A massive, Late Neolithic pit structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge

YesA series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, were identified during fluxgate gradiometer survey undertaken by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP). Initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated, along with information on similar features revealed by archaeological contractors undertaking survey and excavation to the north of the Durrington Walls henge. Analysis of the available data identified a total of 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to Durrington Walls. Further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several geophysical anomalies to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence. The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20m or more and a depth of at least 5m. Struck flint and bone were recovered from primary silts and radiocarbon dating indicates a Late Neolithic date for the lower silts of one pit. The degree of similarity across the 20 features identified suggests that they could have formed part of a circuit of large pits around Durrington Walls, and this may also have incorporated the recently discovered Larkhill causewayed enclosure. The diameter of the circuit of pits exceeds 2km and there is some evidence that an intermittent, inner post alignment may have existed within the circuit of pits. One pit may provide evidence for a recut; suggesting that some of these features could have been maintained through to the Middle Bronze Age. Together, these features represent a unique group of features related to the henge at Durrington Walls, executed at a scale not previously recorded.The University of Bradford Research Development Fund and the University of St Andrews funded this open access publication.Supplementary data can be found at https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue55/4/supp-text.htm

Multidisciplinary investigation of the pit circuit at Durrington Walls, UK

ISBN: 9782753585874.– Comprehensive geophysical assessment of huge pits; ERT, GPR, mag and EM. – Novel approach to testing and interpreting pits via coring. – Largest pit circuit confirmed in both the Stonehenge landscape and the UK.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An Introduction to the Study of Henges: Time for a Change?

This paper summarises 80 years of 'henge' studies. It considers the range of monuments originally considered henges and how more diverse sites became added to the original list. It examines the diversity of monuments considered to be henges, their origins, their associated monument types and their dates. Since the introduction of the term, archaeologists have often been uncomfortable with it. It was introduced in inverted commas and those commas continued to be used for over 30 years. With the introduction of the term 'hengiform' the strictures of definition that characterised the monument class collapsed and an increased variety of circular and oval monuments were included under the henge aegis. It is suggested here that the term 'henge' has outlived its usefulness as we no longer know what we mean by it. Instead we should adopt an objective viewpoint and recognise these earth circles as just one manifestation of the tradition of circularity that pervades the third and second millennia BC

Origins of sedentism: possible roles of ideology and shamanism in the transition

Recognising causal links between religious practices and socio-political structures, it is argued that the transition to settled life during the Neolithic was the product of social and political changes brought about by the institutionalisation and manipulation of ideology. These were employed by ambitious, influential individuals using sedentism as a strategy to achieve social control and the power, status and appropriated wealth (labour and resources) this engendered. A key factor in this was the materialisation of ideology, making visible the supernatural. Exploration of the ideopolitical nature of cultural elements — social, economic, and political — integral to the transition among Southwest Asian societies who experienced the profound changes involved, identified a nexus between increasing intensity of shamanistically manipulated ideology and progressive decrease in mobility. Furthermore, it reinforced the pivotal role played by shamanism in the transitional process, and that it was facilitated and maintained by the generation of ongoing socio-ideological stress. Emergence of personal and group individualism during the transition, but particularly in the latter part, saw competition in both hierarchical and heterarchical contexts for social control. In the course of this, shamanism was also employed by other influential individuals and became hybridised in the form of the quasi-divine shaman-priest-leaders operating ceremonial centres from which they dominated the activities of regional populations. A model derived from the archaeology of selected sites in Southwest Asia is presented that views the transition as a three-phase process reflecting the emergence and progressive intensification of a collective psychology, this manifest in new ideology, the growing importance of ‘place’, and individualism and social complexity not previously experienced. Also apparent is that initiation of the transition was associated with a new ideology and driven by shamanism, with the influence of the various agents involved becoming increasingly evident in a range of interrelated behavioural trends and developments. Each phase of the model sees ideology taken intentionally and necessarily to a higher level of intensity, providing a longer-term perspective on the relationship between ideology and economy. Evidence from the British Isles 5000-2000 calBC used for model validation confirmed that where ideology is evident in the archaeological record shamanism was influential, and emphasised the ideological context of the settlement foci and controlling agencies. Behavioural trends become more developed throughout, despite site context and location. While variation was apparent among the subregions in the extent to which a more settled way of life achieved, the overall effect in each was to bring dispersed communities together long-term, ideopolitically controlled in geographically confined contexts by site or wider location. People were being aggregated more regularly and co-operatively; this clearly facilitated by ideology. The British evidence also indicated that settled life did not necessarily equate precisely with the criteria of settled life, i.e., living permanently in durable structures on one site; rather, there was flexibility in the way these might be exhibited. Furthermore, full-time sedentism was shown to be preceded by permanent ceremonial structures and their ideological context

Rethinking the henge monuments of the British Isles

PhD ThesisThe henge monuments of Britain and Ireland are some of the best, and yet most poorly understood, monuments of Neolithic/Bronze Age Europe. Defined as later Neolithic enclosures with a circular bank, inner ditch, and usually one or two entrances, henges have been considered as a single category of site since they were first identified in the 1930s. As the category grew, and further attempts to sort the variety into subtypes created new terms, it became increasingly apparent that the wide variation in their size and architecture meant that they cannot simply be assumed to share a single use and meaning. Drawing from the large number of sites currently described as henge monuments, this thesis highlights the effect of classification on loosening the rigidity in the definition of site ‘types’, explores the problematic nature of typology within archaeology, and examines its longlasting effect on understanding and public perception of sites. This thesis uses a relational approach to typology to argue that there are small regional ‘types’ visible within the variation of the henge class, but that a clear henge type can only be considered loosely. It also examines the importance of a biographical approach, in understanding why sites were constructed and how such an approach can be combined with a typological approach to extend the interpretation and investigate sites at a range of scales. The thesis discusses the development of, and the variation within henge monuments, whilst also showing that there are similarities across a wider range of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age circular enclosures at different periods. A database of all sites previously and currently considered to be henge monuments, collated using a variety of sources (e.g. HERs, catalogues, and excavation reports) accompanies this thesis, and provides the first such catalogue since Harding and Lee’s influential 1987 publication

Review of animal remains from the neolithic and early bronze age of southern Britain

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Secondary neolithic in Great Britain

This thesis re-examines the material included by Piggott in his Secondary Neolithic cultures. A detailed study has been made of the pottery styles known as Peterborough and Rinyo Clacton and a catalogue of this pottery accompanies the textThe Peterborough pottery style, previously only studied in depth for south-eastern England, is found to extend over the greater part of England, and the chronological series of Ebbsfleet, Mortlake and Fengate styles found to be applicable throughout. A fourth style, Peterborough Northern, is recognised in the north of England and southern and central Scotland. This is seen to develop as a result of southern Peterborough influence upon localised Neolithic pottery forms. An examination of the sites upon which Peterborough pottery is found and the artifacts with which it is associated supports the thesis that the Peterborough complex is a continuation of the earlier Neolithic culture of Great Britain.Rinyo Clacton pottery is divided into four styles: Skara Brae, Clacton, Woodhenge and Woodlands. The associated artifacts include certain types not known in earlier Neolithic contexts and at least one new type of site, henge monuments. This would indicate that Rinyo Clacton pottery represents the development of a new culture. The decorative techniques and motifs of the pottery and certain of the artifacts suggest that the origins of this culture lie in the strong Irish influence present in western and northern Scotland in the second half of the third millennium. The continued use of earlier Neolithic artifacts and the Neolithic Round Barrow emphasises the strong native tradition continuing within the Rinyo Clacton culture

Durrington Walls and the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project 2010-2016

YesSince 2010 the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP) has undertaken extensive archaeological prospection across much of the landscape surrounding Stonehenge. These remote sensing and geophysical surveys have revealed a significant number of new sites and landscape features whilst providing new information on many previously known monuments. The project goal to integrate multimethod mapping over large areas of the landscape has also provided opportunities to re-interpret the landscape context of individual monuments and, in the case of the major henge at Durrington Walls, to generate novel insights into the structure and sequence of a monument which has attracted considerable research attention over many decades. This paper outlines the recent work of the SHLP and the results of survey at Durrington Walls that shed new light on this enigmatic monument including a site ‘hidden’ within the monument