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Meare Lake Village
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Location Meare, Somerset, England
Built Iron Age
Reference no. 194185

Meare Lake Village is an amazing ancient settlement from the Iron Age. It is located on the Somerset Levels in Meare, Somerset, England. This special place is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

What Was Meare Lake Village?

Imagine a time long ago, between 300 BC and 100 AD. During this period, two villages stood within what was once a large body of water called the Meare Pool. These villages were a bit like the famous Glastonbury Lake Village nearby.

How the Villages Were Built

The Meare Pool was surrounded by raised peat bogs. Over time, the pool filled with about 2 meters (6.5 feet) of mud. Back then, the pool was quite big, stretching about 3 kilometers (2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) wide.

The people built their villages on a marshy area. They created an artificial foundation using timber. They filled this base with brushwood, bracken, rubble, and clay. The two villages, known as the east and west villages, were built on top of dried peat. They likely started as simple structures like tents and animal pens. Each village had between 50 and 60 hut sites.

Later, the villagers spread clay over the peat. This made raised platforms for their homes, workshops, and pathways. In some spots, thicker clay was used to build hearths, which were like ancient fireplaces, made of clay or stone. More recent studies show that the villages were built by laying dried clay over the Sphagnum Moss of the bog.

Life in the Lake Village

Archaeologists haven't found many remains of walls or roofs. This makes some experts think the huts might have been like tents. Perhaps people only lived there during certain seasons of the year.

The lake villages in this area were connected by special pathways. These tracks, like the Sweet Track, were built across the peat bog. Other trackways included Honeygore, Abbotts Way, Bells, Bakers, Westhay, and Nidons. These paths made it easier for people to travel between the different settlements.

Uncovering the Past: Excavations

The Meare villages were first discovered in 1895. However, serious digging, called excavation, didn't begin until 1908. Much of the early work was done by two important archaeologists, Arthur Bulleid and Harold Gray.

Modern Discoveries

In the 1970s, a group called the Somerset Levels Project did more excavations in the western part of the site. They then explored the eastern area in the 1980s. In 1998, a special survey using ground-penetrating radar was carried out by the Centre for Wetland Archaeology at the University of Hull. Exeter University also took core samples from the ground.

Archaeologists found many interesting things. They uncovered several hearths in the buried remains of one house. They also found several lias stones around a fire, including one standing upright that might have been a backrest.

Amazing Artefacts

Many artefacts were found, giving us clues about daily life. These included cut pieces of red deer antler, pieces of iron, and parts of a bronze bowl. A spiral finger ring made from bronze and a decorated amber bead were also discovered. A large number of bone and antler weaving combs were found. This suggests that making braids was an important activity in the village.

The site was also a place where glass was worked during the Iron Age. They were especially good at making beads. Some of these beautiful glass beads are now kept in the National Museum of Wales.

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