Bronze Age houses dating back 3,000 years, which archaeologists claim to be the best-preserved ever found in Britain, have been unearthed by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit at a site in northern Cambridgeshire.

Dubbed the “Peterborough Pompeii” in a tweet by Historic England’s Chief Executive, Duncan Wilson, the circular wooden houses discovered at the Must Farm quarry site are thought to have been preserved by silt after a fire caused them to fall into a river.

Along with the houses – of which there are thought to be five, all built on stilts – there were also pots still containing meals, textiles made from plant fibres, sophisticated glass beads and even preserved footprints, believed to be those of the settlement’s inhabitants.

Archaeologists are excavating from what would have been the prehistoric river-bed, two metres underground.

The site director, Mark Knight, said: “Everything suggests the site is not a one-off but in fact presents a template of an undiscovered community that thrived 3,000 years ago ‘beneath’ Britain’s largest wetland”.

While this is not the first Bronze Age settlement that archaeologists have found in Britain, it is set apart from previous discoveries by the sheer amount that has been preserved.

Darren Gibson, the Archaeological Manager of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit said that “usually at a later Bronze Age period site, you get pits, post-holes and maybe one or two really exciting metal finds.”

By contrast, the newly excavated site at Must Farm has revealed charred roof timbers as well as wooden posts that would have once formed a palisade around the settlement when it stood circa 1200-800 B.C.

“So much has been preserved we can actually see everyday life during the Bronze Age,” said Gibson, also saying that convincing people that the more ordinary archaeological sites “were once thriving settlements takes some imagination.”

Duncan Wilson remarked on the insight the site gives us in similar terms, calling it “an extraordinary time capsule” that “gives us a graphic picture of life in the Bronze Age”.
The water level at the site could rise in the future, meaning that remains cannot be preserved indefinitely where they are. Items retrieved from the site are expected to be put on public display once they have been cleaned and examined.

“The site is of international significance and its excavation really will transform our understanding of the period,” said Wilson.

Concerns about the long term preservation were what prompted the Cambridge Archaeological Unit to undertake the excavation of the 1,100 square metre site, a four-year, £1.1 million project which they are now halfway through.