Bronze Age burial chamber to be excavated

The discovery could be as significant as the one found at Whitehorse Hill near Cranmere Pool

Dartmoor National Park Authority is to spend £90,000 excavating what experts believe is a Bronze Age burial chamber.

The authority said it could be as significant as the one found at Whitehorse Hill near Cranmere Pool on the north moor, which turned out to be the burial chamber of a young woman from about 1700 BC.

Archaeologist Dr Lee Bray said the latest cist - an ancient coffin or burial chamber - was discovered about two years ago as the peat eroded around it.

Authority members voted unanimously to set aside the money, with the option of seeking funds from other sources including a crowdfunding drive.

'Something quite special'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the location of the new find has not been revealed to prevent the cist being tampered with before it can be examined properly.

Dr Bray said: "We have every potential for this to be something quite special. We don’t know for certain if this is a cist, but it certainly looks like one.

"All the evidence we have points to it being a cist from the early Bronze Age."

The peat around it is waterlogged, meaning any clothing or artefacts inside could be very well preserved.

Dr Bray said there were three options – to leave it where it is and let nature take its course, to try to halt the erosion or to excavate.

Authority chair Pamela Woods said: “It’s so exciting. We can’t not do it.

“We are enthralled by this.”