The Neolithic and the Bronze Age
Evidence of people living in Castleford
The archaeologists found Neolithic pottery and Neolithic to Bronze Age flints during the Castleford excavations. They didn’t find any evidence for the homes or buildings of these early people. They were probably quite flimsy and may have been destroyed by later development – from the Romans to the modern day.
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1. These fragments of pottery date to about 3000 BC, during the Neolithic period. Pottery this early is a very rare find in West Yorkshire. People may have made containers from leather and bark instead of pottery.
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2. Â’t decay. Flint was used before metal was available, to make knives, scrapers and arrowheads.
Evidence of people living in the area
Burials and monuments of the same date as the Castleford pottery and flint have been found near Ferrybridge power station. In the Neolithic a henge monument (a large circular earthwork) was built there. Archaeologists think this was a religious monument, where people held meetings and ceremonies.
People went on using the henge monument for a long time. During the Bronze Age several round barrows containing burials were built close to the henge. The archaeologists found burials with grave goods such as flint daggers and arrowheads.
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3. Â’s reconstruction of people gathering at the Ferrybridge henge monument in the Bronze Age. By this date Bronze Age barrows have been added around the original henge monument.
Timeline:
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