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Normanton Down Neolithic Mortuary Enclosure

Miscellaneous

Details of mortuary enclosure on Pastscape

Neolithic mortuary enclosure on Normanton Down. Originally a rectangular ditched enclosure with internal banks, orientated east-south-east to west-north-west, measuring circa 36 metres by 21 metres. The eastern end was slightly wider than the western. The banks were visible as earthworks in 1949 but had been competely ploughed out by the time the site was fully excavated in 1959. Excavation showed the enclosure to be rectangular with rounded ends, the ditch being interrupted by 11 causeways. The largest causeway, 16 feet long, was at the eastern end. Within and at right angles to this "entrance" were a pair of bedding trenches, each containing 3 post holes. Both yielded evidence for horizontal timbers linking each set of three posts. A shallow linear depression ran across the entrance causeway, linking the ditch segments on either side. The segment south of the entrance showed evidence for recutting. The segment north of the entrance featured a deposit of three antler picks in the ditch terminal adjacent to the entrance. Finds were few - there were no flint or stone artefacts, and only a single potsherd - Mortlake Ware, found high in the ditch silts on the south side. In all, 11 antler were recovered, plus a few bones of sheep/goat and cattle. A radiocarbon date of 3510-2920 Cal BC has been obtained. The enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs.
Chance Posted by Chance
1st January 2013ce

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