Arras Culture

The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras near Market Weighton which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans three fields, truncated by the main east-west road between Market Weighton and Beverley and is arable farmland; little to no remains are visible above ground. The extent of the Arras culture is loosely associated with the Parisi tribe of pre-Roman Britain.

The culture is defined by its burial practices, which are uncommon outside East Yorkshire, but are found in continental Europe, and show some similarities with those of the La Tène culture. The inhumations include chariot burials, or burials in square enclosures, or both; in contrast to continental inhumations the cemeteries were crowded, not extended, and the chariots typically disassembled. The burials have been dated from the latter part of the 1st millennium BC to the Roman conquest (about 70 AD). The burial goods and chariot designs were primarily British in style, not continental. Many of the archaeological finds are in the Yorkshire Museum and the British Museum.