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

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Date
21/06/2020
Author
Gaffney, Vincent
Baldwin, Eamonn
Bates, Martin
Bates, C. Richard
Gaffney, Christopher
Hamilton, Derek
Kinnaird, Tim
Neubauer, Wolfgang
Yorston, Ronald
Allaby, Robin
Chapman, Henry
Garwood, Paul
Löcker, Klaus
Hinterleitner, Alois
Sparrow, Tom
Trinks, Immo
Wallner, Mario
Leivers, Matthew
Keywords
Durrington Walls
Stonehenge
Geophysics
Late Neolithic
Middle Bronze Age
Landscape archaeology
CC Archaeology
DAS
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Abstract
A 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.
Citation
Gaffney , V , Baldwin , E , Bates , M , Bates , C R , Gaffney , C , Hamilton , D , Kinnaird , T , Neubauer , W , Yorston , R , Allaby , R , Chapman , H , Garwood , P , Löcker , K , Hinterleitner , A , Sparrow , T , Trinks , I , Wallner , M & Leivers , M 2020 , ' A massive, Late Neolithic pit structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge ' , Internet Archaeology , vol. 55 , 4 . https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.55.4
Publication
Internet Archaeology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.55.4
ISSN
1363-5387
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s)/Publisher. Except where otherwise noted, content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY) Unported licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that attribution to the author(s), the title of the work, the Internet Archaeology journal and the relevant URL/DOI are given.
Description
Funding: The University of Bradford Research Development Fund and the University of St Andrews funded this open access publication.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue55/4/index.html
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/20139

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