Dorney Lake's excavation has yielded an amazing wealth of archaeological material. Oxford Archaeology, a professional organisation given access to the site, found one of the most complete rural landscape histories in Britain, dating from the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago. The nearby River Thames changed its course several times and kindly left behind a type of soil ideal for preservation.

Changing from mostly woodland to cleared settlements and with 'hunter-gatherers' giving way to settled farming groups, this is a fascinating story, encompassing the New Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, the Roman and Saxon periods and beyond.


Finds included a series of bridges, a ladder up to a bridge, burial mounds, wooden structures, a Roman farmstead, human and animal skeletons, the oldest scythe found in Britain, other tools, potsherds (broken pots), leaves, seeds, insects and pollen. One isolated burial area contained an Anglo-Saxon woman, possibly put separately because she was considered a witch, with several objects including an amethyst pendant. And there's evidence of unusual practices - 'defleshed' bodies left exposed. Could this be just helping the dead on their way or evidence of something darker?!!

Inter-active displays will be on show in the Site Interpretation Centre and several features will be reconstructed for viewing by visitors. They may even be able to help in, for instance, setting up a Roman barn and river bridge. Special Open Days will provide displays and hands-on chances to try woodland management and craft techniques and, in tandem with the nature trails, there will be similar ones for archaeology.


Meanwhile Eton College and Eton Aggregates, the gravel-extracting consortium constructing the Lake, have produced archaeology packs for Key Stages 2 and 3, which have proved very popular, and more are planned for other study levels. Across the curriculum there is a rich vein of landscape development, human and animal settlement, farming practices, decorative arts and overall social history to be tapped.

Watch this space!