Chance
Wed Nov 6 12:05am – 1:55am Film4
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. He puts 3-D technology to a profound use, taking us back in time over 30,000 years.
From a distance this round barrow looks well defined and does not seem any different from the rest of the humps and bumps that scatter this section of the downs. Only when you get up close can the modern brick and concrete be seen, revealing this barrows’ mutilated core. I’ve seen lots of disfigured barrows, most the result of ploughing, some the result of quarrying and some the result of ancient treasure hunters. This one stands out though, not as the result of what was originally inside but what was placed inside in modern times.
This barrow has the misfortune to overlook Yatesbury Field on the north, West Down to the east and North Down to the south. During the dark days of 1940 when invasion by Nazi Germany was a real possibility, this site was chosen as a Royal Observer Core lookout post and its Bronze Age contents sacrificed for the good of the nation. When Sir Edmund Ironside, Commander-in-Chief Home Forces, laid out plans for the defence of Britain, this area was designated a stop-line where the opposing forces would be expected to fight to the death to stop any advance north.
The WWII structures are well preserved if very overgrown. I did not get into the slip trenches to examine the insides of the bunker as the site smelt like the dumping ground for dead badgers. The remains of the barrow are cut into by the old coach road and I wonder if the height of the barrow was extended by the spoil from the core digging.
Access
I parked up at the Knoll Down lay-by just off the A4 and walked down the old coach road which is now a bridleway. This site was one of the many barrows that are spread over the West Down area. On the south side dry valley below this barrow, runs the Knoll Down earthwork and further south and directly opposite are the two West Down Gallops Barrows.
Hemp Knoll Barrow
Monument No. 215555
Details of Barrow on Pastscape
Bronze Age bowl barrow, Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 81. Excavated in 1965, the mound had been constructed over a group of 5 Neolithic pits containing flint implements, pottery, antler and animal bone. The primary burial comprised an inhumation with pottery, wristguard and beaker. There were traces of some kind of wooden structure associated with the grave, presumably a coffin. The presence of an ox skull and four feet suggests that the interment had been covered by an ox-hide. A single secondary cremation was contained in an inverted food vessel. The round barrow is visible as an earthwork mound on aerial photographs but has been ploughed level and the outer ditch of the mound, and a possible central pit are visible as cropmarks on more recent aerial photographs.
(SU 0686 6733) Tumulus (NR) (1)
A bowl barrow south-west of Beckhampton Firs, Bishop’s Cannings 81, was totaly excavated in 1965 by Mrs M E Robertson-Mackay on behalf of the Ministry of Works. The excavation revealed that the barrow, 56 ft in overall diameter, with an irregular ditch 3 ft wide by approx 2 ft deep, had been constructed over a Neolithic occupation site consisting of five roughly circular pits. Finds from the pits included flint scrapers, piercer, hammer stones and flakes, Windmill Hill pottery, antler tines and animal bones. The primary grave of the barrow, which seemingly had been covered by an indeterminate structure, at least partially constructed of wood, contained a male inhumation, with wrist-guard, toggle and bell beaker. An unaccompanied satellite inhumation of a child lay near the primary burial. A single secondary burial consisted of a cremation in an inverted food vessel. An irregular length of disconnected barrow ditch 23 ft long had been dug outside the barrow on the east side. (2-3) SU 0685 6733: The soilmark of the barrow ditch 19.0m diameter, in ploughland, is all that remains.
Resurveyed at 1:2500, utilizing OS APs. (4)
Final publication of the excavation (5). A radiocarbon date of 2630 +/- 80 bc was obtained from animal bone from one of the Neolithic pits. The indeterminate structure containing the primary inhumation is interpreted as having been a wooden coffin. In the grave fill but outside the coffin was the complete head and four feet of an ox. (See SU 06 NE 120 for note on ditch terminal encountered north of the barrow during excavation). (5)
The Bronze Age round barrow described by the previous authorities is visible as an earthwork mound, and after being ploughed level, the outer ditch of the mound, and a possible central pit are visible as cropmarks and these have been mapped from aerial photographs. The barrow appears to be 20m in diameter and is situated at the grid reference stated by aithority 1. It is possible the central pit represents a burial pit or is the result of the excavations described above. The barrow, as authority 5 suggests appears to have acted as a possible marker for a ditched boundary (described in SU 06 NE 120). (6)
Details of Barrows on Pastscape
Two Bronze Age bowl barrows (Grinsell’s Avebury 7 & 7a) and a bell barrow (Avebury 8a) on West Down. All have suffered plough damage, with 7 and 7a now visible as cropmarks.
(’A’ SU 0711 6844; ‘B’ SU 0707 6840; ‘C’ SU 0702 6837). Tumuli (NR). (1) On West Down – Avebury 7 (B); bowl barrow 18 paces by 1 ft. Avebury 7a (A) ploughed out bowl. Avebury 8a (C) SU 0702 6837; bell barrow, mound 75 ft by 7 ft, berm 15 ft, ditch 15 ft by 1 1/2 ft, eastern half on arable, sarsen on the top. (2) Avebury 7: A ploughed down bowl barrow; diameter 19.0m, height 0.3m. Now under grass. Avebury 7a: Now represented by a vague unsurveyable ground swelling; in arable.
Avebury 8a: A bell barrow, now under grass 39.0m overall diameter, with a mound 2.2m high and ditch 0.3m deep. The intermediate berm is 3.5m wide in the W, but ploughing in the E has almost obliterated it. A line of mature trees stand on the inner edge of the ditch on the E side.
Resurveyed at 1:2500. (3)
The Bronze Age barrows were visible on air photographs. `A’ (Avebury 7a) is visible as a ring ditch with a ploughed mound in the centre, `B’ (Avebury 7) is visible as a ring-ditch. `C’ (Avebury 8a) is still visible as an earthwork mound half covered in trees. The three barrows are roughly aligned north-east south-west. Another Bronze Age barrow (SU 06 NE 142) is almost on the same alignment to the south west. (4-6)
Of the three barrows listed here, only the larger Bell Barrow survives and this too has been partly ploughed out to the north. Thankfully this northern area has now been set aside and planted up with young Beech trees. The east side of this barrow contains a row of mature beech trees which although interfering with the original ditch, do give the barrow a feeling of shelter and was welcome shade on a hot Lammas day.
The most striking feature of this barrow is the upright sarsen mounted on its summit. Closer examination revealed two more sarsens dumped in the barrows ditch. I read on Pastscape that a lot of the barrows around here had sarsens mounted on them. This may be the result of antiquarian digging, as it seems some of the barrows were originally built over earlier structures or pits. When the barrows were first cut into, the sarsens were probably covering the original feature. One of the barrows to the north, West Down Gallops Barrows, was noted as having a sarsen.
Access
Park in the lay-by on the A361 near to where the Roman Road cut across it. Follow the Roman Road up the hill and the barrow is in the clump of beech trees to your right.
These barrows look easy enough to spot from the O.S. map but the layout of the gallops and field boundaries seem to have changed since the map was printed. The changing use of the land and the management policies followed preserve some sites while others are destroyed forever. These two barrows seem to have survived well, as compared to the earthworks which surround them. I could only spot the Knoll Down Earthwork when I visited, mainly because it was halfway down a hillside and is impossible to plough out. The same cannot be said of the ancient field boundaries which surround these two barrows, which can now only be seen from the air or Google Earth.
The two barrows are covered in thick, course grass which I believe is a form of primitive barley. I don’t know but the area around the gallops looks like unimproved grass land and it is certainly not a good quality pasture suitable for sheep grazing. This felt like a fragment of ancient agriculture and made me wonder as to its purpose in the Bronze Age. If the Beckhampton Avenue did start/end here, what relation did these barrows have to it? Silbury Hill is directly between here and the Sanctuary and the top of Silbury seemed level with this point.
Access
I got the impression by the number of dog walkers I met that although this is not public access land, walkers were tolerated while there was no horse riding activity. I walked around the headlands from the Roman Road to the car park at Knoll Down. Car parking is provided on the A361 lay-by and the lay-by off the A4 at Knoll Down. Beware of thieves in both of these areas and lock away valuables or take them with you.
Beckhampton Firs Long Barrow
Monument No. 215662
Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape
A Neolithic long barrow (Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 76) with a Bronze Age round barrow over its east end, located west of Beckhampton Firs. Excavated by Thurnam in the mid-19th century, apparently without result. Completely excavated by Smith in 1964. Neolithic pottery, animal bones and an antler pick were found. The antler pick was radiocarbon dated to 2307 +- 90 bc. The mound itself featured a framework of fencing comprising an axial line of stake holes with off-set “bays”, each then infilled and revetted. No human bone was found associated with the the long barrow. Subsequent to excavation, the long barrow remains as a mound, though inevitably much disturbed in appearance. Scheduled.
(SU 06666773) Long Barrow (NR) (1)
West of Beckhampton Firs – Bishop’s Cannings 76 : long barrow (see plan). Probably excavated by Thurnam (3) without result during 1855-67. Total excavation of the mound, which remained to a height of 3 ft, by Smith on behalf of the Ministry of Public Building and Works in 1964 revealed it to be unchambered, and no burials were discovered. A few sherds of Neolithic pottery were found in the mound and animal bones including the skulls of three oxen were found both in and under the mound. A round barrow with ditch was later superimposed on its eastern end. This has been almost totally destroyed, but sherds of a Collared Urn from the adjacent plough soil were most probably derived from it(4). Finds from the barrow are in Devizes Museum. (2-6)
SU 06656773. The long barrow, now up to 0.7m in height above 0.2m deep side ditches, is apparently much disturbed and cannot be readily reconciled with Smith’s plan, where the orientation seems to be in error. The mound, 66.0m long NE-SW by 50.0m, has a slightly raised circular portion at its NE end, probably the remains of the round barrow identified by Smith, and side ditches 0.2m deep. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (7)
Final publication of Smith’s excavation occurred in 1979 (8). The long barrow mound consisted of a framework of fencing – an axial line of stake holes with offsets at right angles and lateral lines closing off the bays thus formed. These bays were then infilled, the whole being revetted mostly with what the excavator describes as chalk gravel. An antler pick from the burial surface produced radiacarbon dates of 2307 +/- 90 bc. No human bone was found associated with the long barrow. The round barrow constructed over its eastern end would appear to be of Early Bronze Age date. (8) Additional references. (9-10)
The Neolithic long barrow,dsecribed by the previous authorities, has been mapped from air photographs. (11-12)
This site covers a large area with the busy A361 Beckhampton to Devizes road running through the middle. Sections of this road may well be pre-historic and if you follow lay-lines through long barrow orientations, the pre-historic mind set would suggest this to be a major route into Avebury.
Dividing the area up into walkable sections, the most convenient place to park is at SU 05894 67518, marked on the O.S. map as Three Barrows. Although not an official parking place, (the official one being a mile or so further east towards Beckhampton), this spot would allow you to walk and view the cluster of barrows around the original Long Barrow. This field is usually pasture and the barrows can be viewed up close without damage to a crop. Bare in mind this is not public access land. The barrows in this cluster have been excavated by different people over the course of hundreds of years with the result leaving them much reduced in height and shape. The same is true of the barrows on the opposite side of the A361 to the north, which stand out as islands in a sea of corn.
The barrows to the west of Three Barrows are easier to view due to the byways that run across the area. Following the byway that joins the A361 at Three Barrows north, turn right when you meet the Wessex Ridgeway trail and walk up to the plantation strip. On the left are the remains of a ploughed out Bowl barrow, Bishops Cannings 16. In 1951, a large sarsen was removed from this barrow when it was ploughed up. This may indicate that the barrow was built over the top of an earlier site, which was the case of Hemp Knoll Barrow, on the other side of the A361.
Once you reach the point where the Wessex Ridgeway trail meets the Roman Road, SU 04829 68005, turn left and follow the old Roman Road up in the direction of Morgan’s Hill. The barrows here are very impressive and well preserved but alas we know nothing of their contents. They were thought to have been dug into by Hoare and possibly later antiquarians but no firm records exist.
By now your mind will be on your car and the contents. When I travel around this area I usually do so on a bike and don’t have to worry about parking or re-tracing my steps. You will find that the fields have large unploughed headlands and you can easily make your way towards Baltic farm and the byway back to Three Barrows.
An alternative parking place would be the Small Grain Picnic area, next to the North Wilts Golf Club SU 01949 67148. Although a safer place to park, the walk down to North Down is much longer but covers many more sites. If you decide to explore this side of the hill, check out Furze Knoll which is an unexcavated flint mine. On the North of this area is Ranscombe Bottom, a natural fold in the chalk and the source of the River Marden. This would have been a very sacred site to the ancients and a source of pure water for both them and their cattle. Worth viewing but not listed on TMA.
Details of Barrow on Pastscape
Bronze Age bowl barrow, Grinsell’s Cherhill 6, still extant as an earthwork mound. The centre has been mutilated by a World War Two defence post. Beaker sherds, Middle Bronze Age sherds, fragments of shale, and human remains have been recovered from the surface of the mound by Owen Meyrick.
(SU 06746963). Tumulus (NR). (1)
North of the old Bath Road – Cherhill 6; bowl barrow, 28 paces by 8 ft. Beaker sherds, MBA sherds, fragments of shale, male forearm bone, and human teeth found superficially by O Meyrick. A back-built structure was inserted in the centre during the last war. (2) A grass and bush covered bowl barrow diameter 30.0m height 3.4m. The centre is mutilated by a wartime defence post. A side bank of the Old Bath Road overlies the S periphery of the tumulus. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (3)
The Bronze Age round barrow, described by the previous authorities has been mapped from air photographs. The World War II defence post, almost certainly associated with Yatesbury camp to the north, is clearly visible on vertical air photographs. (4)
Details of Barrow Group on Pastscape
Four, possibly five, Bronze Age round barrows near Fox Covert (Grinsell’s 10-13 and 16a). 10-12 are bowl barrows, and all are extant as earthwork mounds. 10 was excavated by Colt Hoare in the early 19th century, and contained a probable primary cremation. A Beaker sherd has also been recovered from the mound. 13 is a saucer barrow. 16a is a barrow excavated by Merewether in 1849, and which produced a decorated urn. The precise location of the barrow is uncertain but it is thought to have been close to this group.
(A : SU 07536871, B : 07566873, C : SU 07576875 and D : SU 07556873) Tumuli (NR). (1)
One saucer and three bowl barrows, part of the Fox Covert group (see also SU 06 NE 47).
(A) Avebury 12; ditched bowl barrow 21 paces by 6 ft.
(B) Avebury 13; Saucer barrow, mound 32 ft by 1 ft, ditch 8 ft by 6 ins, outer bank 9 ft by 6 ins.
(C) Avebury 10; ditched bowl barrow, 19 paces by 6 ft, excavated by Colt Hoare; probable primary cremation in oval cist at a depth of 8 ft; Beaker sherd found by Passmore.
(D) Avebury 11; bowl barrow, 15 paces by 3 ft, slight hollow in the centre of the mound. (2)
Avebury 16a: A barrow excavated by J Merewether (1820-50), which produced a decorated urn, is described as being 1/4 mile N of (SU 06 NE 57) and was probably one of this group. (3,4)
Avebury 12, SU 07536873; bowl barrow, 29.0m overall diameter, mound 1.8m high above 0.3m deep ditch.
Avebury 13; SU 07566873 saucer barrow 17.0m overall diameter, mound 0.4m high above 0.3m deep ditch. There is no evidence of an outer bank.
Avebury 10; SU 07566875; bowl barrow, 27.0m overall diameter, mound 2.0m high above 0.3m deep ditch which is destroyed in the NW.
Avebury 11, SU 07556874; bowl barrow 15.0m diameter and 1.2m high. No ditch can be traced. All are grass covered.
Resurveyed at 1:2500 from OS APs. (5)
The Bronze Age barrow, described by the previous authorities, have been mapped from air photographs. (6-7)
Details of trackway on Pastscape
A later prehistoric trackway or linear earthwork running roughly NW-SE near Fox Covert, and comprising a ditch and flanking banks. The feature survives as earthworks on the latest 2006 lidar survey.
(Name: SU 07816879) Harepit Way (NR). (1)
‘Harepit Way’ east of Fox Covert, SU 07706912-SU 07806850, 750 yds long. An ancient British trackway. (2,3) A ditch up to 1.5m deep and 5.0m wide with side banks 0.3m high where best preserved; resembles a BA boundary feature. Published survey 25” revised. (4) The linear ditch with slight side banks, described by the previous authorities, has been mapped from air photographs. It is not marked, or named as Harepit Way, on the OS 1st edition map of 1889 (sheets XXVII and XXVIII). It is 590m long and turns direction slightly for its northernmost 120m. (5) A later prehistoric linear boundary or trackway is visible as earthworks on lidar and was re-mapped as part of the Avebury WHS lidar and NMP review. The feature consistes of a linear ditch with flanking banks, visible for approximately 590m. The feature appends another linear boundary (215784) and is extant on the latest 2006 lidar. (6)
Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape
Scheduled Neolithic long barrow, Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 38, located west of Shepherds Shore. The barrow appears to have had no flanking ditches. Excavation in 1914 by ME Cunnington showed that the mound had already been disturbed. She found fragments of four skeletons plus a cremation in an undisturbed part of the barrow. The barrow is still extant as a ploughed-down earthwork. The barrow mound has been reduced by cultivation over the years but survives as a visible earthwork measuring 35 metres long and 16 metres wide. It stands up to 0.2 metres high but originally it stood at least 1 metre high. It is visible on aerial photographs.
(SU 03876609) Long Barrow (LB). (1)
Bishop’s Cannings No.38. A ditchless long barrow 90 feet by 55 feet by 3 feet high. Orientated E.N.E./W.S.W. Excavation in 1914 by Mrs Cunnington revealed that the primary burial had been removed. Four skeletons and one cremation were found in the undisturbed S.E. part of the mound. (2,3) A ploughed down long barrow at SU 03876608, situated on a slight S.S.W. facing slope. It is higher and wider at its eastern end. Surveyed at 1:2500. (4) The neolithic long barrow is visible as a mound measuring 30m by 12m, on aerial photographs. It may be associated with a field system, perhaps used as a marker when it was laid out but is slightly off the alignment of a number of boundaries. (7)
Details of Barrow Cemetery on Pastscape
A group of four Bronze Age round barrows at Baltic Farm, comprising two bowl barrows (Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 30 and 32) and two bell barrows (Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 29 and 31). 29, 30 and 31 have the appearance of a triple barrow, though Grinsell suggested that the bowl barrow had simply been inserted between the two bell barrows. These three were excavated by Cunnington and Colt Hoare in the early 19th century. 29 contained a cremation, possibly the primary interment; 30 also featured a possible primary cremation with a jet or shale ornament and a bone pin, plus a secondary cremation. 31 was excavated without result. All four barrows are still extant as earthworks.
(SU 04506659) TUMULI (LB). (1) Bishops Cannings 29 – 32.
29 – SU 04496657 – a bell barrow 129 x 10 ft. Probably excavated by Colt Hoare; primary (?) cremation.
31 – SU 04516660 – a bell barrow 57 x 8 ft. The berm and ditch have been obliterated. Excavated by Colt Hoare and W. Cunnington without result.
30 – SU 04506659 – a bowl barrow 30 x 3 ft. The central member of a so called triple barrow but more probably a bowl-barrow inserted between two bells. Excavated by W. Cunnington who found a primary (?) cremation with ornament of jet or shale, and a bone pin. Possibly excavated by R.C.Hoare who found secondary cremation to N. Finds now lost.
32 – SU 04546660 – a bowl barrow 51 ft x 3 ft. (2)
29: ‘A’ SU 04486656, the berm is visible only in the S.E., ditchless.
30: ‘B’ SU 04496657, a small bowl barrow 1.1 metres high.
31: ‘C’ SU 04506658, 2.2 metres high, the berm and ditch cannot be traced.
32: ‘D’ SU 04546659, a bowl barrow 1.1 metres high.
Surveyed at 1:2500; all under pasture. (3)
Two of the Bronze Age round barrows, `C’ or Bishops Cannings 31 and `D’ or Bishops Cannings 32, are visible as earthwork mounds on aerial photographs. (4)
Details of Barrow on Pastscape
A Neolithic long barrow (Grinsell’s Bishops Cannings 92) situated on Roughridge Hill, to the south of Wansdyke. The barrow mound measures about 75 metres long and up to 32 metres wide. It stands up to about 1 metre high. Flanking the mound, but no longer visible at ground level due to the spreading of the mound caused by ploughing, are two quarry ditches which will survive as buried features. Scheduled.
On Roughbridge Hill – Bishop’s Cannings 92; a long barrow, visible on air-photographs. (SU 05486577), orientated E/W, 230ft by 100ft and 6 1/2ft high. The eastern tip said by Grinsell to be cut by the Wansdyke. (1,2) SU 05466578; The long barrow is 70.0m long ENE-WSW by approximately 40.0m. The side ditch on the S is ploughed out, and visible only as a soilmark, but on the N a short portion of the ditch up to 0.7m deep protrudes from beneath Wansdyke which overlies it. The mound, although under plough, is up to 2.5m high. Surveyed at 1:2500. (3) The Neolithic long barrow referred to by the previous authorities was visible on vertical air photographs as a substantial oval mound which tapers to a point at its west end. Recent photographs show that it is gradually being ploughed smooth but is still a substantial mound. (4-5)
Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape
Neolithic long barrow on Kitchen Barrow Hill, listed by Grinsell as Bishops Cannings 44. The barrow is extant as an earthwork mound 34 metres long, 18 metres wide and up to 2.7 metres high. The side ditches are 8 metres wide and up to 40 cm deep. Grinsell referred to a sarsen protruding from the north east end, but this can no longer be seen. 5 sherds of Roman pottery found on the surface are in Devizes Museum. The long barrow has also been recorded on aerial photographs.
(SU 06686480) Kitchen Barrow (NAT) Long Barrow (NR). (1) On Kitchen Barrow Hill – Bishops Cannings 44: long barrow orientated NE/SW, 106 ft by 70 ft by 7 1/2 ft. Side ditches curve slightly inwards at NE end, near which large sarsen protrudes from the mound (2). SU 06686480 The long barrow, 34.0m NE-SW by 18.0m is up to 2.7m high above the side ditches which are 8.0m wide and 0.4m deep. The barrow, situated on the end of NE-SW ridge, is well preserved except for a modern depression at its NE end. The sarsen noted by Grinsell cannot now be located. Published survey 25” revised. (3) SU 066648. Five sherds of ? Romano-British coarse pottery were found on the surface at Kitchen Barrow, and presented to Devizes Museum by J Pile. (Acc No 43 1970). (4) The Neolithic long barrow described by the previous authorities has been mapped from aerial photographs. (5-6)
This site has mystery written all over it, one being why the TMA ed’s have not listed it under the West Kennet Avenue.
For the past 78 years, all you could see of this site is the unique, flat topped concrete post that marks the area out from the rest of the Avenue. What a lovely Lammas surprise then to find a caged area with a possie of sweaty archo’s crawling all over it’s subterranean, back to natural, features.
Digging anywhere around Avebury draws the crowds and a “meeter and greeter” is a must if the archo’s are to get down and dirty. I speak from direct experience of the Saxon car park dig in 1988 when every bus load of tourists walked over the site, asking questions and taking pictures, which added days to the dig schedule. It seemed the NT volunteers I spoke to had all been briefed from the same script and it was not until my third visit that I got the full low-down from “Dr.Nic”. It would have been easier to update my knowledge by reading the daily blog set up to supply a less than eager world with the latest word, but it seems to have gone unnoticed on channel TMA.
Site Background
In 1934 and 1935 Alexander Keiller excavated the part of the West Kennet Avenue that runs immediately south from Avebury Henge and the stone circles. Along most of the length that Keiller dug, he found a large hole had been dug in the medieval period, the standing stone pushed over into it and then buried. Here Keiller re-erected the stone in its original position. In other cases only the original socket that the Neolithic people had dug to stand the stone upright survived. Here Keiller placed small concrete obelisks to mark where they had once stood.
But there was one location where Keiller found neither stone nor socket. Instead he found the remains of a large rubbish heap (or midden) together with a number of holes and pits that had been dug into the ground. The finds from this midden show that the site was in use at the beginning of the later Neolithic. This may have been at the time, or a little before, the very earliest parts of the henge and stone circles were being built. Keiller identified this as an occupation site. At least part of this must have been visible when builders of the Avenue put the sarsen stones in place because instead of putting up a stone here they decided to leave a gap and incorporate it into their scheme.
The current dig is part of the “Between the Monuments” investigation which is trying to identify where the ancient people who built Avebury, lived and worked. Between the monuments is a collaborative research project set up between the university of Southampton (Dr. Josh Pollard), university of Leicester (Dr. Mark Gillings), Allen Environmental archaeology (Dr. Mike Allen) and the national Trust (Dr. Ros Cleal & Dr. Nic Snashall).
Although it was very interesting to talk to “Dr.Nic”, the results of this dig will not become clear until after the investigations are finished. I was granted permission to take photos of the site and some of the flint finds.
One thing that came over clearly, and was pointed out by all the “Dr.s” and diggers, was the time and effort the Keiller team had put into both the 1930’s excavation. They all commented on how carefully the area of the original diggers had been at uncovering artefacts and how carefully it had been back filled with the relevant strata and sub-soil.
The overall conclusion I gleamed was that it was more of a working site that habitation site. There were no bones, apart from more modern sheep ones and nearly all the other finds where the result of being washed down from the later settlement on Waden Hill above. The flints seemed to have been purposely buried in groups, not lost individually. Some of the flints were thought to be Paleolithic in age and again, purposely buried in pre-dug pits. The dig also revealed how the natural sub-terrain had been carved out by glacial action at the end of the last ice age, leaving a series of circle features.
If funding is forthcoming, the site may well be re-investigated at the same time next year. Watch this space.
Chance – Aug 2013Alexandra Keiller at the site in 1934
Image credit: Alexandra Keiller Museum
Image credit: Chance - Aug 2013
Image credit: Chance - Aug 2013
Image credit: Chance - Aug 2013
Image credit: Chance - Aug 2013