Bronze Age Ponteland
©Archaeological Research Services Ltd
A fascinating picture of Ponteland reaching back 4000 years has emerged from accounts of archaeological excavations undertaken in 2019 prior to the building of the new schools and leisure complex. This uncovered six burials and the remains of structures including an early Bronze Age ring-ditch. Fragments of knives, daggers, household goods and charred wheat and barley grains suggest a long ago settled agricultural community. All this was deep enough to have escaped the years of ploughing from mediaeval times onwards – and a modern electricity cable!
A post and wall-slot structure was radiocarbon dated to 3947-3715 BC. A pit containing fragments from a Beaker vessel dated to 2398-2146 BC shows that people from Europe had travelled here by then. The earliest skeletal remains were placed in an oval burial pit which contained of a female of about 15 years of age who died between 2026-1896 BC, with a second burial in the form of a cremated adult laid over the first burial’s feet. Remains of a child around nine years of age dating to 1869-1621 BC was also found in the grave.
Multi-isotope and DNA analyses are in process on the skeletal remains to discover the origins and ancestry of the individuals. There was also evidence of a later phase of farming livestock up to around 1000 BC. Amazing to imagine our ancestors living and working here long before the Romans and the building of Hadrian’s Wall.
We might wonder what legacy our present-day pattern of living might leave if there was an archaeological dig 4000 years from now. How would we be remembered and understood? Perhaps more by plastic waste than ceramic beakers? By then climate change will have had a significant impact on the planet. Will people still be living in this area?
We owe it to those buried here long ago, and to future generations, to take care of the resources of our community and our world.
Christine Brown