Iron Age Chariot Burial Site Found – Complete with Horse and Rider

Iron Age Chariot Burial Site Found – Complete with Horse and Rider

An Iron Age chariot has been discovered buried in a Yorkshire village for the second time in two years. The find was found at a building site in Pocklington, England, where more than 200 homes are being built.

Archaeologists are trying to properly dig the discovery as of early October 2018. According to media reports, a chariot, as well as horse and human remains, were unearthed.

Simon Usher, managing director at Persimmon Homes Yorkshire, said: “We can confirm that a significant archaeological discovery, featuring an Iron Age horse-drawn chariot, has been made at our development, The Mile in Pocklington. Careful excavation is ongoing by our archaeologists and a thorough investigation is in the process to date and detail the find.”

In a bizarre twist, 18 months ago, another Iron Age chariot was found, along with two horses, at a different construction site in Pocklington. Archaeology Arts reported in 2017: “The chariot was buried as part of a funerary practice that was not uncommon in the Iron Age. However, the horses were a rather surprising addition for archaeologists.”

The Telegraph said that “the find of the remains dating back to 500 BC is the first of its kind in the last 200 years and one of only 26 chariots ever excavated in the UK.”

Archaeologists say it is highly unusual for a horse and chariot to be buried together and with a human. In 2017, Paula Ware, managing director at MAP Archaeological Practice Ltd, told a reporter, “The chariot was located in the final square barrow to be excavated and on the periphery of the cemetery.”

She continued, “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.”

A chariot was the possession of a high-status individual. The rite of including horses as part of the burial is being puzzled over by researchers. Before finding the chariot, the dig at the Burnby Lane site revealed artefacts including a sword, shield, spears, brooches, and pots. The excavations give insight into life over 2,500 years ago. These are thought to be people of the Arras culture.

Yorkshire continues to be the place where astoundingly well-preserved remains of the Arras culture are found. In 2016, some 150 skeletons and their personal possessions were discovered in a small market town at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Some of the 75 square barrows, or burial chambers, contained personal possessions such as jewellery and weapons, according to The Guardian. Archaeologists also discovered a skeleton with a shield.

Media reports say those remains were of a man in his late teens or twenties, who died with his sword at his side. Before his death he reportedly had six spears pressed into him “like a hedgehog.”

It is believed these sites all date to the Iron Age, which in Britain lasted from 800 BC until the time of the Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD.

An in-depth study will focus on whether the population is indigenous or were recent arrivals from the Continent. Archaeologists also hope to reveal how those buried at the site died and whether or not they are related in any way, as well as potential DNA analysis.

The custom of burying the deceased with their chariots within squares is unknown in the rest of the British Iron Age. Interestingly, the Arras vehicles were usually disassembled, a practice less common in the Continental chariot burials.