Archaeologists digging up Iron Age artifacts
Researchers spent three months excavating the site, with funding from Historic England. Durham University
Elaborately decorated horse harnesses, ceremonial spears, ornate cauldrons, bridle bits and hundreds of other 2,000-year-old artifacts have been unearthed in England.
Experts say the hoard is one of the largest and most significant Iron Age finds in all of the United Kingdom—and it has the potential to reshape their understanding of wealth, travel, status and trade among Britain’s tribes during that period.
The discovery was announced Tuesday by Historic England, Durham University and the British Museum.
“It has been a once-in-a-lifetime find for everyone involved,” says Keith Emerick, an inspector of ancient monuments at Historic England, the British government agency that funded the excavations, to the Guardian’s Mark Brown.
Decorated piece of metal
A copper alloy harness fitting found in the cache. Durham University
A metal detectorist named Peter Heads initially stumbled upon the hoard in December 2021. He was using the device to scan the ground in a field near Melsonby, a village in North Yorkshire in northeast England.
When Heads started digging, he realized he’d discovered something important—and he decided to get in touch with Tom Moore, an archaeologist at Durham University.
When Moore arrived at the site, he also immediately realized the significance of the find. He approached Historic England and secured $155,000 (£120,000) to excavate the area. That work took place over three months in 2022, and researchers have been analyzing the more than 800 items in the cache ever since.
The artifacts likely date back to the period when Roman emperor Claudius was invading Britain. Experts believe the items belonged to the Brigantes, a tribe that controlled much of northern England during the Iron Age.
Researchers found at least 14 horse harnesses, which were likely used to pull chariots or wagons during the first century C.E. The harnesses were decorated with colorful glass and Mediterranean coral, which suggests their owner was a wealthy, high-status individual with connections throughout Europe and the Roman world.
Large chunk of metal items covered in dirt
Many items had corroded together into a tangled block over the years. Durham University
They also unearthed iron tyres, wheels and other vehicle parts, as well as a cauldron that was likely used as a wine mixing bowl. The cache also includes the first evidence of four-wheeled wagons in Iron Age Britain, which raises new questions.
“We’re going to have to spend years thinking, what did these vehicles look like, where did they come from?” Moore tells the Guardian.
Over time, some of the artifacts had become corroded together to form a tangled mass, which researchers had to carefully extract. They suspect the items may have been placed in a bag together.
Many of the artifacts had been burned or deliberately broken, which adds to the theory that they belonged to an elite person. They may have been included in a funerary pyre, though researchers did not find any human remains.
“This is symbolic—it is not just throwing something away,” Moore tells the London Times’ Jack Blackburn. “And it is something we’re familiar with from the Iron Age where people ritually destroyed things. What we’ve got here is it on a grand scale.”
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The discovery of such obvious symbols of wealth and power is significant for another reason: It upends the long-held belief that northern England was poorer than the southern part of the country during the Iron Age.
“They challenge our way of thinking and show the north is definitely not a backwater in the Iron Age,” Moore tells the Guardian. “It is just as interconnected, powerful and wealthy as iron age communities in the south.”
Together, the artifacts are worth $330,000 (£254,000). The Yorkshire Museum is launching fundraising efforts to keep the items in England. In the meantime, some of the items will be displayed at the museum starting this week.
“By acquiring the hoard, we will be able to make it accessible to everyone,” says Andrew Woods, senior curator at the museum, to BBC News’ Jessica Bradley. “And, working in partnership with others, we can learn more about this fascinating period, why the hoard was buried, how the objects may have been used and to cast light on to whom it may have belonged.”
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Sarah Kuta | READ MORE
Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.