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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• 72 • Alasdair Whittle<br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> metres upwards in length. <strong>The</strong> longest, the Dorset cursus on Cranborne Chase, runs<br />
for almost 10 km (Figure 4.6). Many have been detected on river gravels, and their distribution<br />
extends further north than <strong>ca</strong>usewayed enclosures (for example, in the complex at Rudston on<br />
the Yorkshire Wolds). A related monument in Perthshire, the Cleaven Dyke, which has a central<br />
mound or bank as well as flanking ditches, has recently been recognized to be <strong>of</strong> Neolithic date<br />
(Barclay 1997). Some cursus monuments enclose timber and other settings, though these may<br />
normally be later additions. <strong>The</strong> Dorset cursus incorporates pre-existing long barrows in its layout,<br />
and that at Dorchester-on-Thames subsumes earlier and smaller ditched features, interpreted as<br />
mortuary enclosures. <strong>The</strong> roles <strong>of</strong> cursus monuments may have varied. <strong>The</strong>y may have acted as<br />
boundary markers, actual or symbolic; they presumably signify woodland clearance. <strong>The</strong>ir form<br />
suggests procession, perhaps already a feature <strong>of</strong> gatherings and rites, now formalized and made<br />
permanent. One strong connection appears to have been with the ancestral dead, and there may<br />
be some interest in the risings and settings <strong>of</strong> the sun and moon (Barrett et al. 1991). It has been<br />
suggested that the Dorset cursus was designed to be experienced <strong>from</strong> north-east to south-west,<br />
towards the great ‘death island’ formed by the Hambledon Hill <strong>ca</strong>usewayed enclosure, a few<br />
kilometres away (Tilley 1994).<br />
Whether there was continuity <strong>of</strong> the enclosure tradition through the Middle into the Late<br />
Neolithic is uncertain. Causewayed enclosures were not constructed after c.3000 BC. If there is<br />
hiatus, archaeologists might think in terms <strong>of</strong> the completion <strong>of</strong> a ritual cycle, with the spirits and<br />
ancestors propitiated, and the concept <strong>of</strong> community well established. If continuity is envisaged,<br />
other monument types may be proposed: cursus monuments, stone rows or avenues, early stone<br />
circles (such as those encircling Clava <strong>ca</strong>irns <strong>of</strong> the inner Moray Firth lands) and early henges.<br />
Flagstones (Dorset) and the first phase <strong>of</strong> Stonehenge belong to the early third millennium BC.<br />
Both draw on the earlier tradition <strong>of</strong> interrupted ditches (and Stonehenge has old-style deposits<br />
in its primary ditch layers), but have circular or near-circular layouts. This formalization is enhanced<br />
in Stonehenge I, the primary monument, by a ring <strong>of</strong> internal pits, with cremations deposited<br />
subsequently, and probably central timber settings.<br />
<strong>The</strong> enclosure tradition in the Late Neolithic encompasses various elements: henges, with<br />
their internal features including stone and timber settings and stone circles; free-standing stone<br />
circles and settings; and circular and oval timber palisades. <strong>The</strong>ir distributions are much wider.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ring <strong>of</strong> Brogar and Stones <strong>of</strong> Stenness on Orkney, with ditches, banks and stone circles,<br />
mark the northern limit; there are related sites in Ireland. Nearly everywhere formalization is<br />
apparent, indi<strong>ca</strong>ted by concerns for ordering the approach to, entrance into, and movement around<br />
these bounded spaces, as well as with their orientations and outward views to horizons and other<br />
natural features. Established enclosure traditions were enhanced, both in terms <strong>of</strong> depositions<br />
<strong>of</strong> food remains and artefacts, and <strong>of</strong> the increased monumentality <strong>of</strong> selected sites. <strong>The</strong> sacred<br />
geography, already created, was reinforced. While some henges appear as the first large monuments<br />
in their areas, others were added to lands<strong>ca</strong>pes long sanctified by older exemplars. Most <strong>of</strong> the<br />
very large henges, such as at Avebury and Mount Pleasant in central-southern England, occur<br />
within such established complexes (Figure 4.7). <strong>The</strong> explanation <strong>of</strong> this has <strong>of</strong>ten been sought<br />
purely in terms <strong>of</strong> politi<strong>ca</strong>l power, but the strength <strong>of</strong> the sacred traditions <strong>of</strong> long-lived holy<br />
areas should not be underestimated.<br />
Henges generally have ditches inside their earthwork banks. <strong>The</strong>ir sizes vary considerably,<br />
attaining considerable diameters (350 m up to nearly 500 m) at Avebury, Mount Pleasant,<br />
Durrington Walls and Marden (Wainwright 1989). <strong>The</strong> smaller henges generally have one<br />
entrance, and the larger two, and exceptionally more. <strong>The</strong>se exhibit the general concern for<br />
setting, approach and entrance. At Avebury, the approach <strong>from</strong> the south was by the double stone<br />
row <strong>of</strong> the West Kennet Avenue. A massive stone circle inside the ditch provides the first division