A HAUNTING chance discovery unearthed during excavations in an East Yorkshire village has turned out to be one of the most important archaeological finds in years.

Workers disturbed a grave in Wetwang, near Pocklington, which had lain undisturbed since the Iron Age and which yielded a skeleton and parts of a chariot that had been buried together in the third or fourth century BC.

It is believed to be the earliest chariot burial ever found and the skeleton is likely to be that of a Celtic warrior aristocrat, possibly a tribal leader of French extraction, whom archaeologists are almost certain was a woman.

She appears to have been a precursor to the great warrior queen Boadicea, the scourge of the Romans, and her teeth and bones will be chemically tested to determine whether she was an immigrant from Gaul.

The amazing discoveries are leading archaeologists to believe the Wetwang area could have been the tribal centre of Celtic people who became known as the Parisi in the time of Julius Caesar.

David Miles, English Heritage's chief archaeologist, said: "This is one of the most significant and exciting Middle Iron Age burials ever found in Britain. The person in the grave was clearly very important and was buried with a rite that is almost exclusive to East Yorkshire and has links to the Continent. It may be the earliest chariot burial so far and could help us solve the mystery of who these people were and why they buried their dead in a way different to other Iron Age Britons."

Dr Jeremy Hill, the British Museum's curator for the Iron Age, said: "The things we have found so far are stunning, the best yet from East Yorkshire.

"They show just how skilful and unprimitive Prehistoric Britons actually were."

The remains came dramatically to light during exploration of a medieval manorial complex on the site, where five new houses are to be built by local firm and landowner Hogg the Builder, which paid for the initial excavation.

The finds have been donated to the British Museum to go on view to the nation, while the excavation has been filmed for the BBC2 programme Meet The Ancestors.

Updated: 10:43 Saturday, April 07, 2001