Massive Iron Age deposits discovered in Britain may be from the funeral of a powerful Celtic queen

Two huge caches of burnt Iron Age metal weapons, ships, chariots and carts found in northern England were likely part of a royal funeral for the queen, archaeologists say.

Metal detectors discovered the hoard near the Yorkshire village of Melsonby in 2021 and alerted archaeologists. Excavators discovered two separate deposits containing more than 950 artifacts in total, including iron “tires” for wooden wheels, cauldrons, ornate wine mixing bowls, and ceremonial spearheads.

Together, the two deposits represent one of the largest Iron Age reserves ever discovered in Britain. A new study published March 17 in the journal Antiquities suggests that the hoard may have been used for the funeral of an Iron Age leader, then deliberately burned, damaged, and buried.

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“It is clear that Melsonby was not buried.” [because] Study co-author Tom Moore, an archaeologist at Durham University in the UK, told Live Science via email. “Our question is: why did we deposit this material?”

Moore and his colleagues believe that the scale of the Melsonby relics and the large number of valuable artefacts indicate that they were part of an elite funerary ritual performed by the Brigantes, a powerful tribe of Iron Age Britons of predominantly Celtic origin.

The Brigantes ruled near the Royal Estate of Stanwyck, several hundred feet from where the hoard was discovered. At that time, Stanwyck was a fortified village that the Romans called “Oppidum”. They were usually built by the Celts on hills or other defensive areas.

burnt artifact

Moore said burning or destroying objects was an important custom in many prehistoric funerals.

“Many of the materials … were fired at high enough temperatures to melt copper alloys and silver,” he said. “At this time, cremation was becoming a common funeral service for the elite in parts of Britain.” No evidence of burial was found nearby, but the body may have been buried elsewhere.

But the exact reason the treasury was buried may never be known. “There are several possibilities for that event, but the funeral of an important leader seems to be one of the most likely,” Moore said.

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to date the artifacts to the 1st century BC, but their style and decoration, including Mediterranean coral, indicate that Stanwyck’s elite had ties to mainland Europe.

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The Brigantes were allies of the Romans who conquered most of Britain after 43 AD. According to Roman sources from AD 69 onwards, Brigantes was then ruled by a queen named Cartimandua, who was a “vassal ruler” and ally.

However, researchers believe that the treasury dates back several generations and may have been used for the funeral of one of Cartimandua’s royal ancestors. (Brigantes kingship seems to have been passed down from mother to daughter, so some of Cartimandua’s ancestors may have also been ruling queens.)

four wheel cart

An important discovery was that the Melsonby hoard contained several strange U-shaped iron brackets. These have been found in continental Europe, but not in the UK. The study authors say the bracket has now been identified as part of a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage used by Iron Age Britons alongside their two-wheeled chariots. This shows that the Britons had connections with other Celtic ethnic groups on the European continent.

“The fact that we have elements in our country that can only be attributed to such a vehicle… is a first for the UK,” Moore said. “Why it hasn’t been discovered before is a mystery.”

Melanie Giles, an archaeologist at the University of Manchester who was not involved in the Melsonby research but has excavated chariot funerals from around the same period in Wales, said there were some similarities between the Welsh chariots and the artifacts in the Melsonby burial. For one thing, “they share the same style of Celtic art,” Giles said.

In both cases, the Celtic motifs appear to have been exaggerated, and Giles suggested that this may have been an expression of Celtic opposition to Roman expansion into continental Europe. “Some people think this is a kind of resistance against the Romans,” she says. “People are celebrating their Celtic art and being a little more ‘raw’ about it.”

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