<< Web Picks >> A 3,500 year old crossing recreated online
Submitted by PaulM on Saturday, 18 December 2004 Page Views: 4079
DiscoveriesThe thrill of archaeologists’ discovery of the oldest bridge ever found in England can now be relived through a series of web pages. Wessex Archaeology has put up information on its website about how its staff found the timbers from a 3,500-year-old Middle Bronze Age bridge near Testwood, Hampshire and can be viewed at http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/hampshire/testwood/index.htmlThe site gives full details of how 143 wooden stakes that formed part of the bridge were discovered during the construction of a reservoir by Southern Water. Also found were a bronze rapier and ppart of a boat dating to the same time, c1,500BC. The stakes were up to three metres (ten feet) tall and 25 cms (10 inches) wide and formed a bridge 26 metres (85 feet long) across a river which has since changed its course, possibly what is now the River Blackwater.
The stakes, which supported the bridge’s walkway, were preserved upright in mud and were so delicate that once exposed to the air they had to be sprayed with water three times a day. This kept them from crumbling into dust long enough for archaeologists to record them and remove them before the reservoir was built. Some planks that formed the bridge’s walkway were also preserved.
Carbon dating of the stakes, made from oak, alder and ash, date them to around 1,500BC, the oldest bridge ever found in England, another discovery of slightly older stakes in the River Thames is thought to be a jetty. A cleat, a curved piece of wood used to fasten crossbeams to the hull of a sea-going boat, was also found at Testwood. The rapier was 32 cms (13 inches) long without its wooden handle, which was not found. It was probably thrown into the water as part of a religious ritual.
“The bridge near Testwood is fascinating evidence for people’s early use of rivers,” said Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, who managed the project for Wessex Archaeology.
“We can image people in 1,500BC trading with other parts of Britain or the continent using sea-going boats similar to large canoes, the cleat we found was part of one of these. They would have brought their cargoes – including metalwork similar to the rapier we found, pots and people – to the Testwood bridge where they either went on by land or went furtheer upstream in smaller boats. Finding evidence for the bridge, the boat and the rapier at Testwood adds to our understanding of our ancestors’ use of seas and rivers.
The website pages provide details of the finds, and photographs of the work carried out by Wessex Archaeology during the project, in 1999. They also have a reconstruction of the bridge, the river and plants based on the remains of plants and insects found during the project.
Some of the timbers found at Testwood have been chemically conserved and have been given to Hampshire Museum Service for display. Others will be on display at the new Southern Water education centre at Testwood Lakes. The rapier is usually on display at Totton and Eling Heritage Centre, and a replica of the rapier will shortly be on display at the Testwood Lakes Centre.
For further information visit: http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/hampshire/testwood/index.html
Source: 50connect.co.uk 18 December 2004
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