Meare Lake Villages

Meare Lake Villages lie on the flat Somerset Levels near the village of Meare. They mark the remains of two Iron Age settlements built between 300 BC and AD 100 on a boggy lake bed now drained. The pools once stretched two miles long and one mile wide, surrounded by raised peat bogs. Each village stood on an artificial platform of timber, brushwood, bracken, rubble and clay to keep the floors above the water. About fifty to sixty hut sites have been recognised in each settlement, laid out on the dried peat surface. The villages were seasonal camps rather than permanent homes. Clay platforms were spread over the peat to create dry standings for living, working and moving around. Hearths of clay or stone were built in places where thicker clay was laid down. Tracks such as the Sweet Track crossed the bog to link these lake villages with others nearby. Excavations led by Arthur Bulleid and Harold Gray in the early 20th century uncovered hearths, stones and many small finds. Archaeologists found red deer antler pieces, iron fragments, a bronze bowl rim, a spiral finger ring and an amber bead. Bone and antler weaving combs suggest braid making was an important craft. Glass-working furnaces show the villagers specialised in bead production. Some of these beads now belong to the National Museum of Wales.