Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Archaeologists found an old site in England. It is called West Cambourne. Workers found it while building new homes.
The site is from the Iron Age and the early Roman era. That was about 2,000 years ago. The team looked at a big area of land and found more than 150 old features.
The best find was a long wooden ladder. It was about three metres long. It was made from one log with a hole cut through the middle.
The ladder was at the bottom of a well. Wet ground kept the wood safe for 2,000 years. Wood normally rots away and disappears. The team also found a big circle of earth used to keep farm animals, plus pottery, animal bones, and burnt stones.
- archaeologist
- a scientist who studies old objects and places to learn about the past
- Iron Age
- a period of history when people began making tools and weapons from iron
- Roman era
- the time when the Roman Empire controlled large parts of Europe, including England
- preserve
- to keep something safe from damage or decay so it lasts a long time
- waterlogged
- completely soaked or filled with water
- well shaft
- the deep, narrow hole dug down to reach water underground
- enclosure
- an area of land surrounded by a fence, ditch, or wall
- livestock
- animals such as cows, sheep, or pigs that are kept on a farm
Level 2 — Elementary
Archaeologists from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit discovered a large ancient site at West Cambourne in England while builders were working on new housing developments called Burghley Green and Chivers Rise.
The team studied a five-hectare area and found more than 150 archaeological features left behind by Iron Age and early Roman communities who lived there roughly 2,000 years ago.
The most exciting discovery was a wooden ladder about three metres long, made from a hollowed-out log. It was found at the bottom of a well shaft inside a large watering hole.
The wet, oxygen-poor ground at the bottom of the well protected the wood from rotting, which is why this is one of the longest log ladders ever found in the UK. The team also found a 24-metre circular enclosure likely used to manage farm animals, along with pottery, animal bones, and burnt stones that show how people cooked and lived at the site.
- hollowed-out
- having the inside part removed or cut away, leaving it empty
- watering hole
- a place, often a pond or well, where people or animals go to get water
- oxygen-poor
- having very little oxygen, which slows down or stops decay
- circular enclosure
- a round area of land marked off by a boundary, such as a ditch or fence
- manage
- to look after and control something, such as animals or land
- pottery
- objects made from clay, such as bowls and pots
- feature
- in archaeology, a physical trace of past human activity found at a site
- decay
- the process by which something slowly breaks down and rots
Level 3 — Intermediate
Archaeologists with the Cambridge Archaeological Unit have unearthed a substantial Iron Age and early Roman era settlement at West Cambourne, England, uncovered amid construction work at Taylor Wimpey's Burghley Green and Chivers Rise developments.
Investigating a five-hectare area, the team documented more than 150 archaeological features attributable to communities who inhabited the site approximately 2,000 years ago, spanning the transition from the Iron Age into the early Roman period, an era defined by the widespread use of iron tools and weapons before Roman rule spread across Britain.
Among the finds, the standout discovery was a prehistoric wooden ladder roughly three metres long, fashioned from a single hollowed-out log and recovered from the base of a well shaft within a large watering hole. The shaft's waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions had prevented the wood from decaying, a fate that normally destroys organic material of this age entirely, since decay depends on oxygen and the microorganisms it supports.
Alongside the ladder, archaeologists identified a 24-metre circular enclosure believed to have been used by Iron Age inhabitants to manage livestock, as well as everyday items, pottery, animal bones, and burnt stones, that together point to routines of cooking and domestic life at the site.
- settlement
- a place where a community of people lived, often with houses and other structures
- attributable
- able to be traced back to a particular cause or source
- transition
- the process of changing from one state or period to another
- widespread
- found or happening over a large area or among many people
- recovered
- found and brought back, especially something buried or lost
- organic material
- matter that comes from living things, such as wood, bone, or plants
- microorganism
- a very small living thing, such as bacteria, that can only be seen under a microscope
- domestic life
- the everyday activities and routines of a household or community
Level 4 — Advanced
Archaeologists from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit have brought to light an extensive Iron Age and early Roman era settlement at West Cambourne, England, unearthed during groundworks at Taylor Wimpey's Burghley Green and Chivers Rise construction sites.
Across a five-hectare survey area, the team catalogued more than 150 archaeological features attesting to communities that occupied the landscape some 2,000 years ago, bridging the late Iron Age, a period defined by the widespread adoption of iron toolmaking, and the earliest phase of Roman Britain.
The site's singular find, a prehistoric wooden ladder roughly three metres long and hewn from a single hollowed-out log, was recovered from the base of a well shaft set within a large watering hole, its survival owed entirely to the waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions that starve the microorganisms responsible for wood decay, conditions that make it one of the longest log ladders ever recorded in the UK.
Complementing the ladder, a 24-metre circular enclosure, thought to have facilitated livestock management for Iron Age inhabitants, emerged alongside pottery, animal bone, and burnt stone, modest domestic residues that nonetheless illuminate the rhythms of cooking and daily subsistence at the settlement.
- groundworks
- preparatory construction work done on land before building, such as digging or clearing
- attest to
- to serve as evidence or proof of something
- adoption
- the act of beginning to use or practice something new
- hewn
- cut or shaped, typically from a larger piece of material such as wood or stone
- starve
- here, to deprive something of what it needs to survive or function
- facilitate
- to make an action or process easier or possible
- residue
- a small amount of something left behind after the main part has gone or been used
- subsistence
- the means of surviving, especially through basic activities like food production
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