THE REMAINS of a 2,000-year-old village have been unearthed in Warwickshire.
Archaeologists uncovered relics from the Celtic Iron Age village – the predecessor to the existing village of Long Lawford – as part of a four month excavation ahead of the building of a new housing estate off Back Lane.
Finds included the broken-up rim of a wheel from a chariot or cart, and a sword-shaped currency bar which would have been used for barter exchanges.
The dig, conducted by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and Cotswold Archaeology, also found a number of ditched and fenced enclosures – the Iron Age equivalent of modern day allotments – on which vegetables were grown and small animals could have been reared.
Gerry Wait, director for Nexus Heritage which co-ordinated the excavation, said: “This is a very exciting and significant set of discoveries which gives us a clear indication of the human history of this site.
“The fact that both items were found close to each other in the same ditch also indicates that a high status Iron Age blacksmith lived close by who would have both forged and then recycled such items.”
Both discoveries failed to be detected by metal detector surveys and were only uncovered when the excavation got underway. The broken chariot rim was discovered in the first investigations in 2013, and the sword shaped currency bar last November.
The finds are now undergoing conservation by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and will then be transferred to Heritage Warwickshire Museum Services, through which they may become part of a public display.
