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 Re: Houses for the dead...what about the living? 45 messages | Select a forum: |
Sanctuary wrote: I was giving thought to Long Barrows such as the WKLB and how chambered tombs such as this are regarded as 'houses for the dead', but I wonder if there has ever been evidence to show that initially they were actually built as houses for the living before taking on another role? If you conside the original ground plans for these chambered tombs they are very practical for daily use having in the main a 'living area' coupled with the 'side chambers/rooms' for storage or in fact 'bedroom' space etc. Before being capped with stone they may have been roofed with thatch as in a proper house/hut type construction of the time. Thoughts? Can't think of any such evidence and pretty difficult to imagine what it would comprise of to distinguish it from barrow activity .A hearth and rubbish would both be seen as being related to funerary rites /deposits etc . Mesolithic middens were found under Ascott & Hazleton and signs of cultivation e.g. ard marks (previously considered "ritual " ) have been found under some Long Barrows . The little we do know in relation to time for build show that they were done quite quickly and in use for only 1-3 generations . Reply | with quote |  6th September 2010ce 08:25 In reply to: Houses for the dead...what about the living? (Sanctuary) |
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