Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project: Wilsford Down Barrows
Author(s): Mark Bowden
The Wilsford barrow group is one of the least studied of the major cemeteries around Stonehenge. It lies on Wilsford Down overlooking Spring Bottom to the east, partly in woodland and partly in pasture that was under arable during the later 20th century. The group comprises nineteen round barrows of various forms, of which fourteen survive at least partly as earthworks. Most of these mounds were excavated by Cunnington in the early 19th century and a few had been opened by previous antiquarians without record; there has been no significant modern archaeological research until the present survey. It is possible, from the earthwork and aerial photographic evidence coupled with Cunnington’s excavation records, to suggest a chronological narrative for the cemetery. Two interments associated with beakers underlie later barrow mounds and represent the earliest recorded activity; a number of inhumations and cremations can be divided into two phases on the basis of associated Early Bronze Age grave goods and this can be linked with elaboration of the barrow structures. Some of the smaller bowl barrows may be of slightly later date. Understanding of the broader landscape history of the site is limited.
- Report Number:
- 108/2010
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 22
- Keywords:
- Bronze Age Landscape Park Prehistoric Survey Analytical Landscape Survey
