Archaeologists recently unearthed unique and remarkable wooden spade in England.
As per multiple reports, radiocarbon dating indicates that this artifact is about 3,500 years old.
Now this remarkable artifact has become one of the oldest and most well preserved wooden tools ever discovered in the UK.
Phil Trim, an archaeologist who helped lead the recovery, said, “I’d describe it as a once-in-a-career type find. It’s so rare [that] it’s not something I’d even put on my bucket list that I’d like to find as an archaeologist. It’s a really unique object, to find something that’s wooden of that age.”
The spade was discovered in a ring gully, a type of circular trench that is likely used to prevent flooding around buildings.
The researchers first thought that it might be a tree root but eventually they realised that it was a complete tool.
Now experts are working to preserve this unique tool for the future.
Ed Treasure, an environmental archaeologist with Wessex Archaeology, tells BBC News, “[Preservation] occurs where it remains permanently wet through burial and excludes the oxygen.”
He added, “So unlike in a normal archaeological site, where organic remains like wood would disappear, they can become preserved for thousands of years, as this one demonstrates. But they are also very fragile, even when preserved.”
The spade seems to have been carved from a single piece of oak.
Archaeologists aren't sure how it was built or what it was used for, but they have several theories.
Researchers believed that it might have been used to cut peat on the site. It may also have been used to dig the ring gully in which it was found.
However, the researchers are now seeking additional research to understand further details about the newly discovered tool.
