THE work of an archaeological project may have pushed back the story of human activity in the Duddon Valley many centuries further than anyone expected.

A fortnight of digging on the remains of three stone buildings, near Seathwaite Tarn, was hoped to produce evidence of use in the early medieval period but dates from scientific tests reach back to the Bronze Age - close to 3,500 years ago.

The latest findings from the project were outlined by Jamie Quartermaine of Oxford Archaeology North in a talk called High Living - The Upland Longhouses of the Duddon Valley.

He was speaking to members and visitors to the Lancaster Archaeological and Historical Society meeting at St Paul's Hala Centre at Scotforth, Lancaster.

Mr Quartermaine had been working on survey techniques and a 14-day archaeological dig with volunteers from the Duddon Valley Local History Group on three longhouse sites.

He said: "We got lots of schools involved."

A timeline was set up to help the youngsters understand the work but not back to the Bronze Age. It only went from the present day to the 12th century.

He said: "That is what we were expecting."

Core samples searching for types of pollen from surrounding peat found that peat cutting in the immediate area - for fuel or building material - had ended between around 1450 to 1635.

A horse shoe was found from around the 17th century and examples of pottery called Silverdale Ware dating to the late 14th to 16th century.

What threw a spanner in the works was three sets of figures to emerge from the carbon dating of charcoal samples from one of the sites.

Results from a hazelnut shell on a cobbled surface, a piece of hearth wood and a fragment of alder came up with a series of dates which ranged from 1156BC to 1420BC

He said: "The presence of these closely matched Bronze Age dates is potentially significant and can not be simply dismissed."

One possibility is a significant burning event affecting trees in the Duddon Valley - producing natural charcoal which somehow got in among the stones on the dig site.

Also possible is that the buildings they have been investigating were constructed on top of one or more much earlier layers of cobble flooring - potentially pointing to human habitation, or use of the valley, over many more centuries than was first expected.

He said: "What started out as being interesting has become very interesting."

There is only one more digging to attempt to answer some of the puzzles posed by the Duddon Valley site before the funding runs out.

He said: "We have got one year to try to get everything sorted."

The buildings they worked on were of a traditional type of cross-passage house or shieling - where two thirds is living space for people and one third for farm animals.

He said: "If you share a house with lots of animals it is going to be warm but the drawback is that it will be pongy."

They may have been in use by shepherds and formed a seasonal expansion, or satellite, of existing farms.

Typically the buidings would have a cobbled or flag floor, a hearth and a raised area - possibly for storing or drying peat as fuel.

This type of building is commonly found in the medieval period but its use did continue into the 17th century.