Must Farm Finds Roadshow

Decaying timbers were discovered protruding out of the southern face of the old quarry pit at Must Farm in 1999. Further investigations revealed the site to be later Bronze Age (1300-800BC) and to comprise a succession of large timber structures spanning an ancient watercourse. In its earliest form the channel was crossed by a series of massive, square cut oak piles (25cm by 25cm) made from trees that had been felled at the same time as the first two rows of the nearby Flag Fen post alignment (around 1300–1250BC).

Sometime between 920 and 800BC, a fire brought a sudden end to the site, plunging its smouldering superstructure along with most of its contents into watery depths. Fire, water and yielding silts guaranteed the preservation of all manner of things including finely woven textiles made of plant fibres, glass beads, bronze tools and implements, and whole pots replete with ‘vitrified’ food, and on one occasion, a wooden spatula still stirring its contents. In one fell swoop an entire prehistoric ‘household’ was plummeted to the bottom of the stream where it was safely encapsulated in layers of organic mud. And there it remained, undisturbed, for almost 3,000 years until clay was needed for brick making, and quarrying commenced in the late 1960s.

Meet Cambridge archaeological unit’s finds officer and see some of the special finds that are not currently on display, that where discovered during the Must Farm excavations.