‘Long-lost’ Iron Age artifacts discovered by veterans near UK airfield. Take a look
The island of Anglesey, Wales, is home to Royal Air Force Valley, an air force base and training facility for the next generation of fighter pilots in the United Kingdom.
First opened in 1941, the airfield sits on thousands of years of history, and when construction began in September on improvements to the airfield, the Royal Air Force (RAF) called for help from archaeologists to sift through the sediment.
It wasn’t just historians and researchers who answered the call.
A number of military veterans, through a program called Operation Nightingale, joined the search, according to a Jan. 27 news release from the Defense Infrastructure Organization (DIO).
The program “sees injured and sick personnel and veterans taking part in archaeological investigations across the defense estate, providing unique experiences in the field,” according to the organization, and now they’ve made a significant discovery that’s been declared a “national treasure.”
As the veterans searched near the airfield, they discovered “long-lost” artifacts from the Iron Ages, likely part of the “famed Llyn Cerrig Bach” hoard which was originally discovered in the 1940s, according to the DIO.
One of the artifacts was a terret ring, which would have been used on Celtic chariots to help guide the horse reins, the organization said. The piece is likely 2,000 years old.
“We’d been briefed on the sort of things we could expect to find, so when I uncovered the piece, I was pretty sure it was an Iron Age terret ring,” veteran David Ulke said in the release. “To say I was over the moon is probably an understatement! I’ve been involved in archaeology for many years and this was by far the most significant recovery I have ever made.”
A current servicemember, Graham Moore, discovered a bridle bit dating to about 60 A.D., according to the DIO.
“The search for the lost hoard was hard work and we had a huge area to cover. It wasn’t until the final day — with just 10 minutes to go — that I discovered the horse bridle-bit,” Moore said in the release. “At first the team thought I was joking, but quickly realized I’d found something special. Words could not explain how I felt in that moment, but it was a wonderful experience.”
Adam Gwilt, a curator at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales where the pieces will be donated, said the items were well-preserved and likely dragged onto the land that now makes up the airfield 80 years ago from a nearby lake.
The items were likely thrown into the lake as part of a religious practice at the end of the Iron Age, around the time the Romans invaded Wales, and the island of Anglesey, Gwilt said in the release.
The entire hoard now includes more than 150 bronze and iron objects from between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D., according to the DOI.
“These finds at RAF Valley are extremely exciting for all involved; the Llyn Cerrig Bach hoard is of national importance for Wales, and the United Kingdom as a whole,” DIO senior archaeologist Richard Osgood said in the release. “These new discoveries have confirmed the suspicions of earlier archaeologists that there was more to be found from this particular hoard.”
Anglesey is on the northwestern coast of Wales, on the coast of the Irish Sea.
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM with the headline "‘Long-lost’ Iron Age artifacts discovered by veterans near UK airfield. Take a look."
