is not comparable to any other Iron Age finds across Europe, adding to its valuable uniqueness", said Paula Ware, managing director at MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd. [8] [9] "The discoveries are set to widen our understanding of the Arras (Middle Iron Age) culture and the dating of artefacts to secure contexts is exceptional," Ware added. [10]
The burial grounds in Pocklington are believed to date to some time between the eighth [11] to the third or fourth centuries BC. The finds have been ascribed to the Arras culture, an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age that is known mainly from East Yorkshire. Previous Arras culture burial sites have been typified by burials in round and square enclosures, as well as chariot burials. [12] The area is known to have been inhabited by a Celtic tribe called the Parisi, so it is possible that the Pockington burials represent either the Parisi or their ancestors. [5]
Newbridge chariot - another example of an intact chariot burial in Newbridge, Scotland
Pocklington is a market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 8,337. It is 12.5 miles (20.1 km) east of York and 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Hull.
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
The Nordic Bronze Age is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC.
Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in the 14th century.
The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, (53.86°N 0.59°W) near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans three fields, bisected by the main east-west road between Market Weighton and Beverley, and is arable farmland; little to no remains are visible above ground. The extent of the Arras culture is loosely associated with the Parisi tribe of pre-Roman Britain.
Chariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with their chariot, usually including their horses and other possessions. An instance of a person being buried with their horse is called horse burial.
Prehistoric Wales in terms of human settlements covers the period from about 230,000 years ago, the date attributed to the earliest human remains found in what is now Wales, to the year AD 48 when the Roman army began a military campaign against one of the Welsh tribes. Traditionally, historians have believed that successive waves of immigrants brought different cultures into the area, largely replacing the previous inhabitants, with the last wave of immigrants being the Celts. However, studies of population genetics now suggest that this may not be true, and that immigration was on a smaller scale.
The town of Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England has a recorded written history that goes back around 1,500 years, and archaeological evidence shows settlement at the site as long as 2,500 years ago. This gives it a longer history of settlement than larger contemporary settlements in the region and country such as York and even London. During this time, it has experienced plague, several invasions, the loss of its railway, and its marginalisation to a backwater under the Romans. Nevertheless, Pocklington has prospered where other market towns have failed. It has always been the commercial and civic centre for the district and was at one point the second largest settlement in Yorkshire. It is the focal point of an area which has seen significant events through the centuries, many influencing English history.
The Issyk kurgan, in south-eastern Kazakhstan, less than 20 km east from the Talgar alluvial fan, near Issyk, is a burial mound discovered in 1969. It has a height of six meters and a circumference of sixty meters. It is dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC. A notable item is a silver cup bearing an inscription. The finds are on display in Nur-Sultan. It is associated with the Saka peoples.
In Europe, the Iron Age is the last stage of the prehistoric period and the first of the protohistoric periods, which initially meant descriptions of a particular area by Greek and Roman writers. For much of Europe, the period came to an abrupt end after conquest by the Romans, though ironworking remained the dominant technology until recent times. Elsewhere, the period lasted until the early centuries AD, and either Christianization or a new conquest in the Migration Period.
The remains of an Iron Age chariot burial were found near the Bronze Age burial mound at Huly Hill, Newbridge in Scotland, 14 km west of Edinburgh city centre, in advance of development at the Edinburgh Interchange. The chariot was the first of its kind to be found in Scotland and shows Iron Age Scotland in direct contact with the European Continent. The Newbridge chariot was buried intact, a method consistent with the burial practices of Continental Europe rather than Scotland.
Cawthorne Camp is a Roman site in north-east England, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Pickering, North Yorkshire. The well-preserved earthworks outline two forts, one with an extension, and a temporary camp built to an unusual plan. The earthworks date from the late 1st/early 2nd century AD. It has been suggested that they were built for practice rather than for actual military use.
Battlesbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age bivallate hill fort on Battlesbury Hill near the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, South West England. Excavations and surveys at the site have uncovered various finds and archaeological evidence.
Wetwang Slack is an Iron Age archaeological site containing remains of the Arras culture and chariot burial tradition of East Yorkshire. Archaeological investigation took place in 2001 and 2002.
Danes Graves is an archaeological site in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevalent in the region during the British Iron Age. It is a prehistoric cemetery site situated in Danesdale – a dry river valley with gravel and chalk deposits. The site is north of Driffield near the village of Kilham.
Burton Fleming is an Iron Age archaeological site from the Arras culture of East Yorkshire. The site is named from the parish of Burton Fleming within which the Iron Age cemetery lies, and is closely associated with the Iron Age barrows at Rudston.
The Deal Warrior, also known as the Mill Hill Warrior, is an Iron Age burial uncovered in Grave 112 at Mill Hill near Deal, Kent in 1988 by Dover Archaeological Group. It is well known for being suggested as the grave of a druid due to containing an almost-unique bronze headdress.
The Kirkburn Burial is an Iron Age warrior burial dating from 250 BC–160 BC, discovered at Kirkburn, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The burial was uncovered in an archaeological dig in 1987.
The Griffin Warrior Tomb is a Bronze Age shaft tomb dating to around 1450 BC, near the ancient city of Pylos in Greece. The grave was discovered by a research team sponsored by the University of Cincinnati and led by husband-and-wife archaeologists Jack L. Davis and Sharon Stocker. The tomb site was excavated from May to October 2015.
Pexton Moor is an archaeological site in North Yorkshire containing a prehistoric cemetery. It is located at the western edge of Dalby Forest, north of Thornton-le-Dale. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevalent in the region during the British Iron Age.