Pit Digging and Lifeways in Neolithic Wiltshire by David Roberts1 and Peter Marshall2
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Ever Increasing Circles: the Sacred Geographies of Stonehenge and Its Landscape
Proceedings of the British Academy, 92, 167-202 Ever Increasing Circles: The Sacred Geographies of Stonehenge and its Landscape TIMOTHY DARVILL Introduction THE GREAT STONE CIRCLE standing on the rolling chalk downland of Salisbury Plain that we know today as Stonehenge, has, in the twentieth century AD, become a potent icon for the ancient world, and the focus of power struggles and contested authority in our own. Its reputation and stature as an archaeological monument are enormous, and sometimes almost threaten to overshadow both its physical proportions and our accumu- lated collective understanding of its construction and use. While considerable attention has recently been directed to the relevance, meaning and use of the site in the twentieth century AD (Chippindale 1983; 1986a; Chippindale et al. 1990; Bender 1992), the matter of its purpose, significance, and operation during Neolithic and Bronze Age times remains obscure. The late Professor Richard Atkinson was characteristically straightforward when he said that for questions about Stonehenge which begin with the word ‘why’: ‘there is one short, simple and perfectly correct answer: We do not know’ (1979, 168). Two of the most widely recognised and enduring interpretations of Stonehenge are, first, that it was a temple of some kind; and, second, that its orientation on the midsummer sunrise gave it some sort of astronomical role in the lives of its builders. Both interpre- tations, which are not mutually exclusive, have of course been taken to absurd lengths on occasion. During the eighteenth century, for example, William Stukeley became obses- sive about the role of the Druids at Stonehenge (Stukeley 1740). -
An Introduction to Neolithic to Mid Bronze Age Prehistoric Pottery of Cambridgeshire
Jigsaw Cambridgeshire Best Practice Users' Guide An Introduction to Neolithic to Mid Bronze Age Prehistoric Pottery of Cambridgeshire Sarah Percival December 2016 © Jigsaw Cambridgeshire Page 1 of 12 INTRODUCTION This short guide describes the types of pottery which were in use in Cambridgeshire from the Early Neolithic until the mid-Bronze Age. All pottery during this period was made and used in the household and was handmade, mostly formed using coil construction. The pots were fired in a domestic hearth, bonfire or clamp, at temperatures of 600 to 700 degrees centigrade. Based on evidence from ethnographic comparisons most archaeologists believe that clay collection, preparation and potting were undertaken by women. There were no pottery industries or production centres such as those found during the Roman or medieval periods however certain forms and fabrics were widely adopted during specific periods allowing pottery to be used for dating archaeological deposits. Prehistoric pottery may be found in both funerary and domestic deposits and archaeologists use pottery as evidence of trade and exchange and of the type and scale of activity present on an archaeological site. Characteristics used to identify the age of a pot include form (the shape of the vessel), decoration, and fabric. Fabric here refers to the clay of which a pot was made and the inclusions within it. Inclusions are materials within the body of the clay which may be present naturally or are often deliberately added as temper, to aid construction, firing and resilience of the pot or for cultural or social reasons. The colour of the finished pot tells archaeologists something of how it was fired. -
Durrington Walls
Feeding Stonehenge: cuisine and consumption at the Late Neolithic site of Durrington Walls Oliver E. Craig1, Lisa-Marie Shillito1,2, Umberto Albarella3, Sarah Viner-Daniels3, Ben Chan3,4, Ros CleaP, Robert Ixer6, Mandy Jay7, Pete Marshall8, Ellen Simmons3, Elizabeth Wright3 & Mike Parker Pearson6 The discovery o f Neolithic houses at Durrington Walls that are contemporary with the main construction phase o f Stonehenge raised questions as to their interrelationship. Was Durrington Walls the residence o f the builders o f Stonehenge? Were the activities there more significant than simply domestic subsistence? Using lipid residue analysis, this paper identifies the preferential use of certain pottery types for the preparation o f particular food groups and differential consumption of dairy and meat products between monumental and domestic areas o f the site. Supported by the analysis o f faunal remains, the results suggest seasonal feasting and perhaps organised culinary unification o f a diverse community. Keywords: UK, Stonehenge, Neolithic, feasting, isotopic lipid residue analysis, public and private consumption 1 BioArCh, Department o f Archaeology, University o f York, Heslington, York YO lO 5DD , U K (Email: Oliver. craig@york. ac. uk) 2 School o f History, Classics and Archaeology, Armstrong Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK 2 Department o f Archaeology, University o f Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S I 4ET, U K 4 Laboratory for Artefact Studies, Faculty o f Archaeology, Leiden -
Two Middle Neolithic Radiocarbon Dates from the East Midlands
THE NEWSLASTetteR OF THE PREHISTORIC SOCIetY P Registered Office: University College London, Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/ Two Middle Neolithic radiocarbon dates from the East Midlands Earlier this year, radiocarbon dates were commissioned for awaiting confirmation of post-excavation funding. The two Middle Neolithic artefacts from the east Midlands. The bowl was originally identified as a Food Vessel. It has a fine first was obtained from a macehead of red deer antler from thin fabric, a concave neck, rounded body and foot-ring. Watnall, Northamptonshire, currently in the collections It is decorated all over with incised herring bone motif and of the National Museums Scotland who acquired it in certainly has a Food Vessel form. However the rim form is 1946/7. The macehead is No. 2 in Simpson’s corpus (PPS much more in keeping with Impressed Ware ceramics and 1996). It is of standard ‘crown’ type, it is undecorated, and the foot-ring has been added to an otherwise rounded base. unfortunately the circumstances of the find are unknown. Both the foot-ring and the decorated lower part of the vessel A radiocarbon date was obtained from the antler itself and are features more common in Food Vessels than in Impressed produced a result of 4395±30 BP (SUERC-40112). This date Wares. Could this be a missing link? Does this vessel bridge unfortunately coincides with a plateau in the calibration curve the Impressed Ware-Food Vessel gap? A later Neolithic or but nevertheless calibrates to 3097–2916 cal BC (95.4% Chalcolithic date was expected but instead the date is very probability) and is in keeping with the few available dates firmly in the Middle Neolithic – 4790±35 BP (SUERC- already obtained for these artefacts (see Loveday et al. -