The well-preserved remains were unearthed at a 2,500-year-old site in Pocklington, described as being of international significance

A warrior king buried almost 2,500 years ago has been discovered in an iron-age settlement unearthed at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds. The remains of the burial ground is being hailed as one of the largest and most significant iron age finds of recent times.

In 2014 a housing developer stumbled upon the fossil site in the small market town of Pocklington in east Yorkshire, a find that is said to be of extreme “national and international significance”.

One of the most exciting discoveries was the “remarkably” well-preserved remains of a youthful warrior. Found in the cemetery and dated to 800BC he had been ritually speared to “release his spirit” and lay in the ground next to his sword.

The site contains more than 75 graves holding 160 skeletons of people from the Arras culture, a group who lived in the region in the middle iron age.



The burial chambers – known as barrows – included the skeleton of the young warrior, who was lying with a broken sword by his side.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Work being undertaken at the burial site of a high-ranking warrior. Photograph: MAP/PA

Archaeologist Paula Ware said the warrior, who was aged between 17 and 23, had been put in a box in the grave in a crouched position.

Mourners had placed four spears along his spine and another in his groin. “Our interpretation of that, we are thinking in terms of it releasing his spirit,” she said, adding that his sword had probably been broken “in antiquity” as part of the ritual.

“He was possibly a warrior – someone who had achieved status within society. In the iron age we can definitely see this ritual of death was so important. It wasn’t just a simple thing.”

The remains of another warrior were also found. He had been placed on his shield in what she said was a “unique” find. “This is the first time that we have ever discovered a shield burial in Britain … it has never happened before.”

Some of the skeletons were found in wicker baskets, others had been placed in organic beds. However, the most elaborate burials were of three warriors: they had been placed in small, round graves rather than the usual square ones.

Ware said: “There is definitely a pattern emerging. The small, round barrows contained people who seemed to be significant members of the society. These were iron-age warriors, they had been buried with their weapons and it is clear that they were significant because they had been given different burial rights.”

Archaeologists had been excavating the site for around a year expecting to find one or two graves – but have discovered 75.

“We couldn’t believe it,” said Ware. “One of my colleagues had been at the site every day for the past year and in October we realised that we were dealing with something that was incredibly significant.”

The unearthing of the burial ground will lead to the largest study of the iron-age population in the last 35 years. The analysis will concentrate on whether the population is indigenous or whether they were migrants from the continent.

Archaeologists hope to reveal how those buried at the site died, what stresses their bodies had been placed under during their lifespan and whether or not they were related to each other. “We are going to be studying the DNA,” Ware added. “One of the theories that we are looking into is [that] these were migrants from the continent. We believe some of them could have come over from northern France or even Germany.

“The lifespan of the graves is between 200 to 300 years and there are many tantalising theories that we have about the site. For example, we have a group of three interconnecting barrows and it seems all of them were related to each other. This grave could have been maintained over a period of a 100 years, which is just remarkable.”

Excavation at the site has already revealed a haul of objects, including a sword, a shield and 10 spears, more than 360 amber and glass beads, brooches and pots.

The discovery was made by a property developer who had begun excavating the site on Burnby Lane to build homes. But the work was halted and archaeologists called in after the settlement was revealed.

The iron age lasted in Britain for about 800 years, beginning in about 800BC. As the name suggests people began to make iron weapons and tools, and to live in settled farming communities.

It was a violent period populated by clans belonging to tribes and led by warrior kings. Rival tribes often fought with iron weapons and lived in hill forts for protection.