“The river channel at Must Farm, with bronze age fish traps and weirs, logboats and many bronze objects. The roddon is raised land formed from old river silts.”
I wrote in January about the Must Farm / Flag Fen Bronze Age dugout boats at Peterborough, England when Current Archaeology covered them. Now British Archaeology has done likewise (the two mags’ staff must bump into each other at British excavations all the time judging from their coverage), and there’s a beautiful plan drawing in issue #123 (March/April). It fascinates me, as it has such relevance to my current research.
The dig at Must Farm covered a silted-up stream channel. I knew from the CA piece that there was both everyday items and votive deposits at the dig. But the BA plan shows just how intimately (or indiscriminately) they intermingled. There are sunken boats, fish traps, V-shaped fish weirs (one apparently made using an old boat), and then everything is completely dotted with sacrificial metalwork. Century after century, these people were sacrificing expensive objects made of imported metal in the same stretch of river where they fished every day! I really wish I could have a similar site to work with. And one like nearby Bradley Fen please, where a waterside habitation platform caught fire and fell into the river with its entire complement of pottery and furniture in situ!
Continued fieldwork at Flag Fen is currently the subject of an innovative crowdfunding effort. Check it out!