Hillfort excavation unearths surprise treasures
ONE of the Peak District's earliest residents has made a surprise appearance during an excavation of an ancient hillfort near Monsal Head.
Among the evidence unearthed was a skeleton, thought to date from the Iron Age (700 BC – 60 AD).
The adult body appeared to have been thrown into a ditch outside ramparts, with rocks thrown on, possibly as a result of hostilities.
Work will go on over the next few months to establish its age, sex and possible region of origin.
It was one of the most exciting finds during the three-week dig by Longstone Local History Group, schoolchildren and other volunteers using a 49,000 heritage lottery grant.
Their main focus was to find how the ramparts of the hillfort were built and when they were erected.
Children from Longstone C of E Primary School made the unexpected discovery of hundreds of chipped stone artefacts such as scrapers for working hides. Hundreds of fragments of prehistoric pottery thought to have been used by the fort's inhabitants were also found.
The excavation was directed by a professional team from Archaeological Research Services Ltd. Director Dr Clive Waddington said: "The excavation has been tremendously rewarding because it has supplied significant new information for understanding hillforts in the Peak District, a type of monument which has remained poorly understood in the region."
Ann Hall, project manager for the local history group, said poor weather had not dampened the enthusiasm of 78 volunteers and 160 schoolchildren who worked on the site, removing more than two metres depth of soil and rubble to help solve the mystery of how the fort and ditch had been constructed.
She said: "The site is on private land with no public access and now we have restored the land there is nothing left on site to show all the amazing features which have been discovered. The skeleton has been carefully removed along with all the finds. These will be analysed by specialists to give us much more information about what happened in the past."
Results of the post-excavation analysis will be presented at the Derbyshire Archaeology Day at the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield on January 16.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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