New Iron Age chariot burial found

[Incognito]

We've had quite a few of these in East Yorkshire - the county of Britain where I live.

The lastest find was announced only a few days ago - half-anhour's drive up the motorway from here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/3258186.stm

An Iron Age chariot from about 500 BC has been discovered by engineers working on the new A1 motorway in West Yorkshire.


The site near Ferrybridge is said to hold articles of great significance.

In what seems to be a burial chamber, there are the remains of a man aged about 40 and the bones of 250 cattle, as well as the chariot.

It is thought the cattle could have formed part of a huge funeral feast.

Archaeologists say the chariot appears to have been placed in the pit intact.

Nineteen other chariots have been found buried in Britain, but these have all been near the east coast with none as far west as this discovery.

The finds will shed new light on the tribes that lived in the north of England 2,500 years ago. Once all the finds have been examined, it is hoped they will be put on display in local museums.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I still maintain that this is why children like to dig around in the dirt so much. They instinctively know that if you dig enough, you're bound to find something cool.

I do think it is interesting that in both this story and the one about the stone torso, they've dated them to around 2,500 years ago. Intersting convergence.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yup - massive migrations - both around 3000 BC (climate change - the Sahara turned to desert), but also 1500 BC (the "sea-people" of Egyptian lore, and the Dorian migrations into Greece).

There's also the Kurgen migrations, which seem to have swept into Europe around 6000 BC.