A LUMP of charcoal may hold the key to finding out who were the first people to live in the New Forest.

Analysis of the substance found in what was believed to be an Iron Age hillfort at Matley Heath has dated the monument much further back, to the Earlier Neolithic period.

With a 95 per cent probability of dating between 3347 and 3097 BC the evidence, together with previous isolated finds in the New Forest, raises new questions around the history of human settlement and land-use in the New Forest and Hampshire.

The discovery was made during a programme of conservation and investigative works at the monument undertaken by a team from Forestry England, the New Forest National Park Authority, archaeologists from Bournemouth University’s Archaeological Research Consultancy and local volunteers.

Through a process of geophysical surveys and an archaeological excavation the team were able to locate charcoal deposits in buried soil at the base of the hillfort's ditch. These were removed and underwent specialist radiocarbon dating analysis to provide an objective age estimate for the charcoal.

Planning Officer with Forestry England, Andrew Norris, said: "This site has always been a bit of a mystery, referred to as an ancient hill fort but on very low ground making it a curious location for this kind of feature. There is still much to find out about it but this investigation has given us a big piece of the puzzle.

"By dating the settlement much further back than we thought it potentially resets the archaeological clock for when people first began settling here in the New Forest."

During the dig the archaeologists took the opportunity to conduct important conservation activities at the site to protect it from further erosion and damage as it had been on the At Risk register.