An Iron Age chariot discovered in Yorkshire (England) last week is to go on display in an exhibition in Pontefract Museum next year. Dating back some 2,500 years, the chariot was discovered in a burial site during work on the upgrading of the Darrington – Dishforth section of the A1. English Heritage has hailed the find as of national significance, likely to re-write the story of the Iron Age in the area.
     The burial site, at Ferrybridge, contained the skeleton of a man and a foot-long spearhead. Also apparent are signs of celebrations and rituals which may have taken place many years after the original interment – the bones of more than 250 cattle. Angela Boyle of Oxford Archaeology, supervising the dig, said: “Whoever was buried here was extremely important. This would have been a monument and people would have come back over many years to celebrate. This is one of the most significant Iron Age burials ever found in the UK.”
     The chariot will feature in a temporary exhibition at Pontefract early next year, once research and preservation work is complete. Wakefield Council’s cultural services department is understood to be drawing up plans.

Source: Leeds Today (9 December 2003)