Iron Age Chariot Burial Uncovered in West Yorkshire
A road crew, working on a stretch of the A1M motorway, stumbled across an unusual burial site that dates back 2,400 years. Archaeologists called to the scene conclude that the man buried there was slender, about five feet, nine inches in height and approximately 30 or 40 years old with a full set of teeth.
Tests done on his bones reveal that he was not native to the area, but may have come from as far away as Scotland. Buried with jewelry, a finely wrought harness and a chariot, he was most likely a well-respected man of prominence.
In addition, 10,000 bone fragments from cattle were also found in the area. The cattle bones, however, only date back to the first or second century A.D. and indicate that for centuries, people gathered at the site to pay their respects. According to Angela Boyle of Oxford Archaeology: “…The evidence suggests that the site of the burial may have been venerated for all those years after his death, and then became a place for the tribes to rally and perhaps remember a great national leader of the past.†Chariot burials are unique to the middle Iron Age (500-100 B.C.).
Photos and details available at https://www.oxfordarch.co.uk/pages/chariot_burial.htm