A 3,500-Year-Old Bronze Age Spade Was Dug Up From A Trench In England
A Bronze Age wooden spade was dug up from a trench in England, and it is around 3,500 years old. The object was uncovered during excavations in the Arne Moors, an area of wetlands and heathland in the county of Dorset, which is located in southwest England.
The artifact is one of the oldest and most well-preserved wooden tools ever found in the United Kingdom.
It is rare for organic materials like wood to remain intact for so long, as they require specific conditions for preservation.
“I’d describe it as a once-in-a-career type find. It’s so rare [that] it’s not something I’d even put on my bucket list that I’d like to find as an archaeologist,” said Phil Trim, one of the lead archaeologists of the excavation. “It’s a really unique object to find something that’s wooden of that age.”
For the past few years, researchers from Wessex Archaeology have been excavating the site as part of an ongoing project to develop 370 acres of wetland habitats in the area.
The spade was discovered in a ring gully, which is a type of circular trench that was likely used by ancient people to manage flooding.
Initially, the researchers thought it was a tree root, but after taking a closer look, they realized it was a tool.
Now, experts are working to preserve the fragile artifact so that it won’t disintegrate in storage. The spade was able to survive for thousands of years because of the soggy conditions of the region.
“The spade has preserved due to the waterlogged conditions on the site,” said Ed Treasure, an environmental archaeologist with Wessex Archaeology.
John Gomez – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only – pictured above are houses in Dorset, England, where the artifact was found
“This is where the ground remains permanently saturated with water, thereby excluding oxygen and inhibiting processes of decay.”
At the time the spade was created, the region’s nomadic residents were just starting to settle down and grow crops.
They were not living in the wetlands year-round but probably visited seasonally to cut peat, collect reeds, or let their animals graze.
An analysis of the spade showed that it was carved from a single, solid piece of oak. It would’ve taken many hours of manual labor to produce.
If broken or damaged, the spade could’ve been reused or refashioned for other uses, making its survival even more extraordinary.
It is unclear what the spade was used for, but archaeologists believe it may have been used to cut peat or dig the trench in which it was found.
The research team hopes that further research will reveal more information about the spade and the people who lived in the region long ago.
The spade was brought to the Wessex Archaeology Laboratories to be stabilized. It still needs to be freeze-dried to prevent it from shrinking. During the process, water will be extracted from the spade, making it stable enough to be stored.
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