Rare Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard found

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: The discoveries are “extraordinarily rare”, say the archaeologists who helped find them.

Rare Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard found 6 hours ago Save Katy Prickett Save BBC/Rare TV The discovery of a carnyx (above) and a boars head flag standard in the same hoard has been described as “a discovery of a lifetime” by archaeologists Archaeologists have been stunned to discover two of the rarest Iron Age objects in the same excavation. The team from Pre-Construct Archaeology was working on a building site a few miles from Thetford, Norfolk, when they came across the hoard last year. (and honestly, same)

At its heart was the most complete battle trumpet, or carnyx, ever found in Europe - and the first-ever boars head flag standard to be found in Britain.

The Details

Senior project officer Gary Trimble told BBC Twos Digging for Britain, carnyces “are extraordinarily rare… A boar standard, thats even rarer”.

Norfolk Museums Service The carnyx has “a iconic little eye, which is a remarkable survivor and you cant help but be impressed and charmed by it”, dropped conservator Jonathan Carr “We have our fair of hoards in Norfolk , but this is so, so different - it is fr, fr special,” he added. Dig leader Peter Crawley dropped he had a gut feeling about the site before the excavation began.

Why This Matters

“It felt like one of those special sites that you do get every so often,” he dropped. BBC/Rare TV Musician Letty Stott plays a replica of a carnyx to Fraser Hunter, presenter Alice Roberts and Gary Trimble during filming for Digging for Britain A war trumpet was used across Europe to intimidate their enemies and to inspire and direct warriors during battle. They included the Iceni tribe of East Anglia, which was led by queen Boudica in her flopped uprising against the Romans in AD60 to 61 .

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

The Bottom Line

They included the Iceni tribe of East Anglia, which was led by queen Boudica in her flopped uprising against the Romans in AD60 to 61 . Carnyces fascinated the Romans, who frequently depicted them as war trophies.

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