Sometimes the smallest artifacts write the biggest stories

In 2015, archaeologists began systematically exploring one of the most interesting sites in England, known as Must Farm. The former village of around 60 inhabitants was built on pylons over water around 850 BC. About a year later it was completely destroyed by fire and the whole village sank to the bottom of a shallow muddy river. Thanks to the ideal conditions without access to oxygen, the site has remained almost intact to this day. The recent discovery there literally took the experts' breath away.

The Must Farm site is part of a low-lying bog connected to the North Sea by the River Nene. Human activity in the area dates back to the Neolithic period and settlement flourished here, particularly in the Bronze Age. But rising waters over thousands of years gradually flooded the landscape, turning the area into a vast marshland under thick deposits of sediment, clay and peat. This process gradually buried the archaeological sites far below the level of the present-day terrain.

In the 17th century the wetlands began to be drained and used as agricultural land. In the late nineteenth century the site became of interest for its high quality clay and a number of brickworks were built. In some places, mining reached depths of up to 30 metres. Some of Britain's most important dinosaur fossils were found here at that time.

The archaeological story of Must Farm began in 1999 when an amateur archaeologist noticed strange wooden logs protruding from the water at the bottom of a pit in an abandoned quarry. Having spent some time excavating the nearby Bronze Age site of 'Flag Fen', he recognised the unusual age of the posts and contacted the authorities. Archaeologists confirmed that the wooden beams dated from 1000 to 800 BC. However, full-scale archaeological research did not begin until 16 years later.

Archaeologists uncovered five complete roundhouses and wooden walkways that once stood almost 2 metres above the now-defunct river. Various metal tools and weapons, more than 100 ceramic and wooden vessels, and a wooden wheel over a metre in size were also discovered. The mud preserved the best collection of Bronze Age textiles in Britain to date. As the site was soon to become of interest to brickmakers, archaeologists had to work very quickly to save as many artefacts as possible.

Thousands of artefacts have so far been discovered at Must Farm, ranging from bronze axes and everyday objects to jewellery. A complete skein of thread has also been preserved. The objects are directly related to daily life in the Late Bronze Age and literally to one particular, fateful day: "So often in archaeology we see settlements gradually disappear, we see evidence of destruction," says Selina Davenport from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) at the University of Cambridge. "But here we see the very moment of extinction, and it's a life moment. The fire and the mud together have created an almost complete snapshot of the life of the settlement."

But among the most remarkable discoveries of all are the 56 small beads that were scattered around the site. Most of the beads were made of blue and green glass. They represent Britain's largest collection of Bronze Age glass beads. Other beads were of amber, slate, pewter and faience, finely tinned pottery.

Scientists have used the latest technology to trace their origins. The results were surprising; while Must Farm residents sourced most of their materials locally, all of the beads came from far away. For example, the slate beads came from Dorset on the south coast of England, while the amber beads were probably made in Ireland from amber imported from Denmark. The pewter bead came from Switzerland and the faience bead from Egypt or Mesopotamia.

Further analysis showed that most glass beads, or at least the glass used to make them, originally came from Iran. According to archaeologist Julian Henderson of the University of Nottingham, this is quite extraordinary. The beads were part of international trade networks in the Late Bronze Age, but it has only now been discovered that sites in present-day Iran were also traded. According to archaeologist Alison Sheridan of the National Museum of Scotland, Must Farm should not be seen as a marketplace or a centre for the exchange of goodsbut rather as a place where cosmopolitan and well-connected individuals lived with access to exotic objects from different places.

New discoveries reveal the complexity and diversity of Late Bronze Age trade networks. They show how far-reaching the contacts of the inhabitants of Must Farm were. Beads, especially glass beads, were originally part of a necklace which must have been very conspicuous and whose prestige cannot be underestimated. Despite a dramatic period of social and cultural collapse across Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia around 1200 BC. AD, these beads managed to travel vast distances to become part of Britain's archaeological heritage.

Roman Nemec

Sources: archaeology.org, bbc.com, themomentmagazine.com, artnet.com

Bronz axe with a preserved wooden handle

The beads are made of amber, gunpowder, slate, tin and faience (top row) and glass (second and third rows)

Kbeads from the necklace in situ

Kn addition to weapons such as swords and axes or this spearhead, everyday objects and tools such as sickles have also survived.

Keramic bowls and storage vessels - some of which still contain their original contents

The remains of a 3,000-year-old village were recently discovered in a clay quarry at Must Farm

Nhe largest wheel ever discovered in Britain - almost 1m in diameter

Rifferent beads from vast distances

Šyarn pullers

Textilia from Must Farm