A rare and nationally significant Iron Age chariot burial has recently been found in West Yorkshire during excavations for the route of the new A1 motorway, one of Britain’s largest road improvement schemes.

It is the first burial of its type to be found in West Yorkshire.

The chariot had been placed in a large oval pit in the centre of a square ditched enclosure. The burial pit would originally have been covered by a low earth mound formed from the spoil dug out of the surrounding enclosure ditch. As this had been dug into limestone, the mound would have been clearly visible from a distance.

The remains of the chariot itself comprise two wheels whose iron tyres survive in good condition. A wooden axle, which would have run between the two wheels, has been identified as a soil stain where the wood has completely decayed. The pole and the yoke of the vehicle are also identifiable as soil stains.

A number of well preserved bronze and iron objects have been identified, some of which are likely to be items of horse harness.

The skeleton of an adult male aged in his 30s was found associated with the chariot box.

The preservation of the wooden components of the chariot (the axle, the pole, the yoke and the box or platform) as staining and as voids is unparalled.

Not long after the digging of the small square ditched enclosure four cattle skulls were placed near its base - all were located in the eastern section of the ditch.

The upper ditch fill contained the bones of around 250 cattle. The cattle are thought to have come from a number of herds from a wide surrounding area, suggesting the man had considerable influence in life. It is believed that the bones were the remains of a huge feast which took place close to the monument not long after the burial of the man and his chariot. Pig remains are a common feature in chariot burials but cattle bones do not normally occur.

Only 19 other chariot burials were known in the UK prior to this discovery. All are in East Yorkshire particularly around Wetwang, with the exception of a recently excavated example from Newbridge near Edinburgh.

A radiocarbon date of 520-370 BC has been obtained from the intact Newbridge chariot and it is believed that the West Yorkshire example will prove to be of similar date. Intact vehicle burial was more usual on the Continent during the 5th and 4th centuries BC and it is likely that the closest parallels will be found there.


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