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<< News >> Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe

Submitted by vicky on Thursday, 25 September 2003  Page Views: 2374

Iron Age and Later PrehistoryArchaeologists studying an ancient chariot burial have found evidence that Iron Age Scots had far closer ties with Europe than previously thought. Experts examining the unprecedented find at Newbridge, west of Edinburgh, have proved it is the oldest chariot in the UK and uncovered great similarities between the vehicle and associated burial rites found on the Continent, indicating a close familiarity with mainland European practices.

Dr Stephen Carter, director of Headland Archaeology of Edinburgh, and Fraser Hunter of the department of archaeology at the National Museums of Scotland, also confirmed many more chariot burials may be dotted around Scotland. The Newbridge find, which has been described as the "Ferrari of the Iron Age", is the first chariot burial to be found in Britain outside of East Yorkshire and has been carbon-dated to around 570-370 BC.

Dr Carter said: "We are stressing the continental connection because the Yorkshire burial rites were significantly different. There, they dismantled the chariot and placed the person in or under the body of the vehicle. In the Newbridge burial, the rite was identical to the ones carried out in Belgium and France, where the complete vehicle was buried.

He explained the significance of the discovery, which could transform historians' view of Iron Age Britons.

"Scotland is often seen as being at the fringe of Iron Age Europe, cut off from the mainstream. This evidence reminds us that there were great connections between Scotland and Europe in prehistory, especially by sea," Dr Carter said.

The Celtic chariot, or cart, was unearthed at a building site close to the M8 in Edinburgh in 2001. It is in a condition never seen before in the UK, with its metal fittings intact after thousands of years.

Excavations showed wheels 0.8 metres in diameter, an axle of 1.4 metres, and a pole extending from the axle measuring three metres, although the wooden chassis has disintegrated.

The lack of distinctive European suspension fittings indicates that the Newbridge chariot is a British vehicle and not an import. Work on the chariot has shown that Scotland at the time was a fully integral part of the Celtic culture dominant in north-west Europe.

Another Celtic discovery a human skull found in Lancashire in 1958 has been reconstructed to reveal the face of a young man sacrificed to the gods almost 2000 years ago.

Forty-five years after the severed head was found in Worsley Moss, Dr John Prag, archaeologist of the Manchester Museum, and Caroline Wilkinson, a facial anthropologist, reconstructed the battered skull to reveal the features of a strong, young victim.

Dr Prag said the finished face fits the profile of classic bog sacrifices. "He was just the sort of man you would choose the best you could offer the gods."

Source: The Herald 25/09/2003


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"Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe by Anonymous on Saturday, 16 October 2004
The word ‘Celt’ is derived from the word ‘Keltoi’ a word invented by the Macedonians to describe the people of the eastern Danube more specifically the people of Romania they conquered around the time of Phillip the second. The Iron Age people who inhabit what we today call Scotland were not conquered by Phillip the second so could not have been ‘Kelt’.
The earliest use of the word ‘Celt’ or ‘Kelt’ in any connection to the Scots (or Irish) dates back a mere 300 years and is therefore a completely inaccurate description of any tribe, clan, persons of Scotland in the iron age which was considerably more than 300 years ago.
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Re: Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe by Thorgrim on Thursday, 25 September 2003
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Fascinating article! Thanks for posting it, Vicky. It uses the word "Celtic" several times despite the move away from identifying Celtic people with the Iron Age people of Britain and Ireland see http://www.ares.u-net.com/celtindx.htm. I would be interested in your views on this. In your opinion - were the Ancient Brits Celtic?
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    Re: Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe by Andy B on Thursday, 25 September 2003
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    No - it's an over-used and inaccurate word IMHO
    Andy
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    Re: Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe by Vicky on Friday, 26 September 2003
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    I think most of the peoples of Europe, the Britons included, have been put under the umbrella of 'Celts' because prehistorians and historians have tended to follow the suit of the classical Greek and Roman sources. Celt actually stems from the Greek word 'Keltoi' meaning barbarian, so in that sense the people of Britain were Celts (although in my opinion they were far from being uncouth barbarians :-) ).

    I think the Britons did have close connections with the peoples of Europe, but once we were separated from the Continent in about 6,000BC when the waters rose after the end of the last Ice Age an insular culture began to develop and the people of Britain went their own separate way. A few reasons are - During the Early Mesolithic the tools made in Britain were the same as in the rest of Europe but in the Late Mesolithic once we became an island, new types were developed which were not found elsewhere. In the Neolithic henges are only found in Britain.

    Throughout prehistory there were undoubtedly immigrations to a certain extent particularly in the Bronze Age when the mineral resources of copper and tin began to be exploited, but in general I think that the British culture was influenced more by trade rather than an influx of people.

    I also think trade with the Continent, particularly in the Iron Age was far more widespread than most people realise. During the course of my research into Cheshire prehistory I have come across evidence for a huge trading port at Meols on the North Wirral coastline, perhaps used for trading Cheshire salt with the Mediterranean. The site has long since been eroded into the sea, but over the years numerous finds have been discovered on the beach including coins of Iron Age date (from the Roman Republic) from Brittany and beyond. If it trade was taking place here in what has often been thought of as a prehistoric backwater then it could easily have been taking place all over the coastal areas of Britain, not just in the south and east as most people believe. It would therefore be easy for ideas and material cultures to be adopted without the need for mass waves of immigrants at least throughout most of the Iron Age. Once the Romans began conquering the so-called barbarians in Gaul and Germany there were undoubtedly many refugees coming to the shores of Britain to escape Roman rule, but in general these were probably the lower class farming communities who were more interested in acquiring a piece of land rather than affecting major changes - they probably just blended in with the local population. For the tribal leaders on the otherhand it was more in their interest to stay put and bow to the might of Rome, attracting all the benefits that came along with it.

    So to answer your original question, I think the Britons were Celtic in the sense that they were people living outside the Roman Republic and shared many affinities with other peoples in the unconquered regions of Europe, but I think they were a distinct race which developed once Britain became an island, watered down occasionally by small waves of immigration.



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      Re: Chariot proves Iron Age links with Europe by Thorgrim on Friday, 26 September 2003
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      Excellent summary which I hope will stimulate debate. I agree and am in broad support of the views expressed by Simon James in the Atlantic Celts. Thank you.
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