Pre-historic village, Roman era burial place unearthed at Rolls-Royce site

The simple structures and basic pottery suggest a small community living modestly off the land.

Archeologists have found a settlement dating back to the prehistoric and early Roman eras (around 6000 BC-AD 43) under a Rolls-Royce site in Filton, Bristol.

According to Rolls-Royce, during trial trenching of the land, a process done to make sure that no archaeological remains are present before commencing groundworks, AOC Archaeology Group discovered the settlement. They were brought in for the process as part of infrastructure improvements at the car maker's site, supported by AECOM.

Numerous post holes and pottery fragments were found at the site, along with what the archeologists suggest was a double-ditched enclosure marking the settlement’s northern boundary. Thus, it is likely there were several, simple structures within the settlement.

The simple nature of the ceramics found indicate that the community relied on locally available resources for survival

Just north of the settlement’s edge, a burial site of an individual from the Roman Era was also unearthed. The individual's remains and the other items recovered are currently undergoing processing and cleaning by an archaeological team, after which local museums will house them.

George Mitchell, Vice President, Infrastructure, UK&I Early Lifecycle Defense, expressed his fascination with the discoveries. He said, “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."