A TEAM of amateur archaeologists has made a ‘significant’ historical find at a remote site on the flanks of Ingleborough.

Members of the Ingleborough Archaeology Group spent weeks excavating to the west of Selside in Upper Ribblesdale.

And their work has resulted in the discovery of the first 7th century building to be positively identified in the Yorkshire Dales National Park – and one of the first in the north of England.

Excavation supervisor Dr David Johnson said the site revealed a small, rectangular, partly stone building with two rooms. In it were 16 pieces of charcoal impressed into the compacted soil floor.

He told the Gazette: “Two of these were sent for radio-carbon dating and returned identical dates – between AD660 and 780, which puts the end of the site’s use firmly in the Anglo-Saxon period.

“That makes this building the only firmly-dated, post-Roman archaeological site in Ribblesdale – so it is of more than local significance.”

Small pieces of chert, a dark, rock-like flint that was used to make small tools, were also found – likely to date from the Early Neolithic period, possibly 6,000 years ago.

Robert White, the national park authority’s senior histo-ric environment officer, said: “This is an exciting discovery and one which is a credit to the group for the professional way they approached and conducted the excavation.

“The results help fill in a picture of how life and farming communities developed in the Dales and shows just how much archaeology there still is.

Roger Bingham, the authority’s member champion for conservation of cultural heritage, said: “All who are concerned about conserving and discovering more of our heritage have to thank enthusiasts for their important discoveries.

“They are only 'amateur' because they are unpaid. In every other way – in methods of working and, above all, in recording – their expertise is thoroughly professional.”

The site has now been backfilled and the turf reinstated to protect it.