Curiouser and Curiouser: Iron Age Hoard found in Britain was Deliberately Burned

The island of Great Britain has a strange and unusual history, and part of the challenge is connecting the history we know with the landscape we see today. As more and more discoveries are made, the story only gets weirder.

We have stories of battles, kings of ancient myth. We know of invading armies and hear from continental accounts of a mysterious land of forests and mists, warlords and druids, great stone circles and enormous earthworks.

And we see this evidence in the landscape even to this day. But the problem comes in putting all the pieces together.

It is always hoped that new discoveries will shed light on an ancient past, but this is not always the case. A new find, a hoard near the Yorkshire village of Melsonby, is a perfect example of this proliferating confusion.

The hoard, discovered by detectorist Peter Heads and excavated over three years by a team from Durham University, is one of the most significant such finds ever made. More than 800 artifacts have been uncovered, dating back around 2,000 years.

Iron-shod wheels have been found, probably from a wagon or possibly even a chariot. Great cauldrons and bowls were probably used for mixing wine. Elaborate bridle bits and pieces of horse harnesses decorated with Mediterranean coral and colored glass have been pulled from the earth.

A cauldron found in the Iron Age hoard. A CT scan has revealed decorative fish depicted on its base (Durham University) — *A cauldron found in the Iron Age hoard. (Durham* *University)*

But what is strange about this discovery is that all the items appear to have been burned. This was not some funeral pyre, no human remains were found. So why did these ancient people destroy their most precious possessions?

For now we can only speculate. Professor Tom Moore, a British and European Iron Age specialist from Durham University’s Department of Archaeology theorizes that they may have been torched in a conspicuous display of wealth.

“Whoever originally owned the material in this hoard was probably a part of a network of elites across Britain, into Europe and even the Roman world. The destruction of so many high-status objects, evident in this hoard, is also of a scale rarely seen in Iron Age Britain and demonstrates that the elites of northern Britain were just as powerful as their southern counterparts.”

Some of the artifacts found in the hoard, much of which has yet to be fully excavated (Durham University) — *Some of the artifacts found in the hoard, much of which has yet to be fully excavated (Durham* *University)*

But this just raises more questions. Who was there to witness this ceremonial destruction, who were the elites trying to impress? What strange ceremony took place here out in the wilds of northern Britain which left so much of value burned or broken?

For now there is still much to be done, but if we can piece this hoard back together there is much it can teach us about a lost era of British history. In understanding what happened here, we can perhaps bring the ancient peoples of this dark, misty island into the clear light of day.

Header Image: In understanding why this Iron Age hoard was deliberately destroyed, it is hoped that we will gain an insight into the strange world of Iron Age Britain. Source: Durham University.