Archaeological
Find May Lead To Rewriting of History
By Robin McKie
LONDON: Scientists have uncovered a
landscape of buried buildings and villages representing more than 6,000
years of British history. Anglo-Saxon settlements, Roman houses, Bronze
Age graves and Iron Age homes - covered by thick layers of sand and loam -
have been pinpointed using hi-tech magnetic sensors and air reconnaissance
surveys.
The discovery, at West Heslerton in northern England, suggests the British
countryside may have been far more intensively occupied and farmed than
previously realized. The surveys have also directed archaeologists to make
several significant finds, including a 1,300-year-old brooch scrawled with
letters that are the oldest known form of writing in English.
Archaeologists believe the Heslerton
Parish project could lead to a shake-up in our understanding of the
nation's history. "Take the Dark Ages," said project leader
Dominic Powlesland. "Our work shows they never really existed.
Civilization didn't disappear in Britain when the Romans left. Buildings
were in continuous use and farms operated quite successfully between the
Romans leaving and the Anglo-Saxons taking over."
But the discovery - rated as one of the
most important archaeological finds in Britain - is under threat. Farmers
are being urged to start digging up land to plant potatoes for the nearby
McCain French fries factory.
"This is the archaeological
equivalent of finding the Domesday Book - then having it burned before
your eyes before you get a chance to open it," said David Miles,
chief archaeologist of English Heritage. "This site is as important
as Stonehenge or Avebury. The graves, burial mounds, and houses have been
left untouched by mechanized farming which has wrecked so much of the rest
of our archaeology. What they can tell us is of immeasurable
importance."
In an attempt to halt the site's
destruction, urgent talks have been set up between English Heritage and
the UK Department for the Environment, while project leaders and local
farmers have also begun discussions.
The remarkable secret was revealed after
councillors gave the go-ahead for a mineral extraction scheme in the
middle of the site. Archaeologists carried out a survey before quarrying
began and discovered an entire early Anglo-Saxon village and cemetery,
preserved by sands that had blown from dunes in nearby wetlands.
Archaeologists - backed by the state-funded conservation body English
Heritage - mapped the area to try to discover other settlements. First
they used aerial reconnaissance photographs, then moved on to exploit new
techniques for measuring magnetic variation underground. "When you
make bricks or pots or plates, you cause tiny magnetic particles in the
clay to line up to the lines of Earth's magnetic field," said
Powlesland. "You can then detect the magnetic anomalies they produce
underground."
After walking hundreds of kilometres with their instruments,
archaeologists produced a map of buried roads, buildings and graves, and
found that the 5 sq km site was criss-crossed with settlements and
trackways.
These were then dated by drilling to
retrieve samples. From this, they created a map of the different
settlements and discovered that the drifting sands had sometimes covered a
site during the Roman era, Anglo-Saxon times or the Bronze Age.
"We are not dealing with a single
site," said Miles. "We are dealing with an entire
three-dimensional landscape that covers 6,000 years of our history and
prehistory. This place is unique." It is the preservation of the
buildings that causes special scientific excitement, say researchers.
"Most Bronze Age burial mounds in this country have been broken into
or cut up," said Powlesland. "In the past, it was assumed they
were graves built only for important people and leaders.
Our surveys of the intact ones down there
suggest it is more likely they were burial places for extended families.
This is a vast untapped resource. We have to ensure that its most
important parts are saved so that we can excavate and study them
carefully. It would be tragic if this place was wrecked for a few
potatoes."
The Observer News Service / CLICK
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