Iron Age Arras Culture burials from Pocklington

[Duncan Head]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/17/hugely-important-iron-age-remains-found-yorkshire-site
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3495506/Iron-Age-settlement-2-500-year-old-migrant-camp-Discovery-site-Yorkshire-international-significance.html
http://www.pocklingtonpost.co.uk/news/local/prehistoric-man-with-shield-found-after-dig-1-7234622

"2,500 years old", "Middle to Late Iron Age".

Rather surprisingly, the Mail has actually got quite a full and well-illustrated piece - though they did manage to get "migrant camp" into the headline!

Finds include swords, spears and a shield. The Pocklington Post article reckons that one of the photos, also on the Mail site, shows the skeleton on the shield; in which case, it looks like quite a broad shield with a metal rim, straight sides and curved top.

[Patrick Waterson]

The Daily Mail article shown the same photograph with a bit more detail, or at least coverage of the leg area, here.

If that is indeed a shield, it is one an Old Kingdom Egyptian infantryman could be proud of - a real body-screener, almost like a mantlet.

[Erpingham]

If that is indeed a shield, it is one an Old Kingdom Egyptian infantryman could be proud of - a real body-screener, almost like a mantlet.

It isn't clear how long it is.  If short, it might be like one of the square ones on the Certosa situla.

[Patrick Waterson]

Well, the rim encompasses an area from the neck to the thigh, and seems to extend yet further down (it gets unclear where the legs cross and there may be something more to find in that vicinity).  Judging by what we can see of the rim, it looks huge.  Unless it has been heavily distorted over the millennia (a possibility I do not rule out) it looks too large for a Certosa situla square type.

Would be interesting if it was derived from a similar concept or pattern, though.

[Erpingham]

Well, the rim encompasses an area from the neck to the thigh, and seems to extend yet further down (it gets unclear where the legs cross and there may be something more to find in that vicinity). 

The key bit is how far below the thigh it goes, which isn't clear from the photos. 

[Patrick Waterson]

Clear as mud, actually, which is more or less what it is buried in.

Still, the site as a whole looks like a major settlement and could be expected to yield more useful items.

[Erpingham]

Clear as mud, actually, which is more or less what it is buried in.

Still, the site as a whole looks like a major settlement and could be expected to yield more useful items.

I note the excavation is covered in next weeks "Digging for Britain", so could be interesting.

[Patrick Waterson]

The local paper's website is now giving us the first glimpse of the sword and spear head.  The sword has certainly seen better days ...

I note the excavation is covered in next weeks "Digging for Britain", so could be interesting.

Hopefully we shall see at least as much of the weaponry as we do of the archaeologists!