Archaeologists Find Cache of Bronze Age Weapons

Rare, delicate pottery found at site
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2010 4:25 PM CDT
Archaeologists Find Cache of Bronze Age Weapons
A collection of Bronze Age weapons, found on the Isle of Man.   (Wikimedia Commons)

A huge cache of Bronze Age weapons were unearthed today in Essex, England, the BBC reports. Axe heads, spear tips, and other objects dating back some 3,000 years were found under a field, where they had been buried for safe-keeping by their original owners. "To find a hoard still located in its Bronze Age context, below the level of plowed soil, is very rare," says a local archaeologist.

What makes the find even more significant is the discovery of a large, intact piece of pottery filled with unknown contents. Pottery degrades more readily than metal instruments, so archaeologists are excited about what the item might tell them. The pot has been deemed too fragile to excavate, so the decision was made to perform a "block-lift," in which a cubic area of soil around the item is taken wholesale out of the ground.
(More ancient history stories.)

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