Dig to uncover rare undisturbed Bronze Age burial

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36756107

Dig to uncover rare undisturbed Bronze Age burial

By Paul Rincon
Science editor, BBC News website

9 July 2016


An archaeological dig is under way on what experts say is a rare undisturbed Bronze Age burial mound in Lancashire. Digging got under way this week at the site near Morecambe Bay, which was found by metal detectors, and is being excavated under expert supervision. Archaeologists believe the site has remained untouched by ploughing or by the trowels of 19th and 20th Century antiquarians.
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The site is thought to be a Bronze Age barrow, a circular mound often surrounded by a ditch. These round barrows can be found across Britain and were constructed between 2,200 BC and 1,100 BC. They functioned as places of burial, but may also have been sites where ritual practices were carried out. However, many have been destroyed over the course of centuries by human activity such as farming.

Lisa Westcott Wilkins, co-founder and managing director of DigVentures, said that preliminary investigations, including a geophysics survey had already been carried out on the mound. The venture is being described as the "first scientific excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound in the North West in over 50 years".

Metal detectorists have already recovered a bronze knife and chisel thought to have made their way to the surface via natural processes. The artefacts so far are remarkably well preserved and led experts to wonder if the mound contains an undisturbed burial. Early work on the site also suggests it was in use for 1,500 years, from the Late Neolithic period to the Middle or Late Bronze Age.
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[Judi Lynn]

1. Hope to hear more about this after they finish, July 17. This would be a wonderful experience.

I wasn't aware that digs can only last 2 weeks. I'm puzzled that they don't stay longer.

It sounds as if it could be wonderful.

Thank you for the news.