A Bronze Age Wheel Has Been Unearthed In Britain

    It's believed to be the earliest and largest complete wheel of its kind.

    A wheel dating from between 1,100 and 800 BC and measuring one metre across has been unearthed at Must Farm near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.

    It's believed to be the earliest complete Bronze Age wheel ever found in Britain. A partial wheel found in the 1990s dating from 1300 BC pips it to the oldest title, but the new wheel is bigger and more complete.

    The wheel is in such good condition that it still contains its hub.

    The dig site where the wheel was found sits across an ancient waterway, and has produced plenty of other interesting finds in its time.

    According to Historic England, before the wheel discovery, it had already taught us a lot about domestic life 3,000 years ago:

    [The site] has already revealed circular wooden houses believed to be the best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found in Britain. The large wheel was unearthed just a few metres away from the largest round house on the site. Other exciting finds include a wooden platter, small wooden box and rare small bowls and jars with food remains inside, as well as exceptional textiles and Bronze Age tools. The houses collapsed into a river, after a catastrophic fire, which preserved their contents in amazing detail.

    “This site is one of continuing surprise, but if you had asked me, a perfectly preserved wheel is the last thing I would have expected to find,” the archaeological site director Mark Knight told the Guardian.