A small prehistoric settlement – which is believed to be over 2,000 years old – has been discovered on the site of Rolls-Royce’s Bristol facility.
The archaeologists assigned to the Bristol site have undertaken trial trenching, which is a means of investigating a sample of a site to check for anything of archaeological significance before construction activities.
During this work, they have identified a double ditched enclosure along with several post holes and various small shards of basic pottery. Several pits and a small enclosure have also been located within this settlement.
Archaeologists also discovered evidence of an individual thought to be living sometime during the Roman settlement of the wider area, with the remains being found to the north of the double ditched settlement.
The human remains, thought to be an individual living in the settlement
Rolls Royce’s Bristol site – which opened for operations in January 2020 – is a composite technology hub which develops fan blades and fan cases which help to significantly reduce the weight in a jet engine, lowering fuel consumption and emissions.
Commenting on the findings, George Mitchell, vice president of infrastructure, UK&I early lifecycle defence George Mitchell said: “The discovery of both the small prehistoric settlement and the buried human remains have been a fascinating arc to our ongoing Bristol site infrastructure improvements and have sparked the imaginations of our team.”
He continued: “It was during ground remediation work – which includes cleaning to remove any pollutants that have built up over decades of engine building and testing – that the remarkable discoveries were uncovered.”
All findings – including the human remains – are currently with the archaeologists for cleaning and processing and will ultimately be stored in a local museum.