A Welsh archaeological dig has unearthed some magnificent Iron Age artifacts. But it wasn’t the archaeologists that found them.
Military personnel have discovered 2,000-year old Celtic artifacts under the airfield of Royal Air Force Valley station in Wales. The finds, which were officially declared treasure, could have been part a famous archaeological hoard that was excavated during the 1940s. The items include horse gear as well as rare parts of a cart, according to a The U.K. government released a statement at the end of last month.
Station Commander at RAF Valley Gez Currie said in the statement that “the importance of RAF Valley today to UK Defence is beyond doubt, but this is a good reminder that we are a part of a continuous 2,000-year-old continuum and we must act as responsible stewards.” “We are proud to be a part of efforts to uncover and conserve these artifacts from Welsh History and equally delighted that we have our own servicemen so intimately involved in this effort.”
Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), led the excavations before plans to refurbish the airport. The archaeological work was carried out by veterans and personnel from Operation Nightingale. This initiative supports military personnel through archaeology.
The discoveries include a horsebit dating to around 60CE and a terretring, used to guide reins of a Celtic horse-drawn chariot. This is one of three terret rings ever found in Wales with a distinctive red enlay.
The search for the lost hoard took a lot of time and effort, as we had to cover a large area. “It wasn’t until I had 10 minutes left on the last day that I found the horse bridle bit,” said Flt. Sgt. Graham Moore. “At first, the team thought I had a joke on my hands but soon realised that I’d discovered something special. The words I could use to describe my feelings at that moment were inadequate. It was a wonderful discovery. Celtic people probably deposited the artifacts into the Llyn Cerrig Bach lake as offerings to the gods. Workers extracted peat from lakes in the area thousands of years later to stabilize the foundations for the new runway. They also found over 150 bronze and Iron artifacts that date between 300 BCE to 100 CE.
Adam Gwilt Said, “It’s amazing that these 2,000-year-old artefacts are so complete and well preserved within a peat deposit. They were previously moved and dragged on to the airfield more than 80 years ago from an ancient lake nearby!” The Amgueddfa Cymru Museum in Wales will be hosting the recent discoveries.
The bridle bit and terret are styles that are not present in the original collection, he said. They add important information on the religious gifting into the lake of prized items at the end or around the time of the Roman Army invasion of Anglesey.
