World Heritage Site Landscape Project: Stonehenge, Amesbury, Wiltshire
Author(s): David J Field, T Pearson
Analytical survey of the ground surface at Stonehenge revealed the presence of a number of interesting earthworks that have a bearing on interpretation and the development of the monument. Chief among these is a low mound that was revealed within the stone settings. Its location focuses attention on that part of the arrangement which is ruinous and supplements former reservations as to whether the monument was ever complete. Survey also revealed that the Y and Z holes are visible as earthworks and that each circuit has a shallow bank within it. The feature known as the North 'Barrow' may have preceded the enclosure and therefore be one of the earliest elements at the site. The South 'Barrow' by contrast is, at least in one of its phases, a later feature. These are clearly not barrows and the more neutral term 'circles' is therefore preferred. An outer bank to the enclosure has been largely truncated by cultivation, while a mis-match of the Avenue at the enclosure entrance indicates that the two may have been mutually exclusive entities. The eastern ditch and bank of the Avenue is revealed to have changed course, perhaps in an attempt to avoid the pre-existing ditch around the Heel Stone.
- Report Number:
- 109/2010
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 86
- Keywords:
- Bronze Age Landscape Park Neolithic
