Duropolis
Duropolis is a name which archaeologists have given to an Iron Age town site excavated at Winterborne Kingston in Dorset. The name the town bore in its own age is unknown: the name 'Duropolis' was invented, taken form the local Durotriges tribe who inhabited Iron Age and Roman Dorset, their name echoed in that of the county.
- Location map: 50°46’48"N, 2°12’36"W
This is believed to be the remains of the first planned town in Britain. The site's first discoveries were made in 2008 led by co-directors Miles Russell and Paul Cheetham.[1] The settlement covers 8 acres and is believed to date to around 100 BC, making it 70 years older than the Roman town of Silchester.[2]
Overview
The site was named by archaeologists after the Iron Age Durotriges tribe. Its settlement may have been associated with the abandonment of nearby Maiden Castle in the 1st century BC.[3]
Discovery
Found in July 2015 by students from Bournemouth University as part of the Durotriges Big Dig project, the remains of 16 Iron Age roundhouses have been excavated while geophysical survey shows a total of at least 150 roundhouses and other features in the area.[4]
Excavations continued in 2016 and 2017.[5] In the course of the 2016 excavation, discoveries were made that suggested "the elements of an urban system" existing before the Roman invasion, according to Russell.[6] The 2017 dig targeted a putative Iron Age farmstead.
Nine crouched burials, thought to date from the Iron Age, that were discovered during the excavation were sent to Bournemouth University for analysis.[7]
Animal burials
A number of animal skeletons discovered at the site suggest some odd practices or beliefs amongst the Britons dwelling in Dorset: animal bones have been buried arranged in the form of hybrid-animal monsters. There is no context to suggest whether this is connected with such monster myths as those known among the Mesopotamians, Ancient Greeks and Egyptians.
The bone finds, which appear to have been deliberately arranged, include a two-headed hybrid with a sheep's skull at the front and a bull's at the rear along with a horse with a cow's horn sticking into its forehead.[8]
References
- ↑ 'Pre-Roman town of Duropolis found under Dorset fields': Simon de Bruxelles in The Times 17 July 2015|accessdate=17 July 2015|url=h}}
- ↑ 'Duropolis: The newly discovered Iron Age settlement that may be Britain's oldest town': Zachary Davies Boren in The Independent 17 July 2015
- ↑ 'Prehistoric town Duropolis discovered in Dorset is one of Britain's largest Iron Age settlements' Hannah Osborne in International Business Times 13 July 2015
- ↑ "Dig Unearths Prehistoric Town". Bournemouth University. 12 July 2015. https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2015-07-12/dig-unearths-prehistoric-town. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ↑ "Discovering the life of the Durotriges". July 11, 2017. https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/study/courses/durotriges-big-dig.
- ↑ "BU archaeologists discover more about prehistoric life in Dorset’s Iron Age ‘Duropolis’". July 6, 2016. https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2016-07-06/bu-archaeologists-discover-more-about-prehistoric-life-dorset-s-iron-age-duropolis.
- ↑ "Winterborne Kingston dig unearths nine Iron Age skeletons". 15 July 2016. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-36781509.
- ↑ David Kays (11 July 2015). "The boneyard of the bizarre that rewrites our Celtic past to include hybrid-animal monster myths". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/the-boneyard-of-the-bizarre-that-rewrites-our-celtic-past-to-include-hybridanimal-monster-myths-10381965.html. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
Outside links
- Video of Durotriges Big Dig - YouTube
