Excavation of Three Long Barrows near Avebury, Wiltshire

Ashbee, Paul; Smith, I. F.; Evans, J. G.

doi:10.1017/s0079497x00009762

Cited by 65 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The fauna was very similar to other open-country faunas in the area, e.g. South Street (Evans 1972;Ashbee et al 1979).…”

Section: The Pre-barrow Soil and Barrow Moundsupporting

confidence: 70%

A ‘Head and Hooves’ Burial beneath a Round Barrow, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites, on Hemp Knoll, near Avebury, Wiltshire

Robertson-Mackay

1980

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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This barrow was excavated by the author for the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate of the then Ministry of Public Buildings and Works (now the Department of the Environment) in August and September 1965. The barrow was scheduled under the Ancient Monuments Acts by the Department of the Environment as Wiltshire 563, and all finds were accordingly thus marked at the time of excavation. In 1958 the barrow was observed by the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate as being 4½ ft high and the mound was spread by agricultural activity to a diameter of 75 ft. In 1965 this bowl barrow stood barely 18 in. high, having suffered much from the effects of ploughing. The barrow had been disturbed mainly in the centre of the mound by early, possibly nineteenth century, excavations. At least one slit trench had been dug into the side of the mound during the 1939–45 war and much other disturbance had been caused by rabbits.Residual finds from this site caused a particular problem. Where they seem to be dateable they have been inserted in their appropriate section, otherwise where there is a possible alternative date they have been cross referenced. All ranging rods and scales shown in the photographs of the site are marked in feet and inches, except where otherwise obvious.

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“…The fauna was very similar to other open-country faunas in the area, e.g. South Street (Evans 1972;Ashbee et al 1979).…”

Section: The Pre-barrow Soil and Barrow Moundsupporting

confidence: 70%

A ‘Head and Hooves’ Burial beneath a Round Barrow, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites, on Hemp Knoll, near Avebury, Wiltshire

Robertson-Mackay

1980

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…Information about body disposal in monuments with single terminal chambers is poor generally, and virtually non-existent in the Avebury area. The earthen long barrows of the area probably did not contain burials either, at least in their final form (Ashbee et al 1979). In the present state of imperfect knowledge, West Kennet certainly stands out locally.…”

Section: Lengths Of Local Chambered Tombs (After Corcoran 1%9 and Barmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bone counts at later ritual sites in Wessex suggest that this depositional practice may extend beyond the long mounds. More locally, three bovid skulls were found in the mound at Beckhampton Road (Ashbee et al 1979) and one in stonehole 6 at the Manton barrow (Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh). The recovery of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of pigs, by comparison, is more frequent in the tombs of the Cotswold-Severn area, examples occurring at Adlestrop Hill (Donovan 1938), Rodmarton (Lysons 1863) and…”

Section: The Secondary Phase: the Sequence Of Blocking And Patterns mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomy of a Tomb‐west Kennet Revisited

Thomas

Whittle²

1986

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary. The primary and secondary uses of the West Kennet long barrow are reconsidered. In the first phase, dating perhaps to a late period of the Earlier Neolithic, the monument was used for a variety of burial rites, including bone circulation. The patterned deposits may have belonged to a small social group, and detailed knowledge of the tomb contents may have been restricted to such a group. The secondary phase is seen as covering a long span of time from the end of the Earlier Neolithic to the developed stage of the Later Neolithic represented by Avebury and Silbury Hill. The secondary filling of the monument was both gradual and patterned, and the ritual involved may have been part of continued social competition in the area.

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“…Other sites in the Avebury area reveal a spectrum of clearance activity in the Earlier Neolithic (Evans 1972;Dimbleby & Evans 1974;Ashbee, Smith & Evans 1979)- In the Avebury area to the southwest the enclosure on Windmill Hill may have begun in wooded or semi-open conditions (Mark Fishpool, pers.…”

Section: The Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the least the mortuary structure probably preceded the small barrow which covered it. Successive pits under the Horslip or Windmill Hill long barrow (Ashbee et al 1979) indicate that the early history of sepulchral monuments could have been rather varied. If that is seen not as a ridged tent-like structure, which could be covered by a low barrow, but as a linear box-like mortuary, perhaps roofed or lidded but accessible, then the barrow can belong later.…”

Section: The Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire: Excavations at the Neolithic Tomb in 1962–63 by R. J. C. Atkinson and S. Piggott

Whittle

Brothwell

Cullen

et al. 1991

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Wayland's Smithy, on the north scarp of the downs above the Vale of the White Horse, is a two-phase Neolithic tomb. It has been a recognized feature of the historic landscape since at least the 10th century AD. It was recorded by Aubrey and later antiquaries, and continued to be of interest in the 19th century. It was amongst the first monuments to be protected by scheduling from 1882. The first excavations in 1919-20 were haphazardly organized and poorly recorded, but served to confirm, as suggested by Akerman and Thurnam, that the stone terminal chamber was transepted, to show that it had held burials, and to indicate the likely existence of an earlier structural phase.Further excavations took place in 19 62-63 to explore the monument more and restore it for better presentation. The excavations revealed a two-phase monument. Wayland's Smithy I is a small oval barrow, defined by flanking ditches, an oval kerb, and a low chalk and sarsen barrow. It contains a mortuary structure defined by large pits which held posts of split trunks, a pavement, and opposed linear cairns of sarsen. This has been seen as the remains of a pitched and ridged mortuary tent, in the manner proposed also for the structure under the Fussell's Lodge long barrow, but in the light of ensuing debate and of subsequent discoveries elsewhere, it can also be seen as an embanked, box-like structure, perhaps with a flat wooden roof. This structure contained the remains of at least fourteen human skeletons, in varying states of completeness. The burial rite may have included primary burial or exposure elsewhere, but some at least of the bodies could have been deposited directly into the mortuary structure, and subsequent circulation or removal of bones cannot be discounted. Little silt accumulated in the ditches of phase I before the construction of phase II, and a charcoal sample from this interval gave a date of 3 700-3 390 BC.Wayland's Smithy II consists of a low sarsen-kerbed trapezoidal barrow, with flanking ditches, which follows the north-south alignment of phase I. At the south end there was a faqade of larger sarsen stones, from which ran back a short passage leading to a transepted chamber, roofed with substantial capstones. This could have risen above the surrounding barrow. The excavations of1919-20 revealed the presence of incomplete human burials in the west transept; the chamber had probably already been disturbed. The excavations of1962-63 revealed further structural detail of the surrounds of the chamber, including a sarsen cairn piled in front and around it; deposits of calcium carbonate well up the walls of the chamber could be taken to suggest the former existence of chalk rubble blocking, in the manner of the West Kennet long barrow.

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Excavation of Three Long Barrows near Avebury, Wiltshire

Cited by 65 publications

References 13 publications

A ‘Head and Hooves’ Burial beneath a Round Barrow, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites, on Hemp Knoll, near Avebury, Wiltshire

A ‘Head and Hooves’ Burial beneath a Round Barrow, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites, on Hemp Knoll, near Avebury, Wiltshire

Anatomy of a Tomb‐west Kennet Revisited

Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire: Excavations at the Neolithic Tomb in 1962–63 by R. J. C. Atkinson and S. Piggott

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