Last updated: 19 August 2024

Learning about Bronze Age life through archaeology

The excavation of an Early Bronze Age cist at Cut Hill left archaeologists speechless when they came across clearer evidence that this part of Dartmoor was special to the people of prehistory.

Following months of meticulous planning, a team of archaeologists spent three days excavating an Early Bronze Age cist at Cut Hill, one of Dartmoor’s highest and most remote hills.

Led by our Archaeologist Dr Lee Bray, painstaking work revealed an exceptional cist - a stone-built box into which the dead were placed in prehistoric times - containing preserved wood and other material yet to be identified.

Cut Hill is one of five hills on Dartmoor that exceeds 600metres. Inside the military firing ranges it has dramatic, windswept views in all directions - on a good day! All around is evidence of human activity from prehistoric monuments to peat passes. High and remote, it is a long and often difficult walk from any public facilities. If you're planning a trip to this part of Dartmoor, make sure you check the MOD's firing times first.

Excavation works were prompted when reports were made to the Authority that the cist was eroding out of the peat. Once air gets to anything inside, any artefacts can start to deteriorate really quickly so preservation was key.

In May 2024, Dartmoor National Park Authority gave unanimous support for a full archaeological intervention.

The cist was carefully sealed and transported to a specialist laboratory where detailed examinations will be carried out to determine what, if anything, is contained within the wet peat underneath the wood.

The discovery has strong parallels to the stone-built burial box unearthed at Whitehorse Hill in 2011 which contained human remains and grave goods. The finds changed our understanding of Early Bronze Age life on Dartmoor.

Initial surveys and analysis including radiocarbon dating of charcoal taken from within the cist suggested a date of somewhere around 1,800BC – around 3,900 years ago.

The use of cutting-edge technology enabled archaeologists to understand more about the people who lived in prehistory and the impact they had on the landscape.

This included remote sensing technology known as terrestrial LIDAR scanning, to build a comprehensive 3D map of the landscape and other monuments in the vicinity of the cist.

Palaeoecological analysis helped reconstruct the environment the cist was built in and provide evidence for other types of land use, such as an animal grazing, and offered much more detail with data showing intense bursts of human activity in specific periods of prehistory that weren’t known about previously.

As you'd expect for Dartmoor, the team had to contend with some pretty challenging weather - every day was different and they worked in bright sunshine through to thick fog and persistent rain.

Their work revealed a prehistoric cist of around one-metre square (over twice the size of the Whitehorse Hill cist) and topped with three granite capstones.

Inside were substantial pieces of preserved wood, cut and shaped, with a volume of about 30cm of material underneath.

It raised many questions: the wood looked as if it had been worked - so what was it? Had it been cut to size? Had it once been a complete object that had been dismantled and placed inside the cist? If so, what was it and who did it belong to?

We'll learn more in coming months...

What happens next?

The cist is now in the care of the Wiltshire Conservation and Museums Advisory Service where it will undergo further examination.

Any artefacts uncovered will be conserved and analysed with outcomes published when work is complete.

The site was visited by the BBC’s Digging for Britain team, who will be following the story as it unfolds.

We're hoping that people will support this project by choosing to donate money. Funds will go towards the excavation and conservation of the Cut Hill cist. Any donation will be gratefully received and welcome!

The team involved

While excavations are the most visually obvious work, a lot goes on before and after. Work is complex and calls upon the skills, knowledge and resources of many people and organisations.

Working alongside Dr Bray are: National Park and Historic England Archaeologist Andy Crabb; Laura Warren-Ratcliffe, Alexandra Taylor-Redish and Paul Redish from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU); Dr Laura Basell from the University of Leicester; Professor Ralph Fyfe of the University of Plymouth; Andy Coleman, Elliot Clarke and Josh Ashby of Quantock and Exmoor Ltd.

In addition support and funding was generously given by landowner The Duchy of Cornwall. Support was also provided by the Ministry of Defence, the South West Peatland Partnership, Alec Collyer MBE and the Dartmoor Forest Commoners Association. Our thanks also go to local historian Paul Rendell who reported to us that the cist was eroding out of the peat.

How can I donate? 

The best way to support this work is through our Dartmoor for Dartmoor fund. You can make a payment online - remember to choose 'Cut Hill' as your reason for donating.

Thank you so much for your support.