Why this Bronze Age village became known as ‘Britain’s Pompeii’

It may have been a summer’s day in the ninth century B.C. when a fire erupted in a dwelling in what is now eastern England. Raised on wooden stakes over a wide, sluggish stream, the small houses alongside it were soon engulfed in flames.

Residents had little chance to salvage their belongings. Burning roofs collapsed into the cottages, which in turn collapsed into the murky waters below, together with all their contents. The flames were extinguished, the debris sank deep into the mud, and the charred remains of tools, animal bones, food, textiles, and timbers were encased in the fluvial silt of East Anglia for nearly 3,000 years.

This ninth-century B.C. catastrophe turned into a 20th-century A.D. blessing when archaeologists found the remains of this community at a place called Must Farm. These are the best preserved prehistoric domestic structures found in the United Kingdom. Excavations at this site have given historians an unprecedented window into everyday life in Late Bronze Age England that otherwise might have been lost to time.

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Raised up

Must Farm is located north of Cambridge in a huge area of marshland called the Fens. Over centuries, settlers have drained the marshes to create rich farmland. Thick layers of clay in the ground, which were quarried for brickmaking, are among the area’s abundant local resources.

In 1999, during a visit to a disused clay quarry at Whittlesey, local archaeologist Martin Redding spotted what seemed to be the remains of wooden posts at Must Farm. Redding immediately suspected they might have historical value. After discovering the posts, Redding found shards of pots on subsequent visits.

To protect the site, in 2004 the Cambridge Archaeological Unit undertook an initial survey at Must Farm. Their work identified a dozen wooden piles sunk near what had once been a wide stream, long since silted up. Analysis of the piles dated them to the Late Bronze Age, between the 11th and ninth centuries B.C.

Two years later, in 2006, excavation revealed the wooden piles were part of a palisade that had encircled a cluster of pile dwellings placed over the watercourse. 

Nearby, archaeologists also found remains of an elevated causeway built of large oak slats. Dated between 1290 and 1250 B.C., it significantly predates the pile dwellings; residents probably saw the causeway as a waterlogged ruin from a previous age.

However, the most exciting discovery at the site was a rich layer filled with artifacts and objects from the pile dwellings. From the charring and overall compactness of the layer, a 2006 survey established that this material ended up close together as the result of a fire.

Human remains were found later. It is likely that these were not victims of the blaze but venerated ancestors. This jumble of household items, tools, food, bones, and trash had been waterlogged for nearly three millennia in alkaline silt, ideal conditions for their preservation.

In 2015 archaeologists were finally able to carry out an intensive excavation and reveal the secrets of the miraculously preserved objects. Funded by Historic England, a team of archaeologists led by Mark Knight excavated the site completely and documented their findings. One by one, the objects were extracted and documented. The report co-authored by Knight details finding more than 180 textiles; 160 wooden artifacts, including bobbins, containers, withies (cords made from willow twigs), furniture, and cartwheels; 120 pottery vessels; 90 pieces of metalwork; and dozens of glass beads. Using photogrammetry, Knight’s team created 3D digital models revealing how the raised dwellings had been constructed. The platform dwellings were surrounded by a palisade of ash posts. Gangways facilitated movement between dwellings.

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Life on the Fens

Despite damage inflicted from clay quarrying in the 1960s, archaeologists have still been able to construct a good picture of the settlement at Must Farm when it was briefly inhabited in the 800s B.C.

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Must Farm was not an isolated village. It was part of a larger network of fen dwellers for whom the water was not a barrier but a way to exchange and share ritual activities. Other settlements and structures have been found in the Fens. Archaeologists revealed evidence of intense Bronze Age activity at a site just north of Must Farm, called Flag Fen.

Located on a much older, Neolithic trackway, Flag Fen consists of a causeway raised above the marsh. Constructed between the 14th and 10th centuries B.C., the causeway rested on huge oak piles brought in from outside the area. Around the site were items of value that may have been placed in the waters as part of religious rituals.

Preserved organic materials at Must Farm also reveal the complexity of the residents’ diets. Analysis of the charred remains of grain suggests that wheat, barley, and flax were growing in the same place. The community had access to a varied, local cereal diet.

While it might seem obvious that fish and aquatic birds were on the menu, a surprising number of boar bones were also found at the site. Residents perhaps had connections with, and access to, relatively distant food sources of wild woodland animals.

The presence of charred sheep and goat dung pellets also strongly suggests that people had access to livestock and their young. These animals may have been housed in the dwellings above the water. Remains of lambs and kids were found among the charred ruins. Analysis shows they died sometime between three and six months of age. If they died in the fire, this pinpoints the timing of the destruction to the summer months.

Study of the timbers used to build the structures shows that they were felled not long before the fire struck. Given that the homes were built with such fresh materials, the settlement had to be very young. Perhaps it had only been completed a few months before its destruction.

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A wetter world

Since the discovery of Flag Fen, the Must Farm dwellings, and other infrastructure in the Fens, the flat, rain-sodden farmland of East Anglia has become an area of intense interest for archaeologists for its window into not only the everyday lives of its residents but also broader changes in the area. Research has shown life in the Fens was not always sodden. Earlier in the Bronze Age, communities had relied on herding domestic cattle. Then, about a millennium before Must Farm was built, water levels started to rise in this part of England. Communities rapidly adapted, raising up their homes and building boats and causeways.

Dating across six centuries, nine wooden boats were discovered along the Must Farm watercourse. The site was clearly at the center of a vibrant Bronze Age community made of settlements connected by canals and causeways. Archaeologists are eager to learn even more from this preserved snapshot of a sunken past.

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