Image
© BBCA number of Roman burials were uncovered during the dig
Excavation of a proposed park-and-ride site in Taunton has revealed one of the largest prehistoric roundhouses in Britain and a number of Roman burials.

The house dates from the Iron Age (400-100 BC) and was constructed from wooden posts with a thatched roof and had a diameter of 17m (56ft)

The finds unearthed from the Cambria Farm site since December 2008 are to be displayed by the Museum of Somerset.

Construction of the new park-and-ride site is due to start in April.

Archaeologists also found three Iron Age spearheads, a pair of Roman shears loom weights, Roman brooches and large amounts of pottery.

Experts said there were originally four houses on the site that were next to fields where mixed agriculture of cereal crop and sheep farming were practised.

It appears that after the roundhouses went out of use, the site was used to bury the dead. A number of Roman graves have been excavated including some very unusual burials.

Deputy leader of Somerset county council Justin Robinson said: "This significant collection of finds is another piece in the jigsaw of Somerset's rich history.

"I hope residents and visitors to the county will be able to share in this information when it goes on display in the Museum of Somerset."