Wetwang Slack is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

containing remains of the Arras culture and chariot burial tradition of East Yorkshire. Archaeological investigation took place in 2001 and 2002. The site is in a dry valley on the north side of the village of Wetwang.John Dent. 2002. "Three cart burials from Wetwang" in ''Celts from Antiquity'', Antiquity Publications. p248 The archaeological remains consist of three chariot burial inhumations, each containing skeletal remains above the remains of a dismantled cart or chariot. All the skeletal remains from the three inhumations were aligned on a north–south axis, with the head pointing north.Stead, I.M. 1991.
Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire
' English Heritage Archaeological Report No. 2, London: English Heritage Many of the finds excavated from the site are now preserved in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Burial 1

The grave lay within a triangular ditched enclosure c 6.5–7 m wide, but the northern and eastern ditches have been removed by machine. The remains were of a young male adult lying on his right side with his knees drawn up to his body. Pig bones had been placed on top of the body. The

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

tyres and nave hoops of both wheels survived, as did several spokes from the wheel. The axle of the chariot was in length.

Burial 2

The second burial was contained within a square-ditched enclosure, or square barrow 9.6m wide.John Dent. 2002. "Three cart burials from Wetwang" in ''Celts from Antiquity'', Antiquity Publications. p251 The skeletal remains were in the centre of the barrow and were of a young adult female, facing right with her legs bent and her arms extended. Pig bones were also deposited on top of the skeleton. A soilmark shows the position of the complete dismantled chariot, beneath the individual, including its extended pole to which the

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in dif ...

would have attached. Other chariot fittings include iron tyres and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

nave hoops, four spokes and terret rings. Behind the head and shoulders of the skeleton, were two horse-bits, a bronze case with a chain attached (diameter about 90mm), a pin and a bronze mirror. This person has been named Wetwang Woman.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

's chief archaeologist described this as "one of the most significant and exciting Middle Iron Age burials ever found in Britain".

Burial 3

Quarrying on the site has removed the northern edge of the enclosure, and the upper part of the cranial remains. As in the other burials, the body was placed on top of a dismantled chariot and was of a young adult, facing right with the thighs drawn up at right angles to the torso. Iron tyres and nave hoops survive along with other chariot fittings. The axle measured 1.83m in length. An iron sword, in its scabbard, with bronze decoration lay diagonally across the body and two rings with central studs of

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

may have fitted onto the sword belt. Coral was also used in several items of jewellery from the Queen's Barrow inhumation at

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

References

{{Reflist Prehistory of the East Riding of Yorkshire Iron Age sites in England Chariot burials Archaeological sites in the East Riding of Yorkshire de:Arras-Kultur

Burial 1

Burial 2

Burial 3

See also

References