Exclusive image of 6,000-year-old Boxford Timber – the oldest decoratively carved wood found in UK, Historic England carbon dating shows

A piece of wood unearthed in a West Berkshire village has been identified as being more than 6,000 years old.

The decoratively carved wood was found by chance by Derek Fawcett, a retired urological surgeon, during building work at his Boxford home.

And luckily he recognised its potential significance and saved it from the skip.

Now experts from Historic England have declared it the oldest decoratively carved wood in Britain – created 2,000 years before Stonehenge was built and 4,500 years before the Romans came to Britain.

Mr Fawcett said: “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.

“I have been working with Historic England and the Boxford History Project since I found it, now over four years ago, while radiocarbon dating of the wood was carried out.”

Carbon dating analysis has now shown there is a 95 per cent probability that the wood dates to around 4640 to 4605 BC – making it 500 years older than the only other piece of decoratively carved timber in Britain known to date back to the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic time.

The Boxford Timber, as it has been called, is a piece of carved oak that measures one metre long, 0.42m wide and 0.2m thick and is now being conserved at Historic England’s science facility at Fort Cumberland in Portsmouth.

It was found in a layer of peat around 1.5m underground and close to the River Lambourn.

Mr Fawcett has now donated the timber to the West Berkshire Museum in Newbury where it will eventually go on display.

“This is a brilliant find and we are very excited at the prospect of displaying this incredible artefact at the museum, although it won’t be ready to show for some time yet,” added Janine Fox, curator at the museum.

“Further study may reveal more about the markings on the oak and its context, but its unearthing gives us perspective on the long rich heritage of West Berkshire, and a tangible link to humans who lived in this area long before any towns and villages had been created.”

The museum is also working with the Boxford History Project to arrange for the timber to go on loan to the Boxford village heritage centre.

“We are very grateful to the landowner for alerting us to this unexpected discovery, and to Historic England for providing the specialist analysis which has revealed the astonishingly early date of this mysterious artefact,” said Janine Lewis (Lib Dem, Tilehurst and Purley), executive member for culture and leisure at West Berkshire Council.

“Whilst West Berkshire has long been known in archaeological circles as nationally important for its Middle Stone Age sites, these are predominantly in the Kennet Valley and are Early Mesolithic.

“The Boxford Timber by contrast was found preserved in peat by the River Lambourn and dates from the end of this prehistoric period of hunter-gatherer lifestyle, adding to the significance of this component of our district’s historic environment.”

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, added: “It’s remarkable that by doing routine building work, a piece of modest-looking decorative wood turns out to be the oldest ever found in Britain.

“This exciting find has helped to shine new light on our distant past and we’re grateful to the landowner for recognising its significance.

“Amazing discoveries like these remind us of the power of archaeology to uncover the hidden narratives that connect us to our roots.”

Although the purpose of the markings is not understood, Historic England said they are “reminiscent of the decoration seen in early Neolithic pottery and are also believed to be similar to the body decoration on the Shigir Idol – a wooden sculpture found in the Ural Mountains of Russia which, at over 12,000 years old, is believed to be the oldest example of carved wood in the world”.