Archaeology
Archaeology preserved in waterlogged
conditions is very important because a lot of
evidence for how people lived, what they looked like
and what natural resources they used can be lost on
dryland sites. Only the toughest evidence survives on
dryland, such as pottery, bones, stone tools,
ornaments and parts of buildings (like post holes and
ditches), and sometimes burnt material like seeds or
charcoal.
Archaeological objects or artefacts are
some of the most exciting things that have been found
in bogs.
- This
includes fabulous metal objects like a bronze
cauldron found on Flanders Moss. Some
of these things might have been lost while
people were making the difficult journey
across the bog, avoiding unstable floating
mats of bog-moss and deeper pools, but in
some places large numbers of metal objects
have been found together, often deliberately
broken. Archaeologists think that these are
special or ritual deposits, perhaps made to
ask their gods ritual for things like good
weather, successful harvests or better
health.
- Wood
is also very well preserved in bogs. It tells
us a lot about how people worked the wood,
how they carved it and what tools they used,
and also how they managed woodlands.
Sometimes the preserved wood is from
trackways, wooden paths which were laid
across the bog thousands of years ago to help
people cross it. Britain’s oldest bow, a
6000 year old yew wood bow, was found on a
bog at Rotten Bottom in the Southern Uplands
near Moffat and a 2000 year old wooden female
figure was found in a bog at Ballachulish.
Trees can often help us date things to the
precise year and even the season. This is
called dendrochronology – the study of
tree rings and tree ring dating. Other little
pictures from prehistoric life have also been
found – like buckets made from birch
bark. The earliest evidence for wheeled
transport in Britain and Ireland comes from
Blair Drummond Moss, where a 3000 year old
wooden wheel was found.
The Sweet Track during excavation. This
trackway was built across the Somerset Levels to help
people cross the wet marsh and bog between drier
islands. We know from the tree ring patterns
that the wood was cut down in the winter of 3807-3806
BC, or 5807-5806 years ago.
Seahenge: the amazing wooden
monument preserved in peat off the Norfolk coast
www.channel4.com/nextstep/timeteam/2000seahenge.html
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