Re: Priddy Henges? | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

L

Littlestone Nov 22, 2006 19:18:08

Replying to moss

...probably for keeping the pigs in...

You know, the more I think about it the more convinced I am that anything with a ditch and a bank higher than the area it surrounds must have been some sort of arena - for heavens sake, what else could it have been? Peter Herring first articulated this yonks ago and his arguments are buried in some thread somewhere.

Just to colour Peter's own theory, and with Avebury itself in mind, I suspect that livestock were driven along the Ridgeway from far and near for ritual hunting or slaughter within the Henge itself before being 'processed' at the Sanctuary and then shipped back out again across the West Country - no proof for any of that of course but it's a damn sight more plausible than some wacky idea that the Bank represents an artificial horizon within which astronomical observations were conducted!

Ducks and waits for fallout...

B

baza Nov 22, 2006 22:52:51

Replying to moss

Hunters Lodge is the name of the nearest pub, but that's a full kilometre up the road.

Pastscape call it Drove Cottage:

http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.asp?hob_no=196871

J

juamei Nov 23, 2006 13:54:50

Replying to moss

moss wrote:

Thats called the Hunter's Lodge (maybe) henge, there's a bit of confusion because of the mound in the centre; either B/A disc barrow or a neolithic henge.. It has an internal and external ditch on either side of the bank, plus pits, and maybe the bank was a series of pits, its complex, could be multi period. All that taken from Jodie Lewis - did no one else in Somerset fork out the £35 ;) it also has confusingly another smaller inner ditched enclosure, probably for keeping the pigs in..

Thanks for the info! Is that Jodie Lewis as in the conference a couple of weeks ago? Meant to go to that and then forgot... doh!

Do you know of any books about the archeology of the Mendips? I've looked but been unable to find anything definative.