Whole in one: Preserved Bronze Age coffin found in golf course pond to go on show
A 4,000-year-old log coffin found by chance beneath a golf course pond is to go on display in Lincoln.
The coffin, from the early Bronze Age, was found in July 2018 at Tetney Golf Club near Grimsby and was at risk of rapid deterioration upon being exposed to elements, only for a team of archaeologists who happened to be nearby to step in and rescue it.
Experts described the find, which also contained a well-preserved axe and male human remains, as exceptionally rare.
The wood that such coffins are made from usually rots away over the centuries. However, in this case, coastal flooding had buried it in a deep layer of silt that helped preserve it.
The local authorities were quickly alerted to its discovery and a team of archaeologists from the University of Sheffield were able to step in and preserve it.
“Once the wet wood was out of the ground, there wasn’t long to react,” said Tim Allen, an archaeologist from Historic England.
The practices involved in the burial suggest its inhabitant was of high status. The coffin, which measures roughly 10ft by 3ft, was carved from a single oak log, while the interior was padded with yew and juniper leaves. The whole ensemble was then buried under a gravel mound.
Mark Casswell, who owns the golf club, said: “My family farmed here for years before we opened the golf course and I’d never have imagined that there was a whole other world there buried under the fields. It’s certainly something to think about while you’re playing your way round the course.”
The waterlogged wood is undergoing preservation work at the York Archaeological Trust, and it will take at least two years before it is ready to exhibit.
