Chariot from 500BC
On a suburban housing estate, a relic from the Iron Age
ALL that remains of them is a pair of skeletons and the trace of a wheel.
But these rare remnants of two horses and a chariot, unearthed on a building site, could shed light on an ancient British warrior culture which valued the animals during life – and death.
Dating back 2,500 years to the Iron Age period, the horses and chariot may have been buried with their high-status owner to help speed him into the afterlife.
The astonishing discovery, the first of its kind for 200 years, was made by archaeologists called to examine a burial site at a housing development in Pocklington, near York.
The find, from 500BC, was described as being of ‘international significance’, and experts said it will increase understanding of the Arras culture, a people who were native to East Yorkshire.
Their graves are known as barrows, where the dead would be laid to rest with disassembled chariots.
The horses and chariot were found at an ancient burial site that has been studied for three years and has yielded an incredible number of finds.
Some 75 barrows have been dug up there, unearthing 150 human skeletons and their possessions – including perhaps, the owner of the horses and chariot – as well as swords, brooches and pots.
A major research project based on the excavation is likely to unlock more secrets from the dark recesses of history, long before the Roman occupation.
The Iron Age owner of the horses and chariot would have lived during a violent time, with rival clans constantly clashing.
By 500BC, Britons had been using iron for about 300 years but its use only became widespread around this time, and it was made into weapons for tribal warfare.
They were also sophisticated farmers, growing new crops and vegetables, including barley and wheat. They herded geese, goats, pigs, cows and sheep.
Some worked as potters, carpenters and metalworkers – and some, of course, trained as warriors.
Other advances included the potter’s wheel and the rotary quern for grinding grain.
These foods and developments contributed to a population boom, with the country’s inhabitants probably exceeding one million.
Communities lived in hill forts surrounded by walls and ditches in order to fend off attacks.
Families lived in round, oneroomed houses with thatched roofs and walls of mud and twigs.
In this pre-Christian era, pagan worshippers venerated spirits in places they believed to be sacred.
In fact, the experts at Pocklington believe that the burial of horses and chariots by the Arras culture may be connected to particular spiritual or funeral rites.
Head archaeologist Paula Ware, of MAP Archaeological Practice, said the chariot was only the 26th excavated in the country.
She said: ‘The archive of the excavations and the conservation of the artefacts will preserve the results for the benefit of future generations.’
Builders will re-start work on the development next week, but the relics will be carefully removed and kept in the area.
‘Horses buried with their owner’