Archaeologists to launch urgent Flag Fen excavation before peat dries out
A six-month dig at the Bronze Age Flag Fen site will start next year to salvage information preserved in peat that is rapidly drying due to climate change.
Archaeologists plan a six-month excavation of Flag Fen, one of Britain’s most important Bronze Age sites, beginning next year. The timber causeway, once 1.1 km long and supported by about 22,000 posts, was preserved in oxygen-free peat for millennia, but rising temperatures are causing the peat to dry and risk loss of data. Mark Knight, who will lead the dig, says a section nearer the surface is drying fastest and must be investigated now.
Funding of £700,000 comes from the Countryside Stewardship Heritage Service, a partnership between Defra and Historic England. Jacqui Mooney of Flag Fen Archaeology Park highlighted recent peat-fire threats at nearby Holme Fen, underscoring the urgency. The excavation will be the largest ever opened at the site, seeking to understand its role in trade, communication and ritual across four centuries of use. Farming Minister Stephen Morgan praised the project as a vital window into Bronze Age Britain, and volunteers will be trained to assist as supervisors and tour leaders.
Why it matters
The dig seeks to preserve unique Bronze Age evidence before climate-driven peat loss makes it irretrievable.
In this story
