Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire

Bibliographic Data

ID11615333
AuthorsDavid Roberts (0000-0002-5669-5011, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK, corresponding author), Alistair Barclay (Cotswold Archaeology, Cirencester, UK), Barry Bishop (Pre-Construct Archaeology, London, UK), Christopher Bronk-Ramsey (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK), Greg Campbell (The Naive Chemist, Portsmouth, UK), Matthew Canti (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), J Frank Dobie (Historic England), Judith Dobie (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Elaine Dunbar (0000-0001-5183-5583, SUERC Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, East Kilbride, UK), J Dunne (0000-0003-2547-1071, Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK), R P Evershed (0000-0002-9483-2750, Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK), Alice Forward (0000-0003-0640-1457, Cardiff University), Jonathan Last (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Sophie Lamb (Oxford Archaeology, Oxford, UK), Neil Linford (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Paul Linford (0000-0002-5947-5858, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Bethan Linscott (0000-0001-5148-4066, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK), R Madgwick (0000-0002-4396-3566, Cardiff University), P Marshall (0000-0002-1949-7702, Historic England), Hannah Skoda (0000-0003-2929-4981, Historic England, London, UK), May (0000-0002-0352-5625, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Hayley Joanne McParland (Historic England), Hayley McParland (Historic England, Bristol, UK), Andrew Payne (0000-0002-1936-8062, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Ruth Pelling (0000-0002-6101-6044, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Alistair Pike (0000-0002-5610-8948, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK), Kathryn Price (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Patrick Quinn (0000-0001-8911-6349, UCL Institute of Archaeology, London, UK), Anita Radini (0000-0002-2099-2639, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK), Paula J Reimer (0000-0001-9238-2146, Queen's University Belfast), Paula Reimer (14CHRONO Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK), Michael Russell (0000-0003-2902-4463, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Rachael Seager Smith (Wessex Archaeology, Salisbury, UK), Sharon Soutar (0000-0002-9923-1698, Historic England, Swindon, UK), Camilla Speller (0000-0001-7128-9903, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK), John Vallender (Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Andrew Valdez-Tullett (0000-0001-7933-5812, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK), Vivian van Heekeren (Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK), Fay Worley (0000-0003-3618-4027, Historic England, Portsmouth, UK)
Year2020
Volume177
Issue2
Pages167-213
Publication date2020-06-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0066-5983 • E-ISSN: 2373-2288
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00665983.2020.1758495
OpenAlexW3039928717
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited64

Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a significant period, in late autumn or winter. Selected remnants of craft-working and consumption were deposited in pits, before deliberate infilling. These depositions repeatedly memorialised activity on the hillside at a time of contemporary activity elsewhere on King Barrow Ridge and at the future site of Stonehenge. Middle Neolithic pits are present in significant numbers across King Barrow Ridge, and alongside pits in the Durrington area, form one of the densest concentrations of such activity in the region. Long distance mobility is suggested by the possible Irish origins of the inhumation, the first Middle Neolithic individual excavated in the environs of Stonehenge. Whilst of significance for understanding the Middle Neolithic in the WHS and the region, this research also hints at the roots of Late Neolithic monumentalisation of this landscape

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Beaker · Bronze Age · Cartography · Excavation · Geography · Irish sea · Period (music · Ridge · Rock shelter · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Geology · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access