A 5th CenturybcIron Age Chariot Burial from Newbridge, Edinburgh

Abstract

The remains of the first Iron Age chariot burial in Britain outside Yorkshire were discovered during the winter of 2000–1, near the Bronze Age burial mound of Huly Hill, at Newbridge, Edinburgh. Excavated by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd with the assistance of the National Museums Scotland, the chariot proved unique beyond just its burial location. The Newbridge chariot was buried intact, a method consistent with the burial practices of Continental Europe rather than Yorkshire, where they were predominantly buried disassembled. Detailed post-excavation analysis revealed a history of repair and reuse, and construction techniques that indicate links with the chariot building traditions of both Yorkshire and Continental Europe. Fifth century bc radiocarbon dates for the burial place it firmly within La Tène A, consistent with its similarities to European examples and indicating that it pre-dates the known Yorkshire examples. This indicates the emergence of a British tradition of chariot construction by this time, familiar with Continental habits and technology but distinctively different in such areas as wheel construction and suspension fittings. Based on the findings, a reconstruction of the chariot was built for display in the National Museums Scotland, providing an opportunity further to understand and confirm the construction techniques observed or hypothesised during excavation.

British Iron Age chariot burials of the Arras culture: a multi-isotope approach to investigating mobility levels and subsistence practices

“…Giles (2012) provides a discussion of burial identity and journeying together with further detailed referencing for the archaeology of these burials. Only one of them has been found in Britain outside of Yorkshire, at Newbridge in southern Scotland (Carter, Hunter and Smith 2010; no skeletal material survived here for isotope analysis) and that has radiocarbon dates (on wood from the chariot wheels) for the fifth century BC. All but one of the others known (14 certainly, with a further 7 suggested) are in East and North Yorkshire ( This study presents new isotope data from the seven chariot burials located on the Chalk (the geological unit containing the late Cretaceous limestone of southern and eastern England) for which skeletal material can currently be traced, alongside new data from 25 contemporaneous burials and some animal remains (see Supplementary Table 1 The pattern emerging from the isotope data prior to this study was that the Iron Age people from the large cemetery at Wetwang appeared to be remarkably settled in their subsistence routine, living and dying locally (Jay and Richards 2006).…”

Chariots and Context: New Radiocarbon Dates From Wetwang and the Chronology of Iron Age Burials and Brooches in East Yorkshire

“…There are also the vehicles. On the Continent, early chariots had nailed tyres – albeit employing fewer nails over time – and unnailed tyres appear in La Tène B2 (Verger 1994; Carter et al . 2010, 54).…”

“…Against this, there is the early chariot from Newbridge, arguably with closer Continental affinities than any of the Yorkshire burials (Carter et al . 2010) and there is little from the isotope analyses to suggest that the majority of those buried with chariots in East Yorkshire are Continental incomers, although the Ferry Fryston group is anomalous and Kirkburn may not have originated from the chalk Wolds (Montgomery and Jay, unpublished data; Jay and Richards 2006; Jay et al .…”

Tankards of the British Iron Age

“…Many of the tools used in the production of the wheel spokes, coachwork, axle beams, and wheel hubs would have been well suited to the manufacture of tankards. The wheel hubs on chariots from Garton Slack, Yorkshire (Brewster 1971, 291–2) and Newbridge, Edinburgh (Carter et al 2010, 50, fig. 9B) required similar metal binding hoops to those seen on tankards, while the serpentine copper-alloy wire hammered into the stave ends of the Carrickfergus, Ornavasso, and Trawsfynydd tankards also finds parallel in iron on the Bar Hill wheel hub (Jope 2000, 131).…”