Archaeological finds at Tarmac site are the best yet


Neolithic artefacts unearthed at Borras Quarry suggest site of large ancient settlement

HUNDREDS of fragments of Neolithic pottery and a rare ancient arrowhead have been discovered in one of the most exciting archaeological digs yet at Tarmac’s Borras Quarry, near Wrexham.

Archaeologists from the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) uncovered around 500 pieces of pottery and flint dating back to the Neolithic period at around 3,500BC, as well as evidence of probable Iron Age metal-working.

Ian Grant, site director for CPAT, who has been excavating the site since 2008, described this summer’s dig at four different locations as ‘the best season we’ve had’. ‘We have found not one but four sites across the Holt Estate, and we have found far more pottery fragments than before, some of which is beautifully decorated,’ he said.

Mr Grant initially spent eight weeks on site as part of the archaeological monitoring carried out when Tarmac remove topsoil as part of their ongoing gravel extraction work.

Discoveries made during this period led to a short excavation over a three-week period during which the team found mounting evidence that the site could be one of the biggest and most important Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements in Wales.

‘It seems there was a Neolithic community across the landscape, not just in one specific area,’ explained Mr Grant.

Richard Hulse, estates manager within Tarmac’s Central region, added: ‘Whenever we strip the topsoil, we bring in archaeologists to examine the site to see what is of interest there. If we weren’t quarrying here, these artefacts would never have been found.’

CPAT has found over 40 cooking pits and hearths across the site, as well as rubbish pits, all of which strongly suggest that the area was used as a settlement.

‘The Neolithic was an incredibly important period in our history as it was the time when people stopped being hunter-gatherers and became farmers. These are the origins of our communities,’ said Mr Grant.

Research carried out by Durham University, analysing charred seeds and other plant material, has also shown that the landscape at Borras 5,000 years ago was open grassland, suggesting that the natural, dense woodland had already been cleared by man.