Newbridge Industrial Estate, Archaeological monitoring

Headland were commissioned by Muir Construction to undertake an archaeological watching brief in advance of the construction of an industrial estate at Interchange Park, Newbridge. The close proximity of a known Bronze Age burial mound suggested that there may be other archaeological features in the area and this did prove to be the case. Features were identified ranging in date from Neolithic to modern.  The prehistoric features included a human cremation, a group of ring-ditches and an Iron Age chariot burial. The chariot burial is of exceptional interest; it is the first example recorded in Scotland and the closest parallels are in north-east France and Belgium. The Newbridge find contrasts with the only other known area of chariot burials in the UK, in Yorkshire. Here almost all burials are of dismantled vehicles. Dated by radiocarbon to the 5th century BC the Newbridge chariot is also much earlier than the Yorkshire examples.

As a result of Headland’s quick response to this exceptional find in the field delays to the development were minimised.  The site has been submitted for publication and a full scale replica of the chariot has been built for display by the National Museum of Scotland.

Any large project requires an interdisciplinary approach to planning and management.