Salvage excavations on the verges of the A344 at Stonehenge resulted in the recovery of large, well stratified groups of prehistoric artefacts. In 1968, a complete section across the Avenue earthwork was recorded, and material obtained for a radiocarbon determination. In 1979 and 1980, the two ditches of the Avenue were again sectioned. Detailed recording of find provenances from both these and the Heelstone ditches permitted a fuller understanding of the erosion and filling processes. In 1979, part of a pit that had held a previously unknown standing stone was excavated. A geophysical survey of the Avenue suggests that further pits may be present along its course. A unique deposit of prehistoric stoneworking debitage was sectioned in 1980. It is suggested that this debitage, representing the opportunistic use of megalith shaping debris, accumulated within a structure inhabited at the time the major stone monument was being erected. The discovery of these rock fragments has prompted an important new study of the petrology at Stonehenge, and a discussion of stoneworking around the site is included. The paper concludes with an appraisal of the chronology of Stonehenge and an introduction to the comprehensive excavation archive.
A new framework for the consideration of Neolithic axes is proposed, consisting of six rock classes defined by rock composition and working properties. The use of rock from these classes varied systematically in Britain, and reflected local geology. Flint exploitation, whose significance in the production of axes has been grossly underestimated, is considered in especial detail (with a full survey of flint mines and quarries). A major study of axe morphology is reported on. The paper includes gazetteers of caches of stone axes (many previously unpublished) and of axes found in burials.
A sequence of deposits ranging in date from Late-glacial to the present produced detailed evidence of environmental changes, reflecting both climatic fluctuations and the effects of human activities. A Later Mesolithic occupation horizon, with lithic industry and associated faunal remains, is dated at about 5280 be. It was sealed by a deposit of tufa. An irregular linear excavation, dated at about 2765 be, is interpreted as a quarry; the backfill contained Earlier Neolithic pottery and other settlement debris. The first phase of later activities is marked by the deposition of a large quantity of Peterborough ware. Later on, part of the site was ploughed over and at the same time a series of small ditches, interpreted as elements of a system of land boundaries, was dug in the adjacent area. Late Beaker and Food Vessel sherds indicate the approximate date of these events.
Radiocarbon dates on samples excavated earlier this century by Gray and Keiller and one more recently by Pitts, confirm that the henge at Avebury is in the same general Late Neolithic horizon as the other great Wessex enclosures of Durrington Walls, Marden and Mount Pleasant. They leave open to interpretation the details of Avebury's sequence. The monument may have been constructed in a series of stages, but further investigation is badly needed.
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