The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex

Recent excavations for the Army Basing Programme on the periphery of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have revealed extensive evidence of Early, Middle and Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity, including a causewayed enclosure, burials, occupation, pit groups, henges, post alignments and c...

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Main Author: Matt Leivers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of York 2021-01-01
Series:Internet Archaeology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/2/index.html
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author Matt Leivers
author_facet Matt Leivers
author_sort Matt Leivers
collection DOAJ
description Recent excavations for the Army Basing Programme on the periphery of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have revealed extensive evidence of Early, Middle and Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity, including a causewayed enclosure, burials, occupation, pit groups, henges, post alignments and circles. Several of these either incorporate or refer to features of the landscape such as solution hollows, dry valleys, hilltops and rivers, as well as to astronomical phenomena. An appraisal of this evidence alongside other recent programmes of research around Stonehenge suggest an accreting pattern of development of this landscape that begins in the 38th century BC, and which throws new light on the location and meaning of several of the ceremonial earthworks, including Stonehenge itself.
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spelling doaj.art-f0c53dbfa967487baa8e96318d5a93432024-03-03T04:40:45ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872021-01-015610.11141/ia.56.2The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of WessexMatt Leivers0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1600-261XWessex ArchaeologyRecent excavations for the Army Basing Programme on the periphery of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have revealed extensive evidence of Early, Middle and Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity, including a causewayed enclosure, burials, occupation, pit groups, henges, post alignments and circles. Several of these either incorporate or refer to features of the landscape such as solution hollows, dry valleys, hilltops and rivers, as well as to astronomical phenomena. An appraisal of this evidence alongside other recent programmes of research around Stonehenge suggest an accreting pattern of development of this landscape that begins in the 38th century BC, and which throws new light on the location and meaning of several of the ceremonial earthworks, including Stonehenge itself.https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/2/index.htmlarchaeologystonehengeearly neolithiclate neolithicearly bronze agelandscape archaeologyastroarchaeology
spellingShingle Matt Leivers
The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
Internet Archaeology
archaeology
stonehenge
early neolithic
late neolithic
early bronze age
landscape archaeology
astroarchaeology
title The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
title_full The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
title_fullStr The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
title_full_unstemmed The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
title_short The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex
title_sort army basing programme stonehenge and the emergence of the sacred landscape of wessex
topic archaeology
stonehenge
early neolithic
late neolithic
early bronze age
landscape archaeology
astroarchaeology
url https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/2/index.html
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