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The chariot man meets his public
By Stuart Robinson MAKE no bones about it, Pontefract Museum's Iron Age mystery man is one of the most significant finds in British history.
The 2,000-year-old skeleton was found buried with the remains of his ash wood chariot in 2003 during routine surveying work on the A1 at Ferry Fryston, Castleford.
Now the amazing find, thought to be one of the best examples of its kind in the world, is going on public display for the first time just a few miles from where it was unearthed.
But after he lay undiscovered for over two millennia, and following almost three years of painstaking research at the University of Bradford, experts are still no closer to solving the riddle of just who the remarkable Ferry Fryston man really was.
Alan Lupton of Oxford Archaeology, who carried out much of the investigation work, said: "We can't say exactly who he was or even how he died. We know he was a man aged about 30-40 years old, he was quite slim but in fairly good health.
"We can also tell from the concentration of the element strontium in his teeth that he was probably not from West Yorkshire, as strontium is not found in high amounts in the drinking water here.
"He was most likely from somewhere like Scandinavia or Scotland."
Although his exact origins are still shrouded in mystery, researchers have said the man was likely to be a person of some importance as burials with chariots were usually reserved for nobles and tribal leaders.
Mr Lupton said: "The chariot itself seems to be somewhat cobbled together from bits and bobs, almost as though he has died and those who buried him away from his home needed a chariot quickly to honour him.
Teeth
"It would have looked the part but wouldn't have stood up to being ridden around."
More than 12,000 fragments of animal bones were found on the burial site, believed to be placed there over several centuries as a tribute to a man of high status.
He was also found with a brooch and the possible remains of a shield.
Experts say chariot burials are extremely rare, with only around 20 ever found in England, and are usually reserved for burials on the continent.
Pam Judkins, curator at Pontefract Museum, said: "I'd say this is the most internationally significant find we've ever had at the museum.
"There's still a lot of information we don't know about this man but that's one of the things that makes archaeology so interesting, that there are always so many schools of thought and opinions on every find."
l The Wheels of Time exhibition runs at Pontefract Museum until July 22. Entry is free. It is hoped the artefacts will be given a permanent home at a new museum planned as part of the Castleford Forum project.
stuart.robinson@ypn.co.uk
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Friday 25 May 2012
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