British Archaeology Issue no 40, December 1998 News
An inverted oak tree pushed into the ground with its roots pointing up at the sky has been discovered on a beach on the North Norfolk coast surrounded by a ring of timber posts.
The oval ring of 54 posts, close-set to form a near-continuous wall around the inverted oak, lies between the high and low water marks, and has been preserved by regular immersion and burial in shifting sands and clays since it was first built, possibly in the Bronze Age. It re-emerged recently as a result of coastal erosion.
The eerie symbolism of the upside-down tree, stripped of bark and wrapped in a tendril of honeysuckle, clearly marks the discovery as some form of ritual structure. Francis Pryor, archaeological director of Flag Fen and an expert in waterlogged Bronze Age remains, said the tree resembled a `table with fingers' which could have been an altar. `The obvious explanation is that you'd have a body there, and the sea would come in and take the body away.'
The site, which is without known parallels, was `the most extraordinary archaeological discovery' he had ever seen. `I was absolutely staggered when I first saw it. I had goose-pimples. You could appreciate the whole thing at a glance,' he said.
The structure, at Holme-next-the-Sea near Hunstanton, has not yet been firmly dated by dendrochronology, but strong pointers to a Bronze Age date include distinctive tool-marks on the wood, the absence of sawing and of non-native species, its location in dated Bronze Age peat levels, and the recent discovery nearby of a Bronze Age axe.
The ring of posts, recorded by Mark Brennand of the Norfolk Archaeological Unit with funds from English Heritage, consists mainly of oaks split in half with the straight side facing in - as if the structure was supposed to be viewed primarily from the inside. It contains two possible blocked entrances.
According to Mr Brennand, further excavation - for which funds have yet to be secured - would establish, amongst other things, whether human remains or artefacts lie buried under the inverted tree. Time, however, is running out. `The sea is being extremely destructive at the moment, eroding the peat in massive chunks. Preservation in situ is not an option.' he said.
The Daily Telegraph covered the story as Mysterious ring of ancient trunks on 14 Jan 1999, but the story re-surfaced six months later in the Guardian as Wooden door to past (The Guardian, Thursday July 29, 1999). The dating of the circle was covered by The Guardian (Seaside wooden circle dates from 2050BC).