Archaeologists have found 2000-year-old objects that may be "the most important discovery" (5 photos)

British archaeologists have unearthed a hoard that is already being called one of the largest and most significant finds of the Iron Age, allowing us to rethink ideas about the status and wealth of the elites who lived in northern Britain at the time.





The hoard is known as the Melsonby Hoard, and contains more than 800 items, including two cauldrons, horse harness, bridles, ceremonial spears and 28 iron wheel rims.

These artefacts were discovered in a field near Melsonby, a village in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire. It is believed that all these things were buried here about 2,000 years ago, in the 1st century AD.

Experts from Durham University, the British Museum and Historic England (which is engaged in the preservation of England's historical heritage) took part in the excavations.

Historians believe that this unprecedented find, in their words, can lead to a serious reassessment of ideas about the wealth and status of the elite of the Celtic tribe of the Brigantes, who lived in northern Britain at that time.

The archaeologists reported their find back in 2021. A year later, excavations were carried out there with the support of the British Museum and a grant from Historic England.

The results of an initial analysis of the hoard, published on Tuesday, suggest that many of the objects were deliberately burned or broken before burial, apparently as a show of power and wealth.



Durham University archaeology department head Tom More said the size and scale of the find was "extraordinary for Britain and perhaps even for Europe".

He said the hoard showed that people in the north of England were wealthier at the time than previously thought.

"Whoever originally owned the items in this hoard was probably an elite at the level of Britain, Europe or even the Roman world," he said.

"The destruction of so many valuable objects evident in this hoard is also on a scale rare in Iron Age Britain and demonstrates that the elite of northern Britain was as powerful as those in the south."

It is thought that the items may have been burned on a pyre before burial, although no human remains have been found.

"This is one of the most important and exciting Iron Age discoveries ever made in the UK," said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England. "It sheds new light on Iron Age life in northern Britain and its links with Europe."





One of the cauldrons is decorated with a mask of a human face.

There is a buzz in the archaeology labs at Durham University about the Melsonby hoard, which curators say is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery, BBC News correspondent Danny Savage reports.

Hundreds of artefacts are laid out on long tables in a climate-controlled room.

The exact location of the find has not been revealed amid fears that treasure hunters will turn up overnight to look for more artefacts.

The Iron Age artefacts, 2,000 years old, are rusted or tarnished and far from their original splendour. Some were decorated with coral that has faded over the centuries.



But the story they tell is extraordinary.

Iron Age experts now have evidence that the people who lived here 2,000 years ago had both four-wheeled carts and two-wheeled chariots.

There is now evidence that the Iron Age people of northern England had trade links with the Continent and the growing Roman Empire.