Wild brown bears roamed DARTMOOR: Bronze Age princess' pelt reveals animal lived in Devon 4,000 years ago



Bear pelt was among a hoard of Bronze Age treasure unearthed in Dartmoor



It's thought to have belonged to a princess aged under 25 years old

Peptide mass fingerprinting was used to identify the fur belonged to a bear



Experts say that brown bears lived in the area 4,000 years ago

Precious jewellery made of amber and tin, plus delicate fur and fabric was preserved in peat and demonstrates craftsmanship and trade links



Analysis of an ancient pelt buried with the remains of a Bronze Age princess has revealed that bears once roamed the hills of Dartmoor, experts have claimed



The animal skin was discovered inside a bog in 2011 on White Horse Hill. It was found wrapped around objects in the grave, including a woven basket and cremated human remains.

All the finds discovered at the 4,000-year-old site, including the fur and exotic beads, indicate the grave was for a person of high status.

Archaeologists believe that wild brown bears once lived on Dartmoor, after discovering a 4,000-year old fur pelt (pictured) buried with the remains of a Bronze Age princess

‘It’s entirely possible bears were living in the local area,' said Fiona Pitt, curator of Plymouth Museum, where the grave finds are on show.

‘We think bears were spread around Britain at the time. Their natural habitat was around woodland so they may have been around Dartmoor.’



Typical DNA analysis methods failed because of the effect of the bog on the pelt, so it was sent to the Smithsonian Institute in the US where a process called peptide mass fingerprinting was used.



Vanessa Straker, English Heritage’s science advisor for the South West said: ‘Finding the right technique to analyse it took some time.



The pelt was found in 2011 in a peat bog on White Horse Hill wrapped around artefacts found in the grave, including a woven basket containing precious amber beads and earrings, as well as the cremated remains of a Bronze Age princes (actor pictured)

Fiona Pitt, curator of Plymouth Museum, where the grave finds are on show, said: 'It's entirely possible bears were living in the local area. We think bears were spread around Britain at the time. Their natural habitat was around woodland so they may have been around Dartmoor'

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE FINDS? Despite there being about 200 burial cists on Dartmoor, the moor has offered up few secrets before due to grave robbing.

‘This is the most outstanding site to have been excavated locally in over 100 years,’ said Ms Pitt of Plymouth Museum.

‘The items that were discovered in the cist are of national and international importance and provide one of the best glimpses into life in Bronze Age southern England that academics and scientists have ever had.’

They are now on show at Plymouth Museum.

The results indicated that the pelt once belonged to a brown bear.



‘We thought it would be one of the easiest finds to identify - it looked very well preserved - but these things are so rarely preserved at all that we have little experience of working on them.’

Other discoveries at the 4,000-year-old site include a hoard of about 150 beads.



'Some of the beads were made from amber which would have been traded from abroad, suggesting a person of high social status,' said Ms Pitt.

In February, experts said that the buried artefacts could have belonged to a Bronze Age princess.

The basket held a collection of precious beads, wooden earrings and a flint flake, shedding light on an advanced society capable of amazing craftsmanship and international trade.

The objects were the subject of a BBC 2 documentary in March called 'Mystery on the Moor,' in which viewers saw the coiled bag opened for the the first time in 4,000 years.

The basket (pictured) is around 4,000 years old and held a collection of ancient beads, wooden earrings and a flink flake, shedding light on a Bronze Age society capable of amazing craftsmanship and international trade

The objects were pulled from a prehistoric cremation burial chamber (pictured) in Devon and have allowed scientists to get one of the best glimpses into life in Bronze Age Southern England

Intriguing finds including prehistoric wooden earrings (pictured right), beads (also pictured), a studded bracelet and a near perfectly animal pelt have just gone on show at a new exhibition

The basket bag is fashioned from two circular disks measuring 4.5 inches (12cm) in diameter to form a flat base and lid, which is joined by a tube made using a coiled basketry technique with cow hair stitching around the edge and was preserved in peat.



The wooden earrings inside, which measure up to an inch (2.5cm) in diameter, have side grooves and are made from spindle wood – a hard, fine grained tree that grows in Dartmoor which is traditionally used to make knitting needles.



Archaeologists think the yo-yo-shaped studs were worn in the ears or set into leather belts or other clothing.

The wooden earrings (pictured) measure up to two-and-a-half centimetres in diameter and and are made from spindle wood - a hard, fine grained tree that grows in Dartmoor which is traditionally used to make knitting needles

‘The studs are unique in British prehistory; they also represent the earliest evidence for wood turning in the UK,’ experts at the Dartmoor National Park Authority said.



Archaeologists are used the objects to build up a picture of the person who was buried at the site on Whitehorse Hill and it is thought they were of considerable importance in the local community.

They speculate that the items, which also include precious jewellery, belonged to a women between the ages of 14 and 25-years-old, who was probably a princess.

An expert at Dartmoor National Park Authority told MailOnline that archaeologists came to this conclusion as other lesser, comparable items have been founded in prehistoric cairns.

The princess was of incredibly high social standing, as evidenced by the high position of her final resting place 600 metres above sea level on the northern moors , which would have been visible to nearby settlements and the valuable items that were buried with her.

A delicate woven bracelet with tin studs (pictured) was also unearthed. A total of 35 tin studs were held in place by a band of woven cow hair (although 32 remain). While the metal has oxidized, it would have been shiny in appearance

The ancient burial chamber (pictured) was deliberately positioned high upon a hill to show the princess' high status, experts said. They expect to find a settlement nearby

WHAT WAS BRONZE AGE DARTMOOR LIKE 4,000 YEARS AGO?

Bronze Age Britons were skilled at making tin and might have traded it with other far flung communities. They used to create elaborate jewellery, such as the delicate bracelet that was found. Other materials found at the site - including amber beads - show that people traded internationally. A stone flint also discovered, showed that while people used bronze tools, there were also still using earlier tools, which again, would probably have been traded.

High status individuals were revered and were buried in elaborate burial chambers with precious possessions. It is not known how many people the princess would have ruled over but Dartmoor was well inhabited 4,000 years ago. The remains of 5,000 hut circles - Bronze Age houses have been discovered so far that had conical thatched roofs.

Archaeologists have previously found small clusters of these houses in fenced enclosures that would have protected people from animals. People at the time had advanced cultural and religious beliefs. High status people also took care with their appearance and wore carefully crafted clothes and jewellery from fur pelts to tin beaded bracelets.

Archaeologists first stumbled across the chamber a decade ago when a stone fell out of the peat hag which had been concealing it – far from other known prehistoric sites.



'The find fills in the blanks of the local map in terms of Bronze Age settlements, as before there was little evidence of inhabitation, so there must be a settlement nearby,' one local expert told MailOnline.

'There's much more to discover in the area,' he said.

A skilfully-made decorative sash or belt was folded around the cremated remains along with the pelt. It is composed of textile and leather with a fringe of outward pointing leather triangles made from thin calf skin.



But the discovery of beads made of tin initially got archaeologists particularly excited because they are the earliest evidence of tin production found in the South West.



Over 200 beads were plucked from and around the basket and some are made from amber.



The precious material from the Baltic was associated with supernatural powers and used as an amulet, which therefore suggests a very high status burial as well as demonstrating that Bronze Age Britons traded with people from the continent.



A delicate woven bracelet with tin studs was also unearthed. A total of 35 tin studs are held in place by a band of woven cow hair. While the metal has oxidized, it would have been shiny in appearance.

‘The use of tin for decorative objects is exceptionally rare within prehistoric burial contexts in Britain and despite tin being a locally available resource on Dartmoor, this is the first time it has been found within a prehistoric archaeological context,’ local experts said.

Ms Pitt said: ‘This is the most outstanding site to have been excavated locally in over 100 years.'



‘The items that were discovered in the cist are of national and international importance and provide one of the best glimpses into life in Bronze Age southern England that academics and scientists have ever had.’

The artefacts have just gone on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.

Over 200 beads were plucked from and around the basket and some are made from amber, demonstrating international trade as the precious material comes from the Baltic. The grey beads are made from shale and the centre bead from tin - another precious material showing the wearer was of high social status