In 1817 a group of East Yorkshire gentry opened barrows in a large Iron Age cemetery on the Yorkshire Wolds at Arras, near Market Weighton, including a remarkable burial accompanied by a chariot with two horses, which became known as the King’s Barrow. This was the third season of excavation undertaken there, producing spectacular finds including a further chariot burial and the so-called Queen’s barrow, which contained a gold ring, many glass beads and other items. These and later discoveries would lead to the naming of the Arras Culture, and the suggestion of connections with the near European continent. Since then further remarkable finds have been made in the East Yorkshire region, including 23 chariot burials, most recently at Pocklington in 2017 and 2018, where both graves contained horses, and were featured on BBC 4’s Digging for Britain series.
This volume bring together papers presented by leading experts at the Royal Archaeological Institute Annual Conference, held at the Yorkshire Museum, York, in November 2017, to celebrate the bicentenary of the Arras discoveries. The remarkable Iron Age archaeology of eastern Yorkshire is set into wider context by views from Scotland, the south of England and Iron Age Western Europe. The book covers a wide variety of topics including migration, settlement and landscape, burials, experimental chariot building, finds of various kinds and reports on the major sites such as Wetwang/Garton Slack and Pocklington.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of contributors
• Introduction
• 1. Setting the scene – landscape and settlement in Iron Age eastern Yorkshire Peter Halkon
• 2. The Iron Age cemeteries at Pocklington and other excavations by MAP Mark Stephens and Paula Ware
• 3. Excavations in Garton Slack and Wetwang Slack 1963–1989 John Strickland Dent
• 4. Wide connections: women, mobility and power in Iron Age East YorkshireMelanie Giles, Victoria Green and Pedro Peixoto
• 5. New light on Iron Age warfare in Britain Yvonne Inall
• 6. Isotopes and chariots: diet, subsistence and origins of Iron Age people from Yorkshire Mandy Jay and Janet Montgomery
• 7. Reconstructing British chariots Robert Hurford
• 8. Perpetual motion: a reading of the artistic and cultural significance of Iron Age vehicle terrets Anna Lewis
• 9. Pattern and plainness in middle Iron Age East Yorkshire Helen Chittock
• 10. A northern view of Arras: or, we have chariots too Fraser Hunter
• 11. A view from the south Timothy Champion
• 12. Migrations in Iron Age Europe: a comparative view Manuel Fernández-Götz