
The boggy marshland and waterways around Cambridgeshire were once home to a bustling, wealthy Bronze Age community, in what has become known as the 'Pompeii of the Fens', say archaeologists.

While the community was destroyed in a fire 800-1,000 years ago, sinking beneath the water and into the thick mud, a 10-month excavation at the site has revealed phenomenal details of what life was like in Bronze Age Britain almost 3,000 years ago.

Finds at the site give a sense of daily life, including how houses were constructed, what household goods the inhabitants had, what they ate and how their clothes were made. But the findings also suggest the community had several international goods, from both Europe and the Middle East.

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At least five houses were found at the Must Farm settlement, each one built very closely together for a small community of people

Archaeologists have spent 10 months excavating at least five ancient circular wooden houses which had been built on stilts in the East Anglian fens.

The team working at the site, known as 'Must Farm' at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, has uncovered a collection of Bronze Age fabrics and one of the largest collections of Bronze Age glass ever found in Britain.

Known as Pompeii of the Fens, the Cambridgeshire site is the best-preserved Bronze Age settlement ever excavated in Britain, and is believed to have been destroyed by a major fire which caused the dwellings to collapse into a river.

The Stone Age site was buried under peat and has been unearthed at the edge of Must Farm Quarry in Whittlesey (left). A £1.1million project to excavate artefacts (right) at the site was launched, funded by government agency Historic England, and quarry-owners Forterra

Many weapons including a bronze dagger and an arrow head (pictured) have been recovered from the remains of the wrecked homes

The findings also give us clues into what people ate in the Bronze Age. Wild animal remains found in rubbish dumps outside the houses show they were eating wild boar, red deer and freshwater fish such as pike

BRITAIN'S OLDEST WHEEL Britain's oldest intact wheel was unearthed at a Bronze Age site dubbed the 'Pompeii of the Fens'. The 3,000-year-old wooden wheel shows Ancient Britons were finding innovative ways to move across land when it was previously thought they only used transportation across rivers. The solid wheel - around three feet (one metre) in diameter - would have been the last word in sophistication at the time, archaeologists said. It may well have belonged to a cart that was pulled either by several human hands or by a horse. Advertisement

However, the river acted in a beneficial way, preserving many of the artefacts which would otherwise have been destroyed in the fire.

Evidence, including tree-ring analysis of the oak structures suggests that at the time of the fire, the structures were still new and had only been lived in for a few months, despite being well-equipped with household goods.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, who joint-funded the excavation, said: 'Over the past 10 months, Must Farm has given us an extraordinary window into how people lived 3,000 years ago.

'Now we know what this small but wealthy Bronze Age community ate, how they made their homes and where they traded.

'This has transformed our knowledge of Bronze Age Britain, and there is more to come as we enter a post-excavation phase of research.'

At least five houses were found at the Must Farm settlement, each one built very closely together for a small community of people.

Every house seems to have been planned in the same way, with an area for storing meat and another area for cooking or preparing food.

The roundhouses were built on stilts above a small river, with conical roofs built of long wooden rafters covered in turf, clay and thatch, and floors and walls made of wickerwork.

Within the houses, a huge array of household goods were found, including complete sets of pots - some with food still inside - wooden buckets and platters, decorative textiles, tweezers and loom weights.

Amazingly, it seems that the settlers embarked in international trade, as suggested by the finding of decorative beads made from glass, jet and amber from the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East

The Must Farm Quarry site revealed the internal and external structure of the houses during the excavation. Archaeologists encountered upright poles that used to support the building's walls and roof, well-preserved wall panels, collapsed roof beams and a row of poles arranged in an enclosure fence

Amazingly, it also seems that the settlers engaged in international trade, as suggested by the finding of decorative beads made from glass, jet and amber from the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East.

These findings suggest a materialism and sophistication never before seen in a British Bronze Age settlement. Many of the objects were still relatively pristine which suggests that they had only been used for a very short time before the settlement was engulfed by fire.

While it was previously known that textiles were common in the Bronze Age, it is very rare for them to survive today.

However, the excavators found a range of textiles on site, including balls of thread, twining, and bundles of plant fibres, as well as loom weights which were used to weave threads together.

Each of the houses was fully equipped with pots of different sizes, wooden buckets and platters, metal tools (pictured), weapons, textiles, loom weights and glass beads

The findings also give us clues into what people ate in the Bronze Age. Wild animal remains found in rubbish dumps outside the houses show they were eating wild boar, red deer and freshwater fish such as pike.

Additionally, inside the houses themselves, the remains of young lambs and calves were found, revealing a mixed diet.

Plants and cereals were also an important part of the Bronze Age diet and the remains of porridge-type foods were found preserved in amazing detail, sometimes still inside the bowls they were served in.

Speaking about the findings, David Gibson, archaeological manager at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: 'The exceptional site of Must Farm allows you visit in exquisite detail everyday life in the Bronze Age.

'Domestic activity within structures is demonstrated from clothing to household objects, to furniture and diet.'

The excavation has now come to a close, but the archaeological findings may soon be displayed for the public.

Within the houses, a huge array of household goods were found, including complete sets of pots (some with food still inside), wooden buckets and platters, decorative textiles (pictured), tweezers and loom weights