Stonehenge in Its Landscape

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Stonehenge in its landscape
Stonehenge in its landscape.jpg
Cover
AuthorR.M.J. Cleal, K.E. Walker and R. Montague
LanguageEnglish
Genre Archaeology
Publisher English Heritage
Publication date
1995
Pages618
ISBN 1-85074-605-2
OCLC 34051849

Stonehenge in its landscape: Twentieth century excavations by Rosamund M. J. Cleal, Karen E. Walker and Rebecca Montague is an archaeological report on Stonehenge published in 1995. It presented the results of a two-year intensive study of all the known records of the various excavations at Stonehenge in the twentieth century, including a rephasing of the development of the monument.

Contents

Unlike popular books on the subject, Stonehenge in its landscape details the complex archaeological stratigraphy of the site. It has been described as "an essential reference work for the specialist". [1]

Origins

In 1993, both the setting and the presentation of Stonehenge was described as "a national disgrace" by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. The criticisms were several: two major roads ran close to the monument, one of which cut the processional Avenue; a large car park lay nearby; the pedestrian access to the monument was via a shabby underpass, and the visitor facilities were very limited, with no visitor centre. In addition, there was no proper plan of the monument. [2]

The documentation of the site was in a similarly poor state. Professor Richard J. C. Atkinson had published a partial account of the site in 1956, and this had been revised in 1979, but after nearly 90 years of archaeological investigations at the monument there was still no definitive publication presenting the complex stratigraphy and the finds recovered from the site. [3] In 1993 English Heritage commissioned Wessex Archaeology to prepare such a volume. The work involved detailed study of all available site records, including plans, photographs, site notebooks, letters and other documentary sources, as well as analysis of all the finds from the site, and a new suite of radiocarbon dates for the monument. The volume aimed to relate the site to its local landscape.

Contents

The volume is split into four parts. Part 1 deals with the geography and history of Stonehenge, including previous work at the site, and the site in its modern setting. Part 2, entitled Stonehenge, the monument in its setting tackles the Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic evidence from the site, and then moves on to describe the development of the monument, including the three major phases of development, and the post-Bronze Age use of the site. Part 3 deals with the artefacts and ecofacts (environmental data), and Part 4 is the discussion section.

The analysis showed that Atkinson's phasing of the monument no longer held, and a new scheme was set out:

The Avenue was also constructed during Phase 3. [4]

Publication

The book was launched at the Society of Antiquaries in London on 5 October 1995. One reviewer wryly noted:

If this book were a new car - such is its importance - it would have descended from the clouds amidst lasers, escorted by angelic supermodels. Instead, it was launched at the Society of Antiquaries with tea and biscuits. Such is the world. [5]

Reviewers described the monograph as "a massive achievement", "fundamental" and "one of the more important British archaeological publications this century". The original edition had a print run of just 800 copies; [6] [7] [8] the volume was reprinted in 2006.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonehenge</span> Ancient monument in England

Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodhenge</span> Neolithic henge and timber circle monument near Stonehenge

Woodhenge is a Neolithic Class II henge and timber circle monument within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Stonehenge, in Durrington parish, just north of the town of Amesbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henge</span> Type of Neolithic earthwork

A henge loosely describes one of three related types of Neolithic earthwork. 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:

  1. Henge. The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork of the Neolithic period, typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area of more than 20 m (66 ft) in diameter. There is typically little if any evidence of occupation in a henge, although they may contain ritual structures such as stone circles, timber circles and coves. Henge monument is sometimes used as a synonym for henge. Henges sometimes, but by no means always, featured stone or timber circles, and circle henge is sometimes used to describe these structures. The three largest stone circles in Britain are each within a henge. Examples of henges without significant internal monuments are the three henges of Thornborough Henges. Although having given its name to the word henge, Stonehenge is atypical in that the ditch is outside the main earthwork bank.
  2. Hengiform monument. Like an ordinary henge, except the central flat area is between 5 and 20 m (16–66 ft) in diameter, they comprise a modest earthwork with a fairly wide outer bank. The terms mini-henge or Dorchester henge are sometimes used as synonyms for hengiform monument. An example is the Neolithic site at Wormy Hillock Henge.
  3. Henge enclosure. A Neolithic ring earthwork with the ditch inside the bank, with the central flat area having abundant evidence of occupation and usually being more than 300 m (980 ft) in diameter. Some true henges are as large as this, but lack evidence of domestic occupation. Super-henge or superhenge is sometimes used as a synonym for a henge enclosure. However, sometimes the term is used to indicate size alone rather than use, e.g. "Marden henge ... is the least understood of the four British 'superhenges' ".
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avebury</span> Neolithic henge monument in Wiltshire, England

Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durrington Walls</span> Late Neolithic palisaded enclosure

Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. It lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury in Wiltshire. The henge is the second-largest Late Neolithic palisaded enclosure known in the United Kingdom, after Hindwell in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aubrey holes</span> Ring of chalk pits at Stonehenge

The Aubrey holes are a ring of 56 chalk pits at Stonehenge, named after seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey. They date to the earliest phases of Stonehenge in the late fourth and early third millennium BC. Despite decades of argument and analysis, their purpose is still unknown, although an astronomical role has often been suggested.

The Boscombe Bowmen is the name given by archaeologists to a group of early Bronze Age people found in a shared burial at Boscombe Down in Amesbury near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Hawley</span> British archaeologist

Lieutenant-Colonel William Hawley (1851–1941) was a British archaeologist who undertook pioneering excavations at Stonehenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedd Arthur</span> Standing stones

Bedd Arthur is a possibly Neolithic hengiform monument megalithic site in the Preseli Hills in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. Thirteen upright stones and at least 2 fallen ones, each around 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) high form an oval horseshoe with similarities to the earliest form of Stonehenge.

John Frederick Smerdon Stone was a British archaeologist, most famous for his work in and around Wiltshire, especially at Stonehenge and the Woodhenge area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heel Stone</span> Block of sarsen stone in England

The Heel Stone is a single large block of sarsen stone standing within the Avenue outside the entrance of the Stonehenge earthwork in Wiltshire, England. In section it is sub-rectangular, with a minimum thickness of 2.4 metres, rising to a tapered top about 4.7 metres (15 ft) high. Excavation has shown that a further 1.2 metres is buried in the ground. It is 77.4 metres (254 ft) from the centre of Stonehenge circle. It leans towards the southwest nearly 27 degrees from the vertical. The stone has an overall girth of 7.6 metres (25 ft) and weighs about 35 tons. It is surrounded by the Heelstone Ditch.

Records of archaeological excavations at the Stonehenge site date back to the early 17th century.

This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theories about Stonehenge</span> Theories on the origin and purpose of Stonehenge

Stonehenge has been the subject of many theories about its origin, ranging from the academic worlds of archaeology to explanations from mythology and the paranormal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heelstone Ditch</span> Geographical feature

Heelstone Ditch is a roughly circular feature surrounding the Heel Stone at Stonehenge. It is not known if there was an intended relationship between the ditch and the heelstone although it is likely that the stone was in place either before or at the same time as the ditch. It has steep sloping sides which end at a narrow flat base, and is approximately 4 ft (1.2m) deep and 3.5 ft (1.1m) wide. It is some 12 ft (3.7m) from base the base of the Heelstone, with a diameter of roughly 32 ft (9.7m). A broad arcing trench found in 1923 by Lt-Col William Hawley 9 ft (2.7m) wide cuts this ditch from the West, deepening towards the stone. Against the Heelstone Ditch is rammed chalk filled Stonehole 97, whose missing stone is known as Heelstone's twin although it is possible that the stone in Stonehole 97 was moved and is now the stone known as the Heelstone. The ditch was probably dug after the stone in Stonehole 97 was moved but possibly before that.

C. Joshua Pollard is a British archaeologist who is a professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton. He gained his BA and PhD in archaeology from the Cardiff University, and is a specialist in the archaeology of the Neolithic period in the UK and north-west Europe, especially in relation to the study of depositional practices, monumentality, and landscape. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y and Z Holes</span>

The Y and Z Holes are two rings of concentric circuits of 30 and 29 near-identical pits cut around the outside of the Sarsen Circle at Stonehenge. The current view is that both circuits are contemporary. Radiocarbon dating of antlers deliberately placed in hole Y 30 provided a date of around 1600 BCE, and a slightly earlier date was determined for material retrieved from Z 29. These dates make the Y and Z holes the last known structural activity at Stonehenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Q and R Holes</span>

The Q and R Holes are a series of concentric sockets which currently represent the earliest known evidence for a stone structure on the site of Stonehenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonehenge Cursus</span> Neolithic monument in Wiltshire, England

The Stonehenge Cursus is a large Neolithic cursus monument on Salisbury plain, near to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. It is roughly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long and between 100 metres (330 ft) and 150 metres (490 ft) wide. Excavations in 2007 dated the construction of the earthwork to between 3630 and 3375 BCE, several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge in 3000 BC. The cursus, along with adjacent barrows and the nearby 'Lesser Cursus' are part of the National Trust's Stonehenge Landscape property, and is within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluestonehenge</span> Prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England

Bluestonehenge or Bluehenge is a prehistoric henge and stone circle monument that was discovered by the Stonehenge Riverside Project about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. All that remains of the site is the ditch of the henge and a series of stone settings, none of which is visible above ground.

References

  1. Case 1997, 162
  2. Chippindale 1995, 865
  3. Case 1997, 161-2
  4. Cleal, Walker and Montague 1995
  5. Pitts 1996, 12
  6. Whittle 1996, 463
  7. North 1996, 592
  8. Case 1997, 161