Synopsis
For many centuries, scholars and enthusiasts have been fascinated by Stonehenge, the world’s most famous stone circle. In 2003 a team of archaeologists commenced a long-term fieldwork project for the first time in decades. The Stonehenge Riverside Project (2003-2009) aimed to investigate the purpose of this unique prehistoric monument by considering it within its wider archaeological context.
This is the first of four volumes which present the results of that campaign. It includes investigations of the monuments and landscape that pre-dated Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain as well as of excavation at Stonehenge itself. The main discovery at Stonehenge was of cremated human remains from many individuals, allowing their demography, health and dating to be established. With a revised radiocarbon-dated chronology for Stonehenge’s five stages of construction, these burials can now be considered within the context of the monument’s development. The different types of stone from which Stonehenge is formed – bluestones from Wales and sarsen silcretes from more local sources – are investigated both at Stonehenge and in its surroundings. These surrounding monuments include single standing stones, the Cuckoo Stone and the Tor Stone, as well as the newly discovered circle of Bluestonehenge at West Amesbury beside the River Avon. The ceremonial Stonehenge Avenue, linking Stonehenge to Bluestonehenge, is also included, based on a series of excavations along its length.
The working hypothesis behind the Stonehenge Riverside Project links Stonehenge with a complex of timber monuments upstream at the great henge of Durrington Walls and neighboring Woodhenge. While these other sites are covered in a later volume (Volume 3), this volume explores the role of the River Avon and its topographic and environmental evidence.
With contributions by:
Umberto Albarella, Michael Allen, Olaf Bayer, Wayne Bennett, Richard Bevins, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Chris Casswell, Andrew Chamberlain, Benjamin Chan, Rosamund Cleal, Gordon Cook, Glyn Davies, David Field, Charles French, Robert Ixer, Neil Linford, Peter Marshall, Louise Martin, Claudia Minniti, Doug Mitcham, Bob Nunn, Andy Payne, Mike Pitts, Rebecca Pullen, Julian Richards, David Robinson, Clive Ruggles, Jim Rylatt, Rob Scaife, Ellen Simmons, Charlene Steele, James Sugrue, Anne Teather, Sarah Viner, Tony Waldron, Katy Whitaker and Christie Willis
Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURESLIST OF TABLESCONTRIBUTORSPREFACEACKNOWLEDGEMENTS1. IntroductionThe Stonehenge Riverside ProjectBackground to the projectImplications of the hypothesisResearch aimsM. Parker Pearson, J. Pollard, C. Richards, J. Thomas C. Tilley, K. Welham and P. Marshall2. Fourth millennium BC beginnings: monuments in the landscapeThe landscape of the fourth millennium BC – (C. Tilley, W. Bennett and D. Field)Geophysical surveys of the Greater Cursus and Amesbury 42 long barrow – (K. Welham, C. Steele, L. Martin and A. Payne)3. Fourth millennium BC beginnings: excavations of the Greater Cursus, Amesbury 42 long barrow and a tree-throw pit at WoodhengeThe Greater Stonehenge Cursus – (J. Thomas)Amesbury 42 long barrow – (J. Thomas)Investigations of the buried soil beneath the mound of Amesbury 42 – (M.J. Allen)Stonehenge Lesser Cursus, Stonehenge Greater Cursus and the Amesbury 42 long barrow: radiocarbon dating – (P. D. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey and G. Cook)Antler artefact from the Greater Cursus and Amesbury 42 long barrow – (G. Davies)Pottery from the Greater Cursus and Amesbury 42 long barrow – (R. Cleal)Chalk artefact from the Greater Cursus – (A. Teather)Lithics from stratified contexts of the Greater Cursus – (B. Chan)Lithics from the ploughsoil of the Greater Cursus – (D. Mitcham)Lithics from stratified contexts of Amesbury 42 long barrow – (B. Chan)Human remains from Amesbury 42 long barrow and the Greater Cursus – (A. Chamberlain and C. Willis)Charred plant remains and wood charcoal from the Greater Cursus and Amesbury 42 long barrow – (E. Simmons)Woodhenge tree-throw pit – (J. Pollard)Pottery from the Woodhenge tree-throw pit – (Rosamund M.J. Cleal)Lithics from Woodhenge – (B. Chan)Faunal remains from Woodhenge – (C. Minniti, U. Albarella and S. Viner)Charred plant remains and wood charcoal from Woodhenge – (E. Simmons)4. The Stonehenge bluestones: excavations at Stonehenge and environsThe bluestones at Stonehenge – a reappraisal – (M. Parker Pearson and C. Richards)Aubrey Hole 7 at Stonehenge: Trench 39 – (M. Parker Pearson, B. Chan, C. Casswell, M. Pitts and J. Richards with R. Ixer)Fargo bluestone scatter – (C. Richards, J. Pollard, D. Robinson and M. Parker Pearson)Airman’s Corner pit circle – (M. Parker Pearson)5. Bluestonehenge at West Amesbury: where the Stonehenge Avenue meets the River AvonResearch background and pre-excavation investigations – (M. Parker Pearson, K. Welham, C. Steele, A. Payne, L. Martin, D. Mitcham and C. French)Archaeological excavations of Bluestonehenge within West Amesbury henge – (M. Parker Pearson, R. Nunn and J. Rylatt)Radiocarbon dating of Bluestonehenge and West Amesbury henge – (P. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey and G. Cook)Neolithic and Beaker pottery – (R. Cleal)Lithics from stratified contexts – (B. Chan and J. Rylatt with P. Pettitt)Other artefacts of stone, antler and bone – (M. Parker Pearson with G. Davies and R. Ixer)Faunal remains – (C. Minniti, U. Albarella and S. Viner)Charred plant remains and wood charcoal – (E. Simmons)6. Sarsens at StonehengeStonehenge reworked – sarsen construction – (C. Richards and M. Parker Pearson)The sarsen-dressing area (Trench 44) – (B. Chan and C. Richards)The flint assemblage from the sarsen-dressing area – (B. Chan)Sarsen stone from Trenches 44 and 45 – (B. Chan)Sarsen-working at Stonehenge – (K. Whitaker)7. Sarsens in the Stonehenge landscapeSarsen origins within the landscape – (C. Richards, K. Whittaker, M. Parker Pearson, C. Tilley and W. Bennett)The Cuckoo Stone – (C. Richards)Geophysical surveys of the Cuckoo Stone – (K. Welham and C. Steele)Lithics from the ploughsoil – (D. Mitcham)Excavation – (C. Richards)Cuckoo Stone radiocarbon-dating – (P. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey and G. Cook)Lithics from stratified contexts – (B. Chan)Antler artefacts from the Cuckoo Stone – (G. Davies)Faunal remains from the Cuckoo Stone – (C. Minniti, U. Albarella and S. Viner)Charred plant remains from the Cuckoo Stone – (E. Simmons)Wood charcoal from the Cuckoo Stone – (E. Simmons)The Tor Stone, Bulford – (C. Richards)Geophysical survey of the Tor Stone at Bulford – (K. Welham and C. Steele)Extraction and erection of the Tor Stone – (C. Richards)Charred plant remains and wood charcoal from the Tor Stone, Bulford – (E. Simmons)8. The Stonehenge AvenueGeophysical surveys – (K. Welham, C. Steele, N. Linford and A. Payne)The Stonehenge Avenue at Stonehenge (Trench 45) – (M. Parker Pearson and R. Pullen)Geology, geomorphology and buried soils – (M. Allen and C. French)The Stonehenge Avenue Bend ((Trenches 46, 47, 48, 57, 58 and 59) – (D. Robinson and O. Bayer)The Stonehenge Avenue’s ‘northern branch’ (Trench 56) – (M. Parker Pearson and A. Teather)Radiocarbon dating of the Stonehenge Avenue – (P. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey and G. Cook)Lithics from the Avenue in front of Stonehenge (Trench 45) – (B. Chan)Lithics from the Avenue bend and the Avenue’s ‘northern branch’ – (B. Chan)Lithics from the ploughsoil of the ‘northern extension’ – (D. Mitcham)Chalk artefact – (A. Teather)Charred plant remains and wood charcoal from the Stonehenge Avenue – (E. Simmons)The orientation of the Stonehenge Avenue and its implications – (C. Ruggles)The Avenue’s construction and purpose – (M. Parker Pearson)9. Stonehenge and the River AvonAlong the River Avon – (C. Tilley and W. Bennett)The Avon palaeo-channel – (C. French and M.J. Allen)Palynology – (R. Scaife)10. The people of StonehengeHuman osteology – (C. Willis)Radiocarbon dating of human remains from Stonehenge – (P. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey and G. Cook)11. Radiocarbon dating: the Stonehenge modelling and resultsP. Marshall, C. Bronk Ramsey, G. Cook and M. Parker Pearson
About the Author
Mike Parker Pearson is Professor of British Later Prehistory at University College London. A distinguished prehistorian he has been involved with many major projects, including leading the recent Stonehenge Riverside Project. His many publications include Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery (2012) and From Machair to Mountains: archaeological survey and excavation in Uist (2012).
Colin Richards is Professor of Archaeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands. His research covers Neolithic Britain and north-west Europe, and Polynesian archaeology. His books include Monuments in the Making: Raising the Great Dolmens in Early Neolithic Northern Europe (Windgather Press, 2021), and Stone Circles: A Field Guide (2024), both with Vicki Cummings.
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