Could Iron Age site at Sewerby have had links to Roman slave trade?

They say it is evidence of sophisticated land management in what is now East Yorkshire from as early as 750 BC to 43AD.

But it may also have had links to something far more sinister - the Romano-British slave trade.

The enclosure, which had a substantial gateway and was surrounded by a ditch, had a perimeter measuring more than 450 feet around.

Archaeologists also found evidence of an Iron Age track - complete with still visible wheel ruts - running off towards Danes Dyke to the east.

Inside the enclosure, archaeologists found fragments of Whitby jet, prehistoric pottery, stone tools such as grinders and hammerstones - and evidence of flint working dating back as early as the middle to late stone age.

Aerial view showing the outline of the enclosure, right, and the remains of the Iron Age track, left (Image: LS Archaeology)

There is no evidence that anyone lived there, says Donna Signorelli of LS Archaeology, which carried out the dig at Bridlington Links Golf Course at Sewerby - although there are Iron Age homesteads quite nearby.

Instead, the enclosure may have been used partly for animal husbandry - or even early industry.

The enclosure contained traces of several crescent-shaped ditches with their backs facing north east, presumably to provide shelter from the wind.

They may have been used as animal shelters - or to create sheltered workplaces, Donna says. “They could have been slaughtering animals, or stretching skins. It all feels fairly organised.”

There’s another, more sinister possibility, too.

Could the enclosure have been used to keep slaves?

There’s no direct evidence of that, Donna admits. But the track leading off towards Danes Dyke and the coast may have linked up with other Iron Age and Romano British sites on Flamborough Head.

“The Romano-British were renowned for slavery,” she said. “There’s nothing to suggest that this is where they were holding people - but they definitely had people coming in (as slaves).”

It is most likely that the enclosure was mainly used for animal husbandry, Donna admits. But other theories can't be ruled out.

Strabo the Greek geographer wrote a piece about Britain in this period - and specifically mentioned a trade in slaves.

"These things (grain, cattle, gold, silver, and iron), accordingly, are exported from the island, as also hides, and slaves..." he wrote.

The dig was carried out between February and August last year, before the building of holiday log cabins by Pure Leisure Ltd - but it is only now that a report of the findings has been completed.

As to Danes Dyke itself - the name is a bit misleading, Donna says.

It was built long before the Vikings settled here.

In fact, it is thought to date from the Bronze Age - along with other linear earthworks on the nearby Yorkshire Wolds.

“Its name, however, suggests a later date and it would seem likely that it was reused as a defensive earthwork at some point in the late ninth and tenth centuries AD,” Donna said.