Houses of the Holy: Architecture and Meaning in the Structure of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK

Darvill, Timothy

doi:10.1080/1751696x.2016.1171496

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…In some of the preliminary and popularizing accounts, labels such as ‘temple’ and ‘cathedral’ have been used (Card, 2010), but even more modest terms such as ‘shrine’ or ‘meeting house’ can carry significant charge (Waterson, 1990; Gell, 1998). Structure 10 could be seen in terms of what have been called ceremonial or ‘big houses’ (Bradley, 2005; Pollard, 2010; Darvill, 2016). Whatever the role of Structure 10 was, the models raise the question of the circumstances in which such a remarkable construction came into being.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, a summary is given of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications from both features and finds of activity predating the main set of buildings exposed so far by excavation. Forty-six dates on 39 samples are presented and are interpreted in a formal chronological framework. Two models are presented, reflecting different possible readings of the sequence. Both indicate that piered architecture was in use by the 30th century cal BC and that the massive Structure 10, not the first building in the sequence, was also in existence by the 30th century cal BC. Activity associated with piered architecture came to an end (in Model 2) c. 2800 cal BC. Midden and rubble infill followed. After an appreciable interval, the hearth at the centre of Structure 10 was last used c. 2500 cal BC, perhaps the only activity in an otherwise abandoned site. The remains of some 400 or more cattle were deposited over the ruins of Structure 10: in Model 2, in the mid-25th century cal BC, but in Model 1 in the late 24th or 23rd century cal BC. The chronologies invite comparison with the near- Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporationneighbour of Barnhouse, in use from the later 32nd to the earlier 29th century cal BC, and the Stones of Stenness, probably constructed by the 30th century cal BC. The Ness, including Structure 10, appears to have outlasted Barnhouse, but probably did not endure in its primary form for as long as previously envisaged. The decay and decommissioning of the Ness might coincide with the further development of the sacred landscape around it; but precise chronologies for both the Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe are urgently required. The spectacular feasting remains deposited above Structure 10 may belong to a radically changing world, coinciding (in Model 2) with the appearance of Beakers nationally, but it was arguably the by now mythic status of that building which drew people back to it. (Richards, 2013; Richards & Jones, 2016). The idea of chambered cairns persisted into this period, but now, in contrast to earlier styles of simple-chambered and stalled cairns, these probably principally took the form of the passage grave, of 'Maeshowe' type (Henshall, 1972), seen in the construction of monuments such as Quanterness, Quoyness and Maeshowe itself (Renfrew, 1979; Davidson & Henshall, 1989;Schulting et al., 2010;Griffiths & Richards, 2013; MacSween et al., 2015;Griffiths, 2016). Their elaborate architecture, with marked separation of the interior from the exterior, controlled access via passages, and gradation among internal chambers, may have derived from or been part of active connections with the apogee of the passage tomb tradition in eastern Ireland (Sheridan, 2004;Schulting et al., 2010;Hen...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

et al. 2017

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“…The ongoing importance of Stonehenge and its environs in the Early Bronze Age (EBA), marked by continuing structural modification at Stonehenge itself (Darvill 2016), is also strongly attested by the number of round barrows in the landscape and the richness of their burials (e.g. Darvill 2005, 61-5;Needham et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Early Field Systems of the Stonehenge Landscape

et al. 2017

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Recent survey, excavation and analysis in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (WHS) during 2015 and 2016 has revealed new details of landscape structuration and the deposition of the dead during the Middle Bronze Age. The research reported here demonstrates the existence of early fields or enclosures in the eastern part of the WHS, that was previously thought to be an area of little agricultural or domestic activity in the Bronze Age. These features were succeeded by a major ditch system in which two individuals were buried, an unusual way of dealing with the dead in the Middle Bronze Age. At the same time, the body of a perinatal infant was deposited in a palisade ditch in the western part of the WHS. The paper explores how these actions help elucidate a period of significant change in the landscape around Stonehenge, during which natural features, ancestral monuments and the recent dead were enmeshed in complex ways of bounding and dividing the landscape.

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“…However, these remain a geographically restricted phenomenon, not 'between Orkney and the south coast' but only in Orkney and the south coast, perhaps in Wales and with a possible outlier in Ireland (Thomas 2010, 5;Gibson 2019aGibson , 2019b. Another late Neolithic trend, the 'square-in-circle' continuum of structures and enclosures (Darvill 2016) has been interpreted by some as an indication of high-status four-post houses at the smaller end of the scale (e.g. Bradley 2007, 119;Noble et al 2012).…”

Section: House Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘A veritable chauvinism of prehistory’: nationalist prehistories and the ‘British’ late Neolithic mythos

Barclay

Brophy

2020

Archaeological Journal

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This article examines the interpretation and public presentation of a particular view of the supposedly 'national' role of monuments in a geographically restricted part of southern England -what we have termed the British late Neolithic mythos: that monuments in the Stonehenge area had a 'national', 'unifying' role for 'Britain' at a time when 'Britain' had a 'unified culture' and was isolated from continental Europe, and that as part of that process, animals for feasting were transported from as far as 'Scotland'. We explore the trajectory of interpretative inflation, 'possible' > 'probable' > 'certain' > 'sensational' through academic and popular accounts, media releases, social media, newspaper articles, TV programmes, Research Excellence Framework impact reports, and the publications of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. We critically examine the evidence claimed to underpin this far-reaching re-interpretation of British prehistory. We examine the extent to which a priori assumptions can shape the interpretation of complex datasets and how unacknowledged nationalist and neocolonialist thinking underpin its interpretation. We consider the way in which researchers have linked their work with contemporary politics -Brexit, a 'united Britain' isolated from Europe, perhaps to demonstrate 'relevance, 'impact' and 'reach' to funding bodies. We conclude with some suggestions on ways forward including further research, and mitigating strategies.'Error is an occupational hazard of the literary life. As soon as a man sets pen to paper he sets himself open to error: one, his own, which is bad enough; and, two, the misunderstanding of those who read him, which is infinite'.

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Houses of the Holy: Architecture and Meaning in the Structure of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK

Cited by 20 publications

References 50 publications

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

To Cut a Long Story Short: Formal Chronological Modelling for the Late Neolithic Site of Ness of Brodgar, Orkney

The Early Field Systems of the Stonehenge Landscape

‘A veritable chauvinism of prehistory’: nationalist prehistories and the ‘British’ late Neolithic mythos

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