Metal Detectorist Finds 2,000-Year-Old Chariot Wheels and Ritual Weapons in Yorkshire Field

Archeologists excavate chariot wheels and other metal fragments at the Melsonby Hoard site in Yorkshire, UK (Courtesy of Durham University); (Inset): Objects from the Melsonby Hoard in the Yorkshire Museum. Courtesy of Yorkshire Museum

When Peter Heads’ metal detector sounded in a muddy field in late December 2021, he knew he had found something big. The amateur detectorist began digging near the village of Melsonby in North Yorkshire, UK, and soon uncovered the first fragments of a 2,000-year-old ritual deposit.

Grasping the importance of the find, Heads alerted Tom Moore, the head of the archaeology department at Durham University. The objects date back to the Iron Age, Heads told him. They knew looters would pose a very real threat, so the find had to remain a closely guarded secret.