Retired Surgeon Digging Foundations Discovered ‘Oldest Ever’ Wood Carving

A wood carving so old it predates the advent of agriculture in Britain miraculously preserved in a peat bog was discovered by a retired surgeon whose interest in history meant he was able to recognise it.

Historic England, the government body which deals with the country’s historic places has announced the discovery of what they describe as piece of hand-carved wood which is the “oldest ever found in Britain”. The large piece of oak, which is over three feet long, was discovered by retired surgeon Derek Fawcett five feet underground while he was digging foundations for a new workshop on his land in Boxford, Berkshire.

The so-called Boxford Timber has what is described as “intentional cut marks”, which are believed to be decorative in purpose.  According to an analysis of the Timber by Historic England’s academic partners, it has been dated with “a 95 per cent probability” to 4640 to 4605 BC. In other words, the Timber would be at least 6,600 years old and is some 2,000 years older than the present believed age of Stone Henge, the famous British late Neolithic monument.

The Boxford Timber, then, dates to the Mesolithic period, the Middle Stone Age in England when natives would have survived on hunting, fishing, and foraging, without settled communities. Farming and permanent towns would not develop for centuries hence.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said: “This exciting find has helped to shine new light on our distant past and we’re grateful to the landowner for recognising its significance.”

To the casual observer, the excavated piece of wood may not have excited much interest, but finder Fawcett recognised the hand-made marks and turned it over to Historic England. The unlikely combination of a wooden piece of such exceptional antiquity surviving by having fallen into a low-oxygen environment, and it being dug up six millennia later by someone with a keen enough eye to recognise it underlines how rare such finds are.

Fawcett said of his find, which he has donated to a museum: “It was a rather surprising find at the bottom of a trench dug for foundations for a new building. It was clearly very old and appeared well preserved in peat. After hosing it down, we saw that it had markings that appeared unnatural and possibly man-made.”

The Boxford Timber is the oldest ever found in Britain, but is considerably predated by the Shigir Idol, Historic England says, which at approximately 12,000 years old is nearly as old again. Interestingly, so the body says, both pieces of wood show similar carved markings, which are also found on Neolithic pottery, suggesting the style was around for a remarkably long time.