Burrough Hill Iron Age fort finds of chariot fittings

Excavations at Burrough Hill in 2011

photo: Nev1

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have just excavated a disused grain storage pit containing bronze chariot fittings and some iron tools that might be connected to horse-grooming.
Most of the finds are illustrated here. Although the date given in the BBC news report is 3rd - 2nd cent. BC, I think that 2nd - 1st cent. is more realistic.

The chariot fittings appear to have come from at least two different vehicles and might have been collected over a period of time by the person who occupied the house nearby. It seems that whenever someone died, their grain storage pit was emptied of its usual contents, but sometimes other items were were placed in it as part of the funerary customs.  There have been some unusual finds in such storage pits, like a raven with its wings pinned open (presumably the owner of the pit had died in battle), or a cow's head facing upward upon which garbage had later been piled (perhaps the owner had died from illness).

The linchpin and lipped terret are similar to what to have been found at Kirkburn (which might explain the date given as the famous sword from that site was old when buried)) and the strap junction and toggle-like mount have the same leaf patterns as is on a later (AD) strap junction in my collection and a slightly earlier strap junction from Arundel Park (dated ca. 50 BC - 50 AD.

Archaeologically excavated objects such as these are extremely rare. Most similar finds in Britain are strays, often found far from their place of manufacture. Perhaps the owner of the fittings had been a groom and had been given various bits and pieces by a grateful patron, but we can only speculate about such matters. Chariot fittings appear to have been made in "design suites" and not so mismatched.