Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs
Recent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of York
2018-08-01
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| Series: | Internet Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue47/7/index.html |
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| author | David Roberts Andrew Valdez-Tullett Peter Marshall Jonathan Last Alastair Oswald A. Barclay B. Bishop E. Dunbar Alice Forward Matt Law N. Linford Paul Linford Inés López-Dóriga A. Manning Andrew Payne Ruth Pelling A. Powell Paula J. Reimer Michael Russell F. Small Sharon Soutar J. Vallender Eleanor Winter Fay Worley |
| author_facet | David Roberts Andrew Valdez-Tullett Peter Marshall Jonathan Last Alastair Oswald A. Barclay B. Bishop E. Dunbar Alice Forward Matt Law N. Linford Paul Linford Inés López-Dóriga A. Manning Andrew Payne Ruth Pelling A. Powell Paula J. Reimer Michael Russell F. Small Sharon Soutar J. Vallender Eleanor Winter Fay Worley |
| author_sort | David Roberts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to the south. Survey and excavation show internal features at both barrows and, alongside aerial photography, suggest that both monuments were destroyed during later prehistory. These barrows are part of a cluster around the head of the Wilsford dry valley. We review long barrows in the SWHS and environs to contextualise these discoveries, demonstrating a diversity of internal features, barrow sizes and morphologies. Chronological modelling is used to place the SWHS barrows in their inter-regional timescape and to understand the timings of the first appearance of monument types of the 4th millennium cal BC. Local topography appears to be the key factor in determining the alignment of long barrows, but the eastern ends of barrows appear to be significant. Long barrows are also considered in relation to causewayed enclosures, and movement around the landscape. Long barrows are an important structuring monument in the later Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape, but their importance is mediated by their location relative to Stonehenge, and access to the monument from the south. There is a clear pattern of differential preservation of long barrows away from the vicinity of Stonehenge. Further field research is necessary to achieve a better understanding of long barrows in the SWHS, and it is hoped that this article stimulates interest in these highly significant monuments. This article also provides an interactive map of the SWHS, linking to simplified plans of long barrows in the study area, additional information and references for further reading for each barrow. Appendices are provided containing specialist methodologies and/or data from the geophysical surveys and the Historic England excavation, and primary excavation data from the Historic England excavation is downloadable via the Archaeology Data Service (Historic England 2018). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:00:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0baed4b9cecb445fa8a91fa4c05d25a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1363-5387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-22T03:38:29Z |
| publishDate | 2018-08-01 |
| publisher | University of York |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0baed4b9cecb445fa8a91fa4c05d25a52024-04-28T12:06:18ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872018-08-014710.11141/ia.47.7Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and EnvironsDavid Roberts0Andrew Valdez-Tullett1Peter Marshall2Jonathan Last3Alastair Oswald4A. Barclay5B. BishopE. Dunbar6Alice Forward7Matt Law8N. Linford9Paul Linford10Inés López-Dóriga11A. Manning12Andrew Payne13Ruth Pelling14A. Powell15Paula J. Reimer16Michael Russell17F. Small18Sharon Soutar19J. Vallender20Eleanor Winter21Fay Worley22Historic EnglandHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandUniversity of YorkWessex ArchaeologyScottish Universities Environmental Research Centre Cardiff UniversityBath Spa UniversityHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandWessex ArchaeologyWessex ArchaeologyHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandWessex Archaeology14CHRONO Centre, Queens University BelfastHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandHistoric EnglandHeadland ArchaeologyHistoric EnglandRecent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to the south. Survey and excavation show internal features at both barrows and, alongside aerial photography, suggest that both monuments were destroyed during later prehistory. These barrows are part of a cluster around the head of the Wilsford dry valley. We review long barrows in the SWHS and environs to contextualise these discoveries, demonstrating a diversity of internal features, barrow sizes and morphologies. Chronological modelling is used to place the SWHS barrows in their inter-regional timescape and to understand the timings of the first appearance of monument types of the 4th millennium cal BC. Local topography appears to be the key factor in determining the alignment of long barrows, but the eastern ends of barrows appear to be significant. Long barrows are also considered in relation to causewayed enclosures, and movement around the landscape. Long barrows are an important structuring monument in the later Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape, but their importance is mediated by their location relative to Stonehenge, and access to the monument from the south. There is a clear pattern of differential preservation of long barrows away from the vicinity of Stonehenge. Further field research is necessary to achieve a better understanding of long barrows in the SWHS, and it is hoped that this article stimulates interest in these highly significant monuments. This article also provides an interactive map of the SWHS, linking to simplified plans of long barrows in the study area, additional information and references for further reading for each barrow. Appendices are provided containing specialist methodologies and/or data from the geophysical surveys and the Historic England excavation, and primary excavation data from the Historic England excavation is downloadable via the Archaeology Data Service (Historic England 2018).http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue47/7/index.htmlarchaeologylong barrowsStonehenge World Heritage Sitechronological modellinglandscape archaeologyNeolithicBronze Age |
| spellingShingle | David Roberts Andrew Valdez-Tullett Peter Marshall Jonathan Last Alastair Oswald A. Barclay B. Bishop E. Dunbar Alice Forward Matt Law N. Linford Paul Linford Inés López-Dóriga A. Manning Andrew Payne Ruth Pelling A. Powell Paula J. Reimer Michael Russell F. Small Sharon Soutar J. Vallender Eleanor Winter Fay Worley Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs Internet Archaeology archaeology long barrows Stonehenge World Heritage Site chronological modelling landscape archaeology Neolithic Bronze Age |
| title | Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs |
| title_full | Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs |
| title_fullStr | Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs |
| title_short | Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs |
| title_sort | recent investigations at two long barrows and reflections on their context in the stonehenge world heritage site and environs |
| topic | archaeology long barrows Stonehenge World Heritage Site chronological modelling landscape archaeology Neolithic Bronze Age |
| url | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue47/7/index.html |
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