In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface. [1]
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface. [1]
Earthworks of interest to archaeologists include hill forts, henges, mounds, platform mounds, effigy mounds, enclosures, long barrows, tumuli, ridge and furrow, mottes, round barrows, and other tombs. [2]
Earthworks can vary in height from a few centimetres to the size of Silbury Hill at 40 metres (130 ft). They can date from the Neolithic to the present. The structures can also stretch for many tens of miles (e.g. Offa's Dyke and Antonine Wall). In area, they can cover many hectares; for example, Maiden Castle, which is 19 hectares (47 acres).
Shallow earthworks are often more visible as cropmarks or in aerial photographs if taken when the sun is low in the sky and shadows are more pronounced. [16] Similarly, earthworks may be more visible after a frost or a light dusting of snow. [17]
Earthworks can be detected and plotted using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). This technique is particularly useful for mapping small variations in land height that would be difficult to detect by eye. It can be used to map features beneath forest canopy [18] and for features hidden by other vegetation. LIDAR results can be input into a geographic information system (GIS) to produce three-dimensional representations of the earthworks.
An accurate survey of the earthworks can enable them to be interpreted without the need for excavation. [19] For example, earthworks from deserted medieval villages can be used to determine the location, size, and layout of lost settlements. Often these earthworks can point to the purpose of such a settlement, as well the context in which it existed.
Earthworks in North America include mounds built by Native Americans known as the Mound Builders. Ancient people who lived in the American Midwest commonly built effigy mounds, which are mounds shaped like animals (real or imaginary) or people. Possibly the most famous of these effigy mounds is Serpent Mound. Located in Ohio, this 411-metre-long (1,348 ft) earthen work is thought to memorialize alignments of the planets and stars that were of special significance to the Native Americans that constructed it. [20] Cone-shaped or conical mounds are also numerous, with thousands of them scattered across the American Midwest, some over 24 m (80 ft) tall. These conical mounds appear to be marking the graves of one person or even dozens of people. [21] An example of a conical mound is the Miamisburg Mound in central Ohio, which has been estimated to have been built by people of the Adena culture in the time range of 800 BC to 100 AD. [22] The American Plains also hold temple mounds, or platform mounds, which are giant pyramid-shaped mounds with flat tops that once held temples made of wood. Examples of temple mounds include Monks Mound located at the Cahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois, [21] and Mound H at the Crystal River site in Citrus County, Florida. [23] The earthworks at Poverty Point occupy one of the largest-area sites in North America, as they cover some 920 acres (320 ha) of land in Louisiana. [24]
Military earthworks can result in subsequent archaeological earthworks. Examples include Roman marching forts which can leave small earthworks. During the American Civil War, earthwork fortifications were built throughout the country, by both Confederate and Union sides. [25] The largest earthwork fort built during the war was Fortress Rosecrans, which originally encompassed 255 acres (103 ha ). [26] [ relevant? ]
In northeastern Somalia, near the city of Bosaso at the end of the Baladi valley, lies an earthwork 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 mi) long. [27] [28] Local tradition recounts that the massive embankment marks the grave of a community matriarch. It is the largest such structure in the wider Horn region. [28]
Bigo bya Mugenyi is an extensive earthworks site in the interlacustrine region of southwestern Uganda. On the south shore of the Katonga river, the Bigo earthworks consist of a series of ditches and berms comprising an outer arch that encompasses four interconnected enclosures. When combined, the Bigo earthworks measure more than 10 km (6 mi) long. [29] Radiometric dates from archaeological investigations at Bigo date the earthworks to roughly AD 1300–1500, and they have been called Uganda's "largest and most important ancient monument". [30]
The Steppe Geoglyphs, discovered in 2007 using Google Earth, are an example of earthworks in Central Asia.
Media related to Archaeological earthworks at Wikimedia Commons| National | |
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Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 1.6 mi (2.6 km) southwest of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age.
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches would have served defensive purposes poorly, henges are not considered to have been defensive constructions. The three henge types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area:
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Low Countries it controlled, in the 11th century, when these castles were popularized in the area that became the Netherlands. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Arbor Low is a well-preserved Neolithic henge in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It lies on a Carboniferous Limestone plateau known as the White Peak area. The monument consists of a stone circle surrounded by earthworks and a ditch.
Mount Pleasant henge is a Neolithic henge enclosure in the English county of Dorset. It lies southeast of Dorchester in the civil parish of West Stafford. It still partially survives as an earthwork.
A Monument Class Description provides a synthesis and summary of the archaeological evidence for a particular type of British ancient monument. The Monument Class Descriptions were created by English Heritage as part of the Monuments Protection Programme.
A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher elevation on any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of reasons throughout history, including habitation, ceremonial, burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes.
Figsbury Ring is an 11.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1975. It is owned and managed by the National Trust.
Aslockton Castle is a ruined fortification, a motte-and-bailey castle, in the village of Aslockton, Nottinghamshire. The original name of the settlement was Aslachetone, which suggests a possible Norse origin; it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was described as a large settlement.
The Bull Ring is a Class II henge that was built in the late Neolithic period near Dove Holes in Derbyshire, England.
Priddy Circles are a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures near the village of Priddy on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The circles have been listed as Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and described as 'probable Neolithic ritual or ceremonial monuments similar to a henge'.
The Portsmouth Earthworks are a large prehistoric mound complex constructed by the Native American Adena and Ohio Hopewell cultures of eastern North America. The site was one of the largest earthwork ceremonial centers constructed by the Hopewell and is located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers, in present-day Ohio.
Marden Henge is the largest Neolithic henge enclosure discovered to date in the United Kingdom. The monument is north-east of the village of Marden, Wiltshire, within the Vale of Pewsey and between the World Heritage Sites of Avebury and Stonehenge.
Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort on Scratchbury Hill, overlooking the Wylye valley about 1 km northeast of the village of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire, England. The fort covers an area of 37 acres (15 ha) and occupies the summit of the hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with its four-sided shape largely following the natural contours of the hill.
Knowlton Circles are a complex of henges and earthworks in Knowlton, Dorset, England. The henge enclosing Knowlton Church is the best known and best preserved, but there are at least two other henges in the vicinity as well as numerous round barrows.
Bigo bya Mugenyi also known as just Bigo (“city”), is an extensive alignment of ditches and berms comprising ancient earthworks located in the interlacustrine region of southwestern Uganda. Situated on the southern shore of the Katonga River, Bigo is best described as having two elements. The first consists of a long, irregular ditch and bank alignment with multiple openings that effectively creates an outer boundary by connecting to the Katonga River in the east and the Kakinga swamp to the west. Toward its eastern end the outer ditch branches further to the east to encompass a nearby crossing of the Katonga River. The second element consists of a central, interconnected group of four irregularly shaped ditch and bank enclosures that are connected to the Katonga River by a single ditch. Three mounds are associated with the central enclosures; two within and one immediately to the west. When combined, the Bigo earthworks extend for more than 10 kilometers. Resulting from radiometric dates collected from archaeological investigations conducted in 1960 and additional investigations undertaken at the Mansa earthworks site in 1988, 1994, and 1995, the Bigo earthworks have been dated to roughly AD 1300-1500, and have been called Uganda's "largest and most important ancient monument."
Badshot Lea Long Barrow, also known as Farnham Long Barrow, was an unchambered long barrow located near the village of Badshot Lea in the south-eastern English county of Surrey. It was probably constructed in the fourth millennium BCE, during Britain's Early Neolithic period.
