A 4,000-YEAR-OLD Bronze Age burial chamber, harbouring a host of unidentified material, has been unearthed in Dartmoor National Park. The discovery, led by experts from the University of Plymouth, is hoped to reveal more about the 'intimate' lives of prehistoric people on the moor. The chamber is known as a cist, which is a box made of stone slabs set in the ground - a popular Bronze Age burial technique.
A week-long excavation at Cut Hill uncovered the cist, topped with granite stones, which experts revealed contains well-preserved wood and "a host of other material yet to be identified," according to a statement. It's unclear whether the unidentified "other material" is human remains. Researchers have dated the cist to around 1,800BC – or 3,800 years old.
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The Bronze Age was the period of time between the Stone Age and the Iron Age It is characterised by the common use of bronze at the time and also the start of some urban civilisations Flint was replaced by bronze for tools and weapons In Europe, the Bronze Age occurred from around 3200 to 600 BC During this time period, ancient empires started to trade luxury goods Bronze tools helped develop city building Metalworks, farmers and other craftspeople would come together in cities to trade goods With stronger weapons, came larger-scale wars and battles not seen before this time period The wheel and the ox-drawn plow were invented which helped farming flourish Bronze A.