Life in pre-historic Britain captured in new postage stamps

Archaeological treasures of prehistoric Britain are featured in the first set of new stamps of 2017 issued Tuesday by Royal Mail.

The set of eight stamps includes illustrations of a headdress dug up in North Yorkshire, the Star Carr deer skull headdress, found at a mesolithic site and thought to have been used during rituals. A bronze shield cover found in the River Thames, believed to have been thrown in the river as an offering to the spirits, and a ceremonial gold cape dating back about 4,000 years found in a grave in North Wales are also featured.

Other stamps show the Neolithic village of Skara Brae on the Scottish island of Orkney and the Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire, as well as Dorset's Maiden Castle, considered the largest Iron Age hill fort in Britain.

Royal Mail said the stamps cover a timeline from an ancient ritual of 11,000 years ago, to the Iron Age of around 300 B.C.

Illustrated by London-based artist Rebecca Strickson, the stamps have been designed as overlay drawings, showing how people lived at the sites or used various objects.

As an added bonus for collectors, Royal Mail is providing a special postmark on all mail posted in postboxes close to the sites or where featured artifacts were found.

Royal Mail manager Philip Parker said: "These new stamps explore some of these treasures and give us a glimpse of everyday life in prehistoric Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from the culture of ancient ritual and music making to sophisticated metalworking and the building of huge hill forts." Endit