The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
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<strong>The</strong> Neolithic period<br />
• 71 •<br />
though some had restricted occupation within them, perhaps intensifying in later phases <strong>of</strong> use.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y do not generally appear defensive, though the developed circuits <strong>of</strong> Crickley Hill, on the<br />
western Cotswold s<strong>ca</strong>rp, and Hambledon Hill (Dorset) may have been so designed. Rather, they<br />
too stood for a series <strong>of</strong> ideas, and were the focus for intense participatory ceremonialism which<br />
celebrated key aspects <strong>of</strong> the earlier Neolithic lifestyle.<br />
Causewayed enclosures too evoked the past, brought people together in their construction<br />
and enhanced attachment to place. <strong>The</strong>ir layouts presented a potentially complex and ambiguous<br />
symbolism, playing on ideas <strong>of</strong> inside and outside, access and restriction, belonging and exclusion.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are only limited signs <strong>of</strong> internal occupation, though artefact s<strong>ca</strong>tters and pits do occur,<br />
and perhaps even some structures. Within the inner circuit <strong>of</strong> Hambledon Hill, selected and<br />
separate groups <strong>of</strong> artefacts, including stone axeheads and red deer antler, were deposited in pits.<br />
At Etton in Cambridgeshire, deliberately placed deposits including human cremations were found<br />
in one internal zone, while occupation traces were recorded in the other; placed deposits in the<br />
ditches seem approximately to repeat this zonation.<br />
Such internal deposits were apparently part <strong>of</strong> a broader use that encompassed the surrounding<br />
ditches. In these, there are frequently numerous and varied finds: lithic artefacts and pottery,<br />
some human remains, charcoal, some charred plant remains, and, above all, animal bones, especially<br />
those <strong>of</strong> <strong>ca</strong>ttle. Few <strong>of</strong> these <strong>ca</strong>tegories are regularly represented by whole finds. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />
sherds rather than whole pots, and pieces <strong>of</strong> human skeleton (some complete child burials occur);<br />
animal bone deposits <strong>of</strong>ten consist <strong>of</strong> selected parts<br />
<strong>of</strong> more than one animal <strong>of</strong> more than one species.<br />
Such material may have been middened or stored<br />
elsewhere before its deposition. It must come <strong>from</strong><br />
gatherings, rites and feasting, sometimes involving<br />
the large-s<strong>ca</strong>le slaughter <strong>of</strong> animals. Such deposits<br />
seem to celebrate various dimensions <strong>of</strong> the social<br />
world: subsistence, eating, sharing, gift giving,<br />
relations with neighbours and others, and dealings<br />
with ancestors and spirits.<br />
<strong>The</strong> quantities and character <strong>of</strong> this material vary<br />
<strong>from</strong> site to site. <strong>The</strong>y <strong>ca</strong>n also change <strong>from</strong> primary<br />
to secondary levels within their ditches, as at Maiden<br />
Castle (Dorset). <strong>The</strong>y also vary spatially in some<br />
enclosures, as already noted at Etton and<br />
Hambledon Hill. At Windmill Hill, there is varying<br />
emphasis in the three ditch circuits on different<br />
deposits and treatment; there are greater quantities<br />
<strong>of</strong> material and more highly processed bone in the<br />
innermost circuit, while the outermost has more<br />
unusual deposits, including infant burials. <strong>The</strong> arena<br />
<strong>of</strong> bounded space may have served, either <strong>from</strong> the<br />
outset or as the outcome <strong>of</strong> repeated deposition, to<br />
map major conceptual concerns.<br />
Cursus monuments were another innovation <strong>of</strong><br />
the Middle Neolithic. Ditched and banked linear<br />
enclosures, these <strong>of</strong>ten appear to have been<br />
constructed in stages, and some at least appear<br />
unfinished, with open terminals. <strong>The</strong>y range <strong>from</strong><br />
Figure 4.6 <strong>The</strong> Dorset Cursus on Bottlebush Down, seen<br />
<strong>from</strong> the air (Martin Green).