Meare Lake Village East (Somerset Levels east settlement)
Meare East · Meare Village East
Iron Age (Middle–Late Iron Age, 350–50 BCE)·British Iron Age (Meare–Glastonbury ware, southwest Iron Age)·🇬🇧 England, Somerset, Sedgemoor, Somerset Levels, Meare Heath, east of Glastonbury, United Kingdom
About
About Meare Lake Village East (Somerset Levels east settlement)
Eastern counterpart to Meare Lake Village West — Iron Age artificial island settlement (c.350–50 BCE) on peat lake at Meare Heath. Excavated 1911–21 (Bulley & St George Gray, 400 m x 90 m east mound vs west) with 20 clay-floored roundhouses with ash spread and brushwood sub-raft, dated by Glastonbury ware (400–50 BCE) and La Tène brooches (250–50 BCE). East village lacks West's rich bronze foundry evidence but yields exceptional wetland preservation of basketry, loom weights and dugout canoes. Re-studied 1998–2009 by Somerset Levels Project showing seasonal occupation with winter culling of red deer and summer clay redo. Scheduled; re-flooded peat 2008.
Why it mattersOnly paired lake-village demonstration in Europe — east–west seasonal complementary occupation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Seasonality east vs west
Theories
- 01Transhumant lake pastoralism
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.350 BCE (early La Tène)
- Period
- Iron Age (Middle–Late Iron Age, 350–50 BCE)
- Culture
- British Iron Age (Meare–Glastonbury ware, southwest Iron Age)
- Builders
- Somerset Levels Iron Age wetland farmers
- Purpose
- Seasonal wetland village with iron forging and deer culling on peat lake
- Abandoned
- c.50 BCE (peat acidification)
- Rediscovered
- 1911 Bulley trench; 1934 St George Gray completion
- Excavation
- Excavated
-350
First brushwood raft and clay floor
1934
St George Gray completes East plan
On the ground
Structures & features
51.1650° N · 2.7850° W · 6 m · 2 mapped features
Roundhouse Clay Floor (House 4)
roundhouse7-m roundhouse with 15-cm clay floor and Glastonbury ware scatter
51.1660° N · 2.7840° WBrushwood Raft Foundation
foundationBirch–alder brushwood raft 90-m edge of east island
51.1640° N · 2.7860° W