The village destroyed by fire

AS the flames raged, the occupants of Must Farm – thought to have been several extended families – had no time to carry their array of luxury goods away from their ancient equivalent of Downton Abbey.

A bronze dagger, a cauldron handle and a delicate, curved brooch have all been dug up at the site.

Two pots still contained the food the residents were eating – one was even discovered with a wooden spoon resting in it.

The fire that engulfed the settlement was so intense that it vitrified the scraps, turning them into a type of glass. These Bronze Age toffs ate well. The bones of pigs, sheep, horses and a dog the size of a wolf have all been uncovered, while the spine of a butchered cow was found in a kitchen.

So, the inhabitants did not rely on the river to feed themselves. Instead, they may have been there to control traffic on the water and perhaps take tributes from passing boats. Resi- dents would have lived in extended family units, perhaps around six or more in each roundhouse. But they would have also been members of a clan of blood relations, who might have moved freely around the various households, and are likely to have paid homage to a local ‘king’ or holy man.

Discoveries of a sword and rapier at the site suggest that arms were necessary to defend their privileged lifestyle, and their complex was surrounded by a palisade, a wall made out of ash timbers for defence.

Not everyone may have escaped when the fire struck. Peeping through the mud was the domed top of a human skull. Its owner may have died in the fire – or could have been buried there before the fire as ‘ritual decoration’, say archaeologists.

The recent excavations have made it clear that Must Farm is one of the great European prehistoric wetland sites.

The discovery also helps archaeologists appreciate the importance of East Anglia in the Bronze Age.