Rewrite the history books... discovery of oldest town sheds new light on Iron Age
BRITAIN’S oldest town has been discovered by archaeologists in an excavation that is rewriting the history books.
Previously it was thought that most Iron Age Britons lived in huge hill forts because inter-tribal warfare was an ever-present threat.
With their wide ditches and high ramparts, hill forts dominated the prehistoric landscape, acting as defensive strongholds and ostentatious symbols of power to ward off invaders.
But the new discovery suggests that large unfortified towns also existed during the Iron Age, occupied by hundreds of people who seemingly were unperturbed by warring factions.
Archaeologists at the University of Bournemouth have uncovered what could be Britain’s oldest planned town, which they have dubbed ‘Duropolis’ after the local tribe, the Durotriges.
The 20-acre settlement dates to around 100BC, 70 years earlier than Silchester in Hampshire, which in 2011 was identified as Britain’s first pre-Roman planned town.
A geophysical survey of the area has revealed at least 200 roundhouses once stood on the site near Winterborne Kingston in Dorset, and 16 have been excavated. Archaeologists say the find could shed light on what happened to some of the prehistoric inhabitants of Maiden Castle in Dorset, who began to move out of that hill fort in the 1st Century BC.
“It exposes the myth that everyone lived in protected hill forts – these inhabitants lived in this fertile farmland, away from the traditional hill forts we are all used to hearing about,” said Bournemouth University archaeologist Paul Cheetham, who co-directed the dig.
“What this suggests is that there are other big centres of occupation before the Roman arrival, this is a big open settlement, probably one of the first that the Romans encountered when they arrived.” The township is one of the largest ever discovered in Britain, and gives an insight into what life was like for our ancestors before the Roman invasion in the middle of the 1st Century AD.
As well as the roundhouses, the dig has uncovered animal bone remains, quern stones used for grinding grain and spindle whorls for weaving. There is also metalworking debris scattered throughout the site, suggesting a vibrant town with many industries.
There was also evidence of ritual sacrificing of animals such as cows and pigs to offer up to the gods to ensure a fertile crop in the future.
Finds suggest it was a large centre which traded with other communities in places such as Weald in Sussex, the Mendips in Somerset and across the Channel in Normandy and Brittany.
Dr Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University added: “What is very interesting and significant is that it was a large open settlement with no protective ditches or walls that could be seen from miles around. The people did not perceive there to be a threat.
“We’ve exposed remains of 16 roundhouses in the two trenches we’ve dug. We know that there are around 200 of these across this area, so we’ve got ourselves a prehistoric town or proto-urban settlement. We haven’t yet got the full size of it – we haven’t scratched the surface.”
‘We’ve got a prehistoric town or proto-urban settlement. We haven’t yet got the full size of it – we haven’t scratched the surface.’