A remarkably well - preserved Bronze Age settlement dub the ‘ British Pompeii ’ was destroyed by attack around a year after it was constructed , consort to new inquiry . It ’s one of many new findings that ’s shedding light on the 3,000 - yr - honest-to-god residential area and the citizenry who call it home — albeit it for a unretentive time .
Newresearchpublished today in the journal Antiquity offers a detailed look into Must Farm , a recent Bronze Age settlement located near Whittlesey in eastern England . Firstdescribedin 2016 , the colony is love as the “ Pompeii of Britain ” owe to its singular country of saving . Like Pompeii , the settlement captures a second in time — albeit a moment of cataclysm . Some 3,000 years ago , the wooden structures get fire and douse into the waters below , an event that contributed to their preservation .
Among the more notable findings pose in the Modern study is the startling revelation that Must Farm fire down around a year after it was fabricate . The new bailiwick also detail the artefact found at the site , provide an update timeframe for the settlement , and offers new insights into the daily activity of the Bronze Age citizenry who lived there .
Artist’s reconstruction of Must Farm.Illustration: (Vicki Herring, Cambridge Archaeological Unit)
Must Farm was build up at some dot between 1100 and 800 BC , and it consisted of several roundhouses propped up on wooden pile above a small river in a wetland environment . The home are considered “ the most completely bear on prehistoric domestic structures find in Britain , ” according to the new enquiry , which was lead by Mark Knight from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge .
“ Must Farm is unquestionably one of the most important British archaeological sites to have been excavated this C and this newspaper showcases some of the outstanding research to have been undertaken here , ” Richard Madgwick , an archeologist at Cardiff University who was n’t ask with the novel discipline , said in an email to Gizmodo .
The land site is well - preserved on write up of several factors . First , the colony was constructed above a little river , so much of it was waterlogged right from the start ( moist , sloppy weather condition prevent constitutive materials , like wood , from degrading ) . Second , some of the point within the closure that caught fire , such as textile , were carbonise when they hit the water , and then protected for thousands of years by soft , non - porous river silt . Lastly , the site was n’t disrupted by human activities , such as modern agriculture or drainage . It was only until a massive brick fair game was establish nearby that the settlement was discovered .
Artist’s impression of an overhead view of Must Farm.Illustration: (Vicki Herring, Cambridge Archaeological Unit)
mining at the site bring out 100 of tidy sum stumps , which once represented the inner social organisation and layout of the settlement . The settlement feature at least five stilted structures , an internal walkway , and a fence that enclosed the radical of domicile .
Analysis of the wooden beams regain at the web site showed the timbers were still fresh when the fire took custody . What ’s more , there ’s no grounds that the anatomical structure ever underwent repair . Taken together , this evidence evoke the settlement was only about a year old when the fire shine , as the authors write in the novel study :
The emerge evidence suggests that one yr is a sensible estimate for the duration of liquidation occupation . Ongoing dendrochronological psychoanalysis of the structural timbers reveals that the colony was establish in a single construction phase angle , using wood of a similar felling year . The same analysis also shows differential sapwood shrinkage on expanse of individual oaks protected from , and exposed to , the fire , which suggests that the timber were still light-green , or unseasoned , when the small town was destroyed by fire . Oak forest is broadly accepted to postulate one to two years to time of year under natural conditions in Britain .
Archaeologists at the Must Farm site.Image: (D. Webb)
“ The fire was catastrophic , ” Knight told Gizmodo in an electronic mail . His team ’s fire investigator is analyse the possible reason and course of the fervidness , with grounds paint a picture “ the conflagration started from the interior of at least one of the dwellings , ” he said .
As the fervidness ravaged the structure , its wooden legs eventually collapsed , causing it to come directly down into the water below . As noted , this extraordinary event contributed to its preservation , but it also “ locked ” the settlement and the items within it ; Must Farm is crucially authoritative to archaeologists in that it offers a snapshot of Bronze Age life story .
Excavations have yield over 180 fabric items , 160 wooden artifact , 120 clayware vessels , 90 pieces of metalwork , and nearly 80 glassful beads . More specifically , these detail lie in of bronze tools and weapons , fabrics and vulcanized fiber , quern - stones for grinding cereals into flour , loom weights , spindle whorls , and other relic .
A charred timber pulled from the site, showing the incredible preservation after 3,000 years.Image: (Must Farm Project)
That some people have charter to call this website “ Britain ’s Pompeii ” is both a blessing and a curse , said Knight .
“ In large-minded price the site fits the allegory dead : a snapshot of a once living community , stopped at a bit in time . The risk however , is that we see the site as a frozen second in time , presenting what others have described as a kind of idealistic , systemic inventory , ” Knight told Gizmodo . “ In reality , the resolution live on , it had clip as well as space and things were consumed and throw out . The cut temporality of the site together with the especial saving made it seem more ‘ ethnographical ’ than ‘ archaeological ’ but it was still dynamical and protracted . ”
Knight said his team ’s task is to “ animate ” the settlement — its construction , occupation , and demise — and to give “ clock time ” to the individuals who built it and inhabit there .
Wood specialist Mike Bamforth examining the base of a two-piece wooden bucket.Image: (Must Farm Project)
“ In terms of its temporality , we can imagine that the settlement took a topic of week to build , month to occupy , day to burn off , and years to crumble , ” he enunciate . “ Anything but a moment in metre . ”
Excavations at Must Farm suggest the Bronze Age masses who inhabited the settlement were prosperous , well - equipped farmers and landowner who were arm with sword and spears . Knight said they lived in a wetland environment , but they routinely moved between weewee and land .
Typical daily activeness would have admit textile production ( include weaving ) , tending farm animate being ( cows and sheep ) and crops ( wheat , barleycorn , and flax ) , harvesting , search , fishing ( pike and eel ) , butchering center ( include venison , wild boar , and pork barrel ) , cooking and feeding , pilot the watercourse with logboats , protect their territory , and trading textiles for metallic element or lucullan item such as glass pearl or finely burnished ceramic bowl , said Knight .
“ The phenomenal preservation and the unbelievable chronological resolution give this site unparalleled in a British context , ” Madgwick told Gizmodo . “ It is no understatement to say that the astray - stray research that has been undertaken is transforming our understanding of prehistoric life in Britain . ”
Madgwick said Mark Knight and his squad deserve the “ extreme credit for maximise the potential of this truly olympian internet site , ” adding that it ’s “ rarified to have an chance to reconstruct prehistoric sprightliness in high resolution at a moment scale , and the squad have grasp that opportunity with both workforce . ”
anthropologyBronze AgeScience
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