“What a site for archaeology! But back in 1978 the bad winter weather meant there was little time to excavate and record the discoveries.

The archaeologists did their best to save what they could, excavating scientifically under the worst weather conditions. They managed to dig five of the many Iron Age burials here and to locate four others.

Some of the dead had been buried in wooden chambers and accompanied by entire tableware sets as grave goods, including drinking vessels. Food and drink were provided for the afterlife!

I’m especially thrilled by the remains of chariots and models of chariot wheels found in the graves! What a sight it must have been – these charioteers of the early Iron Age rumbling across the plains with their companions. They used the chariots to fight just as Achilles and Patroclus once did in faraway Troy. The people who lived here knew the famous tales from ancient Greece, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Just like the Greeks, the local social elites were urged to glory by these heroic tales from the renowned poet Homer.

In death they are provided with rich tableware so they can dine together with the Trojan heroes at the table of the gods.”