This thesis is an inter-disciplinary study of human engagement with the silcrete called
sarsen stone, found dispersed across parts of south-central and south-eastern England and
used prolifically since prehistory. Prehistoric sarsen megaliths (for example, Stonehenge)
have dominated discussion of the cultural contexts of its use, but it enjoys a far longer
relationship with people and, in those places where it is most abundant, more recent
architectural sarsen fabric is an integral component informing sense-of-place. This thesis
reveals the variety of Neolithic sarsen engagement, drawing that together with postmedieval sarsen industries to foreground some of the many ways that it has been exploited.
By focussing on different chaînes opératoires studied through archaeological and ethnohistorical sources, I propose that sarsen stone behaves as a different material depending on
the technical action applied to it and thus has the potential for varied ontological status
dependent on context.
A collection of six published papers, this thesis first contextualises archaeological
perceptions of sarsen stone that have dominated scholarly study thus far. Newly-digitised
datasets from the archived collections of twentieth century sarsen surveys are considered.
Secondly, different modes of sarsen exploitation are explored through multi-scalar
methodologies. A landscape approach is applied to quarries in Buckinghamshire and
Wiltshire study areas, combining aerial investigation and analytical earthworks surveys
with an eclectic range of archival sources to cast light on traditional sarsen-working
practices. A new methodology, developed to habilitate excavated sarsen assemblages into
archaeological analysis, is applied to material from Neolithic sites in Wiltshire including
Marden henge and West Kennet Avenue, which with data from the Windmill Hill
enclosure shows how common non-megalithic uses of sarsen were. Value in attending to
this previously under-studied material in its own right is demonstrated, encouraging more
detailed analysis in future research
