Ahead of construction on a new golf course in the Scottish Highlands, archeologists uncovered an extremely rare find: a prehistoric chariot wheel buried inside a ceremonial circle. But at first sight, experts weren’t quite convinced of the ancient artifact’s significance.
“I was initially a bit dismissive,” Avon Archeology principal archeologist Andy Young told BBC News, adding that he initially thought it might be a more recent wheel buried by a local farmer. “None of us had really seen one before in terms of physically excavating one. We were a bit bemused.”
Further investigation erased any doubt about the wheel’s origins. According to a statement from Avon Archeology, the forged iron wheel could only have been built by a highly skilled blacksmith. Constructing it required the artisan to first forge-weld multiple smelted iron strips on an anvil, then fit the heated tire over a wooden wheel before allowing it to rapidly cool and shrink to fit. The chariot was likely a two-wheeled construction, although the second wheel appears to have been lost at some point due to modern plowing techniques.
The wheel could have originated no earlier than Scotland’s Iron Age (roughly 500 BCE–500 CE), and while experts await more precise radiocarbon dating results, they estimate the burial pit dates to around 200 BCE. The site also contains a 3,500-year-old Bronze Age cremation urn, quern stones, flint tools, as well as the remnants of at least 25 surrounding Neolithic wooden buildings.
Chariot remains are scarce in Scotland. Archeologists have only confirmed four previous vehicle components in the country, and the latest find appears to be the first ever found in the Scottish Highlands. Despite their rarity, the artifacts can help historians better understand and contextualize life in the region. Ceremonial practices and farming techniques in the Highlands remained largely the same from about 6,000 years ago until the Middle Ages.
One of the last chariot discoveries in Scotland occurred 24 years ago at Newbridge in Edinburgh. And in 2008, archeologists about 40 miles away also excavated a piece of an Iron Age horse harness.
“They are such a rare thing,” Young emphasized.
According to Avon Archeology representatives, the chariot appears to have been interred in the ceremonial pit with cremated human remains, coarse pottery, and animal bones. Taken altogether, the site is indicative of a votive burial deposit for a wealthy local of high standing, potentially even a tribal chief.
The finds at the future Old Petty Championship Golf Course will be radiocarbon dated and analyzed before conservatorships receive them at museums in Edinburgh and Inverness. Scotland also imposes strict laws and regulations for the handling of archeological sites—the prehistoric ceremonial circle has already been reburied at its original location to preserve its integrity. A more thorough report on the discoveries is expected later this year—just in time for Old Petty’s opening tee times.
“It’s humbling to think that… Old Petty will rest on such historically rich ground,” said Stuart McColm, Vice President of Golf Development at Cabot.
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