A GRISLY mass grave more than 2,400 years old has been discovered in Derbyshire.

It is thought to be the first of its kind found in Britain and provides evidence of a "selective massacre" of women and children.

One of the archaeologists excavates the skull of a woman.
The crouched skeleton of a teenage boy can be seen in the bottom of the ditch at the Fin Cop burial site.

Help to uncover artefacts came from Derbyshire school pupils, including a group from Ashbourne's Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School.

The graves were found at Fin Cop – an Iron Age hillfort in the Peak District dating to between 440BC and 390BC.

Archaeologists believe the burials were carried out after the site was attacked and captured.

Dr Clive Waddington, who was in charge of the dig, said: "The women and children died of flesh wounds that have left no trace on the surviving bones and were then flung unceremoniously into the ditch at the foot of the hillfort.

"There are no remains of any adult males in the ditch, suggesting the men at the hillfort were sold on as slaves or pressed into military service.

"So far only 10 metres of ditch, out of 400 metres, has been excavated and it is likely that hundreds of skeletons are still buried there."

Dr Waddington, project director for Bakewell-based Archaeological Research Services, said the discovery was unique.

He said: "Hillforts are built on high ground, often on acidic soils which accelerate the decay of organic material such as bones.

"At Fin Cop the soil is much less acidic, as it sits on limestone geology, and this has allowed the bones to survive."

Hillforts were built for protection by Iron Age people.

As more sophisticated and lethal weapons were used in tribal disputes and warfare, the structures were built across the country as defences.

They were hives of activity, which were used as centres for trading and tribal gatherings, as well as providing shelter for people and animals.

Specialist techniques have shown the massacre at Fin Cop took place shortly after the destruction of the fort.

Animal bones from within the ditch showed that people kept cattle, sheep and pig as well as horses.

Horses were high-status animals in the Iron Age and this indicates that the local elite may have resided there.

Plant remains showed yew, hazel and ash trees grew near the site.

The grave excavations were carried out by Longstone Local History Group under the direction of Archaeological Research Services and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Peak District National Park Authority and English Heritage which, between them, provided £100,000 of funding.

Archaeologists carried out the digs over two summers in June 2009 and 2010 with the help of over 100 local volunteers and 400 school children.