AN IRON AGE burial site, complete with a chariot, has been discovered during excavations for the route of the new A1 motorway.

The burial site, which was described as "rare and nationally significant", is in a field alongside a stretch of the A1, near South Milford, which is being transformed into a six-lane motorway.

It is thought to date back to between 370 and 520 BC.

Archaeologists say it is especially important because the chariot appears to have been placed in the burial pit intact. Most other British examples were dismantled prior to burial.

The chariot remains include two wheels, whose iron tyres have survived in relatively good condition.

A wooden axle, which would have run between the two wheels, along with the chariot's pole and yoke, have also been identified as soil stains, where the wood has completely decayed.

The archaeologists also uncovered a number of well-preserved bronze and iron objects, some of which are likely to be items of horse harness.

The skeleton of a man aged around 40 was found with the chariot.

The ditch of a small square enclosure around the burial site contained the bones of about 250 cattle. The cattle are thought to have come from a number of herds from a wide surrounding area, suggesting that the man buried with the chariot was a man of some standing and influence.

It is believed the bones were the remains of a huge feast, which took place not long after the burial.

Excavator Angela Boyle, who is supervising the dig for Oxford Archaeology, said: "This is one of the most significant Iron Age burials ever found in the UK.

"Its westerly location will shed new light on the influence of tribes, which we thought were only located in East Yorkshire.

"The finds have now been removed and are being conserved for future study and deposited with the local museum service."

Only 19 other chariot burials were known in the UK prior to the latest discovery.

All are in East Yorkshire around Wetwang, apart from one near Edinburgh.

Updated: 10:46 Wednesday, December 03, 2003