Archaeology Summary Notes 2013-14
ould have treated the remains of bodies with have treated the remains
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A Upper Palaeolithic Upper Palaeolithic is our starting point, but be aware of earlier sites from Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, eg A1 Boxgrove: Classic Lower Palaeolithic site • Pryor: “Most important in Britain” • discovered in a gravel quarry near the village of Boxgrove • numerous flint artifacts, and its hominid bones which are among some of the most ancient found yet in Europe • temporary open-air camps for hunters • Early human fossils; homo heidelbergensis • degree of preservation of the landscape; impressive size of the undisturbed ancient land surface; objects found in situ because covered by 25 m of later, wind blown deposits • huge quantity of well-preserved animal bones, • Parts of the site complex were excavated between 1983 and 1996 by University College London. • Numerous Acheulean flint tools and remains of animals (some butchered) dating to around 500,000 years ago were found at the site. A2: Case Study The “Red Lady” at Paviland Cavern/ (Goat’s Hole Cave) 29 000-26 000bc • Although now on the coast, at the time of the burial the cave would have been located approximately 70 miles inland, overlooking a plain. When the remains were dated to some 26,000 years ago it was thought the Red Lady lived at a time when an ice sheet of the most recent glacial period, in the British Isles called the Devensian Glaciation, • Various phases of occupation: o 26 000 likely burial of “Red Lady” o 21,000 BP. The latest phase of human presence with a firm radiocarbon date is represented by ivory-working of o 23,000 BP: Bone artefacts include three bone spatulae , link with Russia • man, probably no older than 21, oldest anatomically modern human remains found in the United Kingdom, • Headless skeleton; bones were deeply stained with red ochre, and the grave goods ivory rod and bracelet fragments, and perforated periwinkle shells - were all similarly stained • found along with a mammoth's skull, which has since been lost. • Scholars now believe he may have been a tribal chieftain. • Early carbon dating has tended to underestimate the age of samples and as radio carbon dating techniques have developed and become more and more accurate so the age of the Red Lady of Paviland has gradually been pushed back. Tests made in 1989 and 1995 suggested he lived about 26,000 years ago
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the weather would have been more like that of present day Siberia, with maximum temperatures of perhaps 10°C in summer, -20° in winter, and a tundra vegetation. The new dating however indicates he lived at a warmer period. Bone protein analysis indicates that he lived on a diet that consisted of between 15% and 20% fish, which, together with the distance from the sea, suggests that the people may have been semi-nomadic, or that the tribe transported the body from a coastal region for burial. Other food probably included mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros and reindeer. suggests that the origins of human burial may be found in Western Europe, and perhaps Britain, rather than elsewhere, “This person probably had some kind of an accident. He's a healthy person, not very old, doesn't show any major signs of illness or disease. My guess is there was a hunting party, they were hunting in the environs of the site, there was an accident and the person was buried there." The cave, in Higham's view, was not a pagan cathedral but a convenient spot to leave a companion who had met an untimely end, and he says there is no evidence of subsequent pilgrimages, other perhaps than by doting druids and misguided journalists. (Guardian, 25.4.11)
A3: Case Study: Burials and clay figurines at Dolní Vestonice, 30 000 bp • Large Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) occupation, near Brno in the region of Moravia in the eastern part of what is now the Czech Republic. • Loaded with information about the technology, art, animal exploitation, site settlement patterns and human burial activities of 30,000 years ago. • The site lies buried beneath a thick layer of loess (fine, windblown soil), on the slopes of the Pavlov Hills above the Dyje River. • The site has three separate parts but all of them represent the same Gravettian occupation. Among the features identified at Dolní Vestonice are hearths, possible structures, and human burials. • Its people hunted mammoths and other herd animals, saving mammoth and other bones that could be used to construct a fence-like boundary, separating the living space into a distinct inside and outside. In this way, the perimeter of the site would be easily distinguishable. At the center of the enclosure was a large bonfire and huts were grouped together • One grave contains two men and one woman seemingly laid out in a “tableau morte”; although an alternative explanation suggests three men
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B Mesolithic Mesolithic typified by: • Post glacial warming • Rise in sea levels-cuts off the land bridge connecting the continent to the British Isles • Flooding and water logging • Hunter gatherers, fishing • Coastal and river settlements • Small scale technology-microliths B1 Star Carr; classic lakeside base camp for hunter gatherers • Excavation ( late ‘40s) was case study in multi-disciplinary environmental archaeology of a wetland site • Clark wanted to recover zoological and botanical evidence to study the economy and society o hunter gatherers. • Drowned landscape covered by peat, on fringes of a now gone lake • Hunter base camp, but was not main settlement • Evidence of hunting, esp of wild cattle, deer, but small mammals, too • Antler worked to make weapons, scrapers, harpoons • Early examples of worked timber; has been suggested this was used to make a platform leading to water’s edge as part of a ceremony to emphasise the special nature of the lake • Possibly the lake had a liminal quality-it was a boundary marking the safe “core” from the unknown “beyond” • 21 red deer frontlets, possibly worn as masks, for hunting and/or Shamanistic trances • Further excavations ongoing
5 Excavation Box Wetland Generally flat, level, boggy ground, eg flood plains, poorly drained areas Wetland archaeology: 6 point approach to excavation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Identification of site Site content Condition-extent of water logging Recovery of fragile items Post excavation, ie what are you doing with the stuff you find? Conservation and preservation essential
Water logging advantages: o prevents fungi and bacterial from thriving, thus preserving organic material o preserves fragile remains of plants, insects, molluscs o preserves pollen ( pollen grains are very tough; each plant has distinctive pollen type that can be identified in high resolution microscopes) o enable preservation of timber. This allows dendrochronolgy (tree ring dating) to be applied. (wood decays very quickly in most sites)
Important wetland sites
Flag Fen key Bronze Age site, see later notes. Somerset Levels: Neolithic
Evidence of Mesolithic Ritual and Religion • ‘totem poles’ e.g. Stonehenge • hunting mask e.g. Star Carr • baby on swan’s wing e.g. Vedbaek • paintings in Spain e.g. Bicorp depicts symbolic rock art • grave goods e.g. Teviec* and Hoedic • sculptures e.g. animals from the Baltic * Ten multiple graves were discovered at Téviec containing a total of 23 individuals, including adults and children. Some of the remains were scattered between different locations. Several of those interred appear to have died violent deaths. One individual was found to have a flint arrowhead stuck in a vertebra. In another grave, the skeletons of two women aged 25–35, dubbed the "ladies of Téviec [were found with signs of violence on
6 both. One had sustained five blows to the head, two of which would have been fatal, and had received at least one arrow shot between the eye
B2 Vedbaek Part of extensive Danish cluster of Mesolithic cemeteries and associated settlements. A related site is Skateholm • triple burial • ‘pillows’ of antlers • dog burial treated like humans • mother and child burial • swan's wing • flint knives • deer/elk teeth as grave goods • use of ochre – symbolism In the context of religion and ritual the significance of Vedbaek, as part of the Ertebølle culture, is that it is a collection of Mesolithic cemeteries containing a range of unusual burials alongside others which are typical of the period. The evidence is sufficient in scale to show patterns of ritual behaviour which hint at a commonality of belief across a whole region of Europe at this time. Skateholm's cemeteries are among the earliest known cemeteries in the world. Both humans and dogs are buried in the cemeteries. While most of the burials are placed lying on their back with their limbs extended, some of the bodies are buried sitting up, some lying down, some crouching, some cremations. Some burials contained grave goods: a young man was buried with several pairs of red deer antlers placed above his legs a dog burial with an antler headdress and three flint blades was recovered at one of the sites. At Skateholm I, elderly men and young women received the largest quantity of grave goods. Osteological evidence of the graves suggests that it represents a normal working cemetery: the burials show a normal distribution of gender and age at the time of death.
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C Early Neolithic Burial practices in this period are characterized by collective burial in large, highly visible monuments, and by ritual practices resulting in the scattering of human bones in non-funerary contexts.
Large collective monuments for the dead began to appear on the coastal fringes of Western Europe at this period. In inland Europe the Mesolithic tradition of burial in simple earth graves continued. The areas in which these large monuments were constructed correspond with the densely populated regions of the Mesolithic and may have been built as markers of territory between the new and old populations. They represented a permanent link between the community, the ancestral dead, and the land which they occupied, generally being placed close to settled areas in dominant positions. The tombs may have had several functions aside from that of disposal of the dead, in the same way that a parish church is not simply a burial place. However, the main function which is visible in the archaeological record is the burial of human remains. Generally these tombs contain several bodies, with an average in Wessex of six per tomb. In most cases the bodies are disarticulated and incomplete, with some degree of erosion or animal gnawing, suggesting that the bodies were exposed to the elements before burial. Excarnation. C1 Causewayed enclosures • exposure in the open at Windmill and Hambledon Hills • reburial of bones at West Kennet • human remains in ditches of causewayed enclosures - disarticulation Some 90 causewayed enclosures known to exist in Britain. Researchers believe they were rapidly erected all over southern England in just 75 years. The vast amount of labour and resources involved in constructing causewayed enclosures could indicate that they were social symbols of an increasingly connected, but also competitive society, that emerged later around 3700BC along with more intensive exchange networks, perhaps larger cattle herds and social hierarchy. Excavations within the interiors and in the ditches at these and other sites have produced a wide range of finds indicative of domestic activity or large-scale feasting, including food debris and pottery (the only enclosure where waterlogged organic remains have been preserved is Etton in Cambridgeshire). However, the frequent presence of human remains and other apparently placed deposits, often in what appear to be significant depositional contexts such as ditch terminals, suggests that this activity also had a ritual element. The favoured interpretation of these sites is that they functioned as central places to which dispersed groups would come episodically to reaffirm their sense of community through a range of activities including feasting, trade and rituals
9 associated with death. These monuments have recently been subject to a new programme of radiocarbon dating which has shown that most were constructed in the 37th century BC (well after the start of the Neolithic) and although some were used for several centuries many of them were rather short-lived. In Wessex, excavation of causewayed enclosures such as Hambledon Hill has shown that these monuments may also have acted as mortuary enclosures. The ditches are filled with feasting debris, particularly bones of cattle, sheep and pigs, broken pottery, and disarticulated human remains. Skulls were placed at the bottom of ditches soon after they were dug, and deposits continued throughout the natural silting of the ditches. There is some evidence to suggest that bones were removed from tombs to be used in ritual activities. Skulls are common in enclosures, but generally under-represented in tombs. Sorting of bones within the tombs is also common, and it is likely that tombs were periodically cleaned out for reuse. Adult bones are more common in tombs, but there are more children in causewayed enclosures. This could be a result of scattering of smaller remains by animals so that they were not collected for burial. Windmill Hill Windmill Hill is the classic Neolithic 'causewayed enclosure', with three concentric but intermittent ditches. Large quantities of animal bones found here indicate feasting, animal trading or rituals, or perhaps all three. It is part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. Large numbers of cattle and sheep were killed or eaten on the site and it is possible that it might have been a place to hold festivals, or a market where animals were slaughtered and artefacts traded. Alternatively, it could have been a site where ritual feasts were held. The rectangular enclosure to the east, contemporary with the circular ditches, has been interpreted as a mortuary enclosure. This was where human corpses were left to be picked clean of flesh, prior to the ritual interment of the skull and principal bones in a chambered tomb such as that of West Kennet nearby. From the end of the third millennium BC, Windmill Hill seems to have been largely abandoned. It is possible that a folk memory of the former importance of the site lived on, since the summit of the site later became the focus of a Bronze Age cemetery
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In many ways the lives of Neolithic people are still obscure. Settlements are rare, there are still hardly any Neolithic farmsteads or houses recognised over much of the British Isles, and the vast majority of Neolithic people have left no trace of themselves even as bones. The picture of earlier Neolithic life which has been teased out of sites like Windmill Hill is one of richness, variety and complexity. It was clearly a great gathering place. The predominance of cattle bones and apparent absence of domestic structures led Piggott to interpret it largely as a corral and market for cattle. More recent interpretations have focused on evidence for ritual activity, notably on certain types of structural deposition of artefacts in the ditches, and the recurrent association of certain types of objects with one another. We can now see that the people who gathered here were not just engaged in a primitive struggle to survive. They had complex social relations, rituals, arrangements for exchanging goods and animals, and they almost certainly engaged in feasting and other ceremonies which reinforced their sense of identity. People who lived perhaps large parts of their lives on small settlements which we find represented by isolated pits or scatters of artefacts must have needed to come together for a variety of reasons, from looking for marriage partners to acquiring stone axes. Modern archaeology looks for patterns of use and meaning in the archaeological record. For Windmill Hill, current interpretations emphasise the role of the hill through repeated use, a site where coming together may have been a way in which Neolithic people reassured themselves as to the nature of their society and reinforced their ideas about what it was right to do, to make, and to eat. What we find at Windmill Hill are the lingering last traces of all that activity which was so vital and vibrant to them and is so tantalisingly obscure to us.
11 Here in great lengths of the ditches which remain unexcavated, are the broken remains of hundreds of pots which were once used for cooking, eating and drinking - some of them perhaps even made on the hill. The cattle and pigs, sheep and goats which were cared for and brought to Windmill Hill to be killed for meat and skins lie there under the turf, as bones in the ditches. Children died and were laid to rest there, like the child now in the museum at Avebury, and some people seem to have brought bones of their relations or ancestors to the site and these too were placed in the ditches. C2 Long Barrows Their role in funerary rituals seems certain, and the fact that collective burial is the norm has led to suggestions that they were ancestral burial places. Long barrows played an important role in the activities of the living because burial deposits show evidence for having been sorted and moved within the tomb and beyond The fact that the burial chambers are so small and some long barrows do not appear to have chambers at all suggests that the large mounds may also have been significant. Prof Colin Renfrew has suggested that one of their roles was as territorial markers. Evidence long barrows provide for ritual activity: reburial of bones at West Kennet • excarnation – Fussell’s Lodge • re-use of bones • arrangement of bones • feasting in forecourt – West Kennet • simple grave goods • symbolism of shape and location • Portal stone mortuary houses • part of ritual landscape • Sequence of events - Windmill Hill • Acoustics? West Kennet Chambered Tomb One of the largest, most impressive and most accessible Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain. Built in around 3650 BC, it was used for a short time as a burial chamber, nearly 50 people being buried here before the chambers were blocked. Part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. Some cremations and the partial remains of at least forty-six individuals – both male and female and of all ages – have been found inside, together with grave goods including pottery, beads and stone implements such as a dagger, dated to between 3000 and 2600 BC.
12 The tomb was closed sometime around 2000 BC and the main passage filled with earth, stones, rubble and debris. The forecourt was then blocked with sarsen boulders and a false entrance of twin sarsen uprights constructed. Finally, three massive sarsen blocking-stones were erected across the front (eastern end) of the tomb.
Aerial photograph and plan
Burial in a long barrow may have been • reserved for individuals of high status, or • People may have been selected for their relevance to the rituals in which they were being used, such as shamans, transvestites, wise women, people who died in a certain way, had a certain spiritual type, representatives of each family in a group, etc. Grave goods or display items were sometimes present, for example pottery, shale beads, bone scoops, flint tools and arrowheads. Not everyone was buried in long barrows. • A few isolated flat graves have been found of this date. These are sometimes marked by a post, and as similar animal burials have also been found it may be that the post and not the burial was the important feature, possibly as a totem pole. • Casual burials are also found in the ditches of causewayed enclosures and in the shafts of flint mines.
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Over 250 burials are known from caves in Britain, and these consist of a much larger proportion of children than is found in long barrows, perhaps because they are undisturbed.
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D Later Neolithic There was a change in burial practices around this time. Collective burial continued, but the bodies were undisturbed after burial and survive as intact articulated crouched skeletons. There was also an increase in the use of cremation. Both types were buried under mounds. Megalithic passage graves were constructed in Ireland, North Wales and northern and western Scotland. The most famous, from each of these regions respectively, are Newgrange, Maes Howe. Groups of tombs were located in prominent and hilltop situations. They consist of chambers at the end of stone-lined passages with corbelled roofs, covered with large round mounds or stone cairns, c.15-80m diameter. The human remains recovered from the Neolithic clearly do not represent the entire population of Britain during that period. During both the early and the later phases it is clear that there is some selection of individuals for particular forms of burial. In the earlier Neolithic this may be based on the appropriateness of the individual for inclusion in communal ritual practices, or on the basis of age and gender, with the whole community contributing to the building of the monuments. Later, the building of megalithic tombs and other monuments shows great advances in architectural and technological terms, and the commemoration of great ancestors suggests that wealth or status may have been the deciding factor. The vast majority of the population have disappeared, perhaps as a result of later destruction or lack of discovery, but more likely as a result of excarnation and scattering of their bones. D1 Henge monuments and timber circles Later than long barrows and causewayed enclosures, henges are circular monuments consisting of an earthwork bank and internal ditch and sometimes associated with stone or timber circles (for example, Stanton Drew, Somerset). The reversal of the usual defensive arrangement of bank and ditch suggests they may have been designed to keep something in, to separate the sacred and the profane. Most henges and circles (especially stone circles) are not well dated and a review of the evidence is overdue. The earliest sites of each type appear around 3000 BC but most of the larger examples were probably built during the currency of Late Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery, between about 2800 and 2200 BC
A few early henges dated to around 3000 BC, including the first phase at Stonehenge, have segmented ditches and internal banks, more akin to the much older causewayed enclosures. Henges usually have one or two, opposed, entrances and may be up to 110 metres in diameter, though a few much larger examples are known in Wessex, including Avebury and Durrington Walls. Very much smaller examples are also known, often less than 20 metres across and these are called ‘mini-henges’. The profiles of henge ditches sometimes show evidence that they were gang-dug in sections.
15 Henges are generally interpreted as arenas for various ritual practices and some appear to incorporate astronomical alignments such as the famous alignment of Stonehenge and its Avenue on midsummer sunrise. Like causewayed enclosures, henges sometimes incorporate human remains but these are more likely to be token deposits rather than complete burials. While Stonehenge is the best-known example of a henge it is far from typical; better examples include the three massive henges at Thornborough, North Yorkshire. The location and setting of a monument (or monument complex) often seem to have influenced its form. Many sites show specific relationships to natural features: henges are generally situated in low-lying river valleys and their physical associations with water may have had symbolic resonance Henges too may have reproduced aspects of the surrounding landscape architecturally: the enclosure and bank at Avebury, for example, may reflect the bowl in which the monument sits and the chalk ridge beyond. Human burials are found at some henges and circles but this never seems to have been their primary purpose. They are interpreted as places where communities who lived mobile lives gathered periodically for meetings and ceremonies of various kinds. Formal deposits of artefacts or animal bone are found at some sites, such as the numerous pottery deposits; timber circles tend to yield larger quantities of material than stone circles. However, it is important not to think of rituals occurring at these sites as distinct from ‘practical’ activities: the same values and logic were applied in daily life, for instance in pit deposits at settlements. Prehistoric people had different ways of looking at the world and we cannot clearly separate secular/domestic from religious/ritual practice.
Durrington Walls
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Stanton Drew
17 D1 Maeshowe and the Ness of Brodgar Ness of Brodgar is a ritual landscape
In the context of religion and ritual, the significance of Maeshowe is that it represents a very well preserved focus of funerary activity within a ritual landscape. • megalithic tombs • burials Symbolism of water • side niches • light box • alignment with solstice • ancestors • rebirth symbolism • possible reuse of stone circle? • rites of intensification- acoustics of chamber -noise, drumming, echoing, darkness The quantity of different pottery uncovered suggests it was brought in from a wide range of sites. This echoes the excavations at Durrington Walls, in England, where part of a settlement was uncovered that was not only thought to have housed the builders of Stonehenge but was also part of the larger ceremonial landscape, and the activities carried out therein. The Durrington Walls settlement, it is suggested, became a “pilgrimage” site — a place where people stayed during the ceremonies and feasts involving Stonehenge. Was the same happening on the Ness? The idea dovetails with theory that the construction of the nearby Ring of Brodgar was a process involving many different communities, from
18 across Orkney, who gathered at the Ness. The Ring or Brodgar and Standing Stones of Stenness were a ritual, or ceremonial, ‘portal’ into the Ness complex. Something you had to pass through en route to the complex and not necessarily, as has been long believed, the end-points, or sole purpose, of the journey?” With the Brodgar complex situated between the two henge monuments, the idea fits well with other British sites where henges seem to have been established to create a “corridor” for movement and ceremony. On the Ness of Brodgar this ceremonial “corridor” could have funneled visitors towards an important ceremonial point Maes Howe chambered cairn Thought to date from around 2700BC, Maeshowe is one of the monuments that make up the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. Approximately 500 metres from the south-eastern shore of the Harray loch, Maeshowe is, by far, the largest and most impressive of Orkney’s many chambered cairns. It appears as a large grassy mound, clearly visible for miles around, including the nearby Standing Stones o' Stenness, the Barnhouse Settlement and the Watchstone. It is constructed on a platform of levelled ground, and like the nearby stone circles of Brodgar and Stenness, the monument is surrounded by a ditch and raised bank. It was suggested that this encircling ditch was originally intended to be filled with water. This would have had the effect of further isolating the world of the living from that of the dead.
Archaeological work in recent years hints that the cairn was built on top of an earlier structure - perhaps an early Neolithic house. It has been suggested that this house was replaced by a stone circle - four of the stones of which came to be incorporated into Maeshowe. Maeshowe is made up of a large central chamber, with three side chambers built into the walls. It is accessed by a low, long entrance passage. The complexity of the chamber's architecture, and the grandness of its scale, has led to the idea that Maeshowe was built to demonstrate the power of a "social elite" within the prehistoric tribal systems of the time. Estimates for the labour required to build Maeshowe have been placed at 100,000 manhours, compared to 10,000 hours required for its lesser contemporaries. This, suggest some, shows a society where the emphasis had shifted from the community as a whole, to one elevated class, or individual.
19 One of Maeshowe's most famous attributes is its midwinter alignment - something it shares with the chambered tomb of Newgrange, in Ireland. For a few days each year, as the midwinter sun slips below the horizon, its last rays shine directly through Maeshowe's entrance passage to illuminate the rear wall of the central chamber. A possible communal hall at the nearby village of Barnhouse faced the midsummer sunset, suggesting that this time of year was concerned with the living, whilst the winter solstice concerned the dead. D2 Newgrange passage tomb • Passage tomb • Artwork • Pilgrimage • Rites of intensification • Relation to winter solstice • Cremated bones in passageway Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years ago during the Neolithic by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. It is the most famous monument within the Neolithic Brú na Bóinne complex, alongside the similar passage tomb mounds of Knowth and Dowth, and as such is a part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site Newgrange is classed as a passage tomb, but is recognised to be a place of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, much as present day cathedrals are places of prestige and worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest. Newgrange is a large mound covering an area of over one acre, retained at the base by 97 kerbstones, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 19 metre long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. The amount of time and labour invested in construction of Newgrange suggests a well-organized society with specialised groups responsible for different aspects of construction. Newgrange is a large circular mound with a stone passageway and chambers inside. The mound has a retaining wall at the front and is ringed by 'kerbstones' engraved with artwork.
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It is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun. Above the entrance to the passage at Newgrange there is a opening called a roof-box. Its purpose is to allow sunlight to penetrate the chamber on the shortest days of the year, around December 21, the winter solstice. At dawn, from December 19th to 23rd, a narrow beam of light penetrates the roof-box and reaches the floor of the chamber, gradually extending to the rear of the chamber. As the sun rises higher, the beam widens within the chamber so that the whole room becomes dramatically illuminated. This event lasts for 17 minutes, beginning around 9am. The intent of its builders was undoubtedly to mark the beginning of the new year. In addition, it may have served as a powerful symbol of the victory of life over death. Each year the winter solstice event attracts much attention at Newgrange. Many gather at the ancient tomb to wait for dawn, as people did 5,000 years ago. So great is the demand to be one of the few inside the chamber during the solstice that there is a free annual lottery
Excavations have revealed deposits of both burnt and unburnt human bone in the passage, indicating human corpses were indeed placed within it, some of which had been cremated. From examining the unburnt bone, it was shown to come from at least two separate individuals, but much of their skeletons were missing, and what was left had been scattered about the passage. Various grave goods were deposited alongside the bodies inside the passage. Excavations revealed seven 'marbles', four pendants, two beads, a used flint flake, a bone chisel and fragments of bone pins and points. During much of the Neolithic period, Newgrange
21 continued as a focus of some ceremonial activity. New monuments added to the site included • a timber circle to the south-east of the main mound o The eastern timber circle consisted of five concentric rows of pits. The outer row contained wooden posts. The next row of pits had clay linings and was used to burn animal remains. The three inner rows of pits were dug to accept the animal remains o Within the circle were post and stake holes associated with Beaker pottery and flint flakes.. • smaller timber circle to the west. o The western timber circle consisted of two concentric rows of parallel postholes and pits defining a circle 20 m in diameter. • A concentric mound of clay was constructed around the southern and western sides of the mound which covered a structure consisting of two parallel lines of post and ditches that had been partly burnt. • A free-standing circle of large stones was constructed encircling the mound. Near the entrance, 17 hearths were used to set fires. Many archaeologists believed that the monument had religious significance, either as a place of worship for a "cult of the dead" or for an astronomically-based faith. The archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly believed that the monument had to be seen in relation to the nearby Knowth and Dowth, and that the building of Newgrange "cannot be regarded as other than the expression of some kind of powerful force or motivation, brought to the extremes of aggrandizement in these three monuments, the cathedrals of the megalithic religion. O'Kelly believed that Newgrange, alongside the hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic, showed evidence for a religion which venerated the dead as one of its core principles. He believed that this "cult of the dead" was just one particular form of European Neolithic religion, and that other megalithic monuments displayed evidence for different religious beliefs which were solar, rather than death-orientated.
However studies in other fields of expertise offer alternative interpretations of the possible functions, which principally centre on the astronomy, engineering, geometry and mythology, associated with the Boyne monuments. It is speculated that the sun formed an important part of the religious beliefs of the people who built it. One idea was that the room was designed for a ritualistic capturing of the sun
22 on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, as the room gets flooded with sunlight, which might have helped the days start to get longer again. This view is strengthened by the discovery of alignments in Knowth, Dowth and the Lough Crew Cairns leading to the interpretation of these monuments as calendrical or astronomical devices. Formerly the Newgrange mound was encircled by an outer ring of immense standing stones, of which twelve of a possible thirty-seven remain. However, evidence from carbon dating suggests that the stone circle which encircled Newgrange may not be contemporary with the monument itself but was placed there some 1,000 years later in the Bronze Age. This view is disputed and relates to a carbon date from a standing stone setting which intersects with a later timber post circle, the theory being that the stone in question could have been moved and re-set in its original position at a later date. This does however show a continuity of use of Newgrange of over a thousand years; with partial remains found from only five individuals, the tomb theory is called into question. Once a year, at the winter solstice, the rising sun shines directly along the long passage into the chamber for about 17 minutes and illuminates the chamber floor. Professor M. J. O'Kelly was the first person in modern times to observe this event on 21 December 1967.The sun enters the passage through a specially contrived opening, known as a roofbox, directly above the main entrance. Although solar alignments are not uncommon among passage graves, Newgrange is one of few to contain the additional roofbox feature. The alignment is such that although the roofbox is above the passage entrance, the light hits the floor of the inner chamber. Today the first light enters about four minutes after sunrise, but calculations based on the precession of the Earth show that 5,000 years ago first light would have entered exactly at sunrise. The solar alignment at Newgrange is very precise compared to similar phenomena at other passage graves such as Dowth or Maes Howe D3 Thornborough Henges complex In the context of religion and ritual the significance of Thornborough is a large landscape feature comprising a series of inter-related henge monuments and other associated ritual monuments that provide a ‘window’ into ritual practice in the Neolithic period. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ritual/sacred landscape three related henge monuments in Yorkshire over a mile in length may contain inner timber structures crop marks clearly show standard ditch & bank arrangement two entrances part of ritual landscape which also contains a 'cursus' through the central henge field walking results show concentrations of lithics and grooved ware pottery suggests periodic revisits to site closest parallel is Dorchester Continuity, links with other monuments Pilgrimage Astronomical significance-Orion’s Belt? Alignment provides focus of attention
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The Thornborough Henges, one of the most important ancient sites in Britain, is a monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. Thornborough henges sit within a wider group of seven henges lying between the Rivers Ure and Swale; these represent the largest group outside Wessex. They form part of a broader ritual landscape including a cursus, probable mortuary enclosures, pit alignments and Bronze Age barrows. Dating from between 4,000-3,500 BC, it extends for a mile in length, making it the largest ritual religious site in the British Isles. The unparalleled cluster of three massive henges, in association with other Neolithic-early Bronze Age monuments and extensive traces of contemporary settlement, represent what would have been one of Britain's premier "sacred landscapes" during the third and second millennium BC. The complex is located near the village of Thornborough, close to the town of Masham in North Yorkshire. The complex includes many large ancient structures including a cursus, henges, burial grounds and settlements. They are thought to have been part of a Neolithic and Bronze Age 'ritual landscape' comparable with Salisbury Plain and date from between 3500 and 2500 BC. This monument complex has been called 'The Stonehenge of the North' and has been described by English Heritage as the most important ancient site between Stonehenge and the Orkney Islands The three henges are almost identical in size and composition, each having a diameter of approximately 240 metres and two large entrances situated directly opposite each other.
24 The henges are located around 550 m apart on an approximate northwest-southeast alignment, although there is a curious 'dogleg' in the layout. Altogether, the monument extends for more than a mile. Archaeological excavation of the central henge has taken place. It has been suggested that its banks were covered with locally mined gypsum. The resulting white sheen would have been striking and visible for miles around. A double alignment of pits, possibly evidence of a timber processional avenue, extends from the southern henge. The 'dogleg' in the layout appears to cause the layout of the henges to mirror the three stars of Orion's Belt. The exact purpose of the henges is unclear though archaeological finds suggest that they served economic and social purposes as well as astronomical ones. The first ritual evidence at Thornborough dates back 6,000 years and it was an important sacred site for Neolithic man as a place of worship. Hundreds of people once flocked to the site-a pilgrimage centre where people sought spiritual salvation. D4 Monumental Mounds Monumental mounds are Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age features that are larger than the slightly later round barrows and lack an obvious funerary element. The largest and bestknown example is Silbury Hill near Avebury, Wiltshire, which is dated to the third quarter of the third millennium BC. The Marlborough Mound, not far away, has recently been dated to a similar period and raises the possibility that other sites usually considered to be medieval mottes may have prehistoric origins. On the basis of recent work at Silbury it has been suggested that these monuments were built up through episodic additions and reworking rather than being unitary phenomena. D5 From Neolithic to Bronze Age: Stonehenge Riverside Project In the context of religion and ritual, the significance of Stonehenge is that it represents a uniquely important focus of ritual activity within a ritual landscape constructed and modified over a long period of time. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ritual landscape Large scale archaeology project Sarsen trilithons successive rebuildings timber and stone ditch and bank symbolism antlers in ditches heel stone and alignments totem poles in car park – continuity of worship burials healing properties? Bluestones and Preseli. Procession “Timber-stone metaphor”
25 • •
Stonehenge as a cremation cemetery Astronomical significance
The Stonehenge Riverside Project was a major Arts and Humanities Research Councilfunded archaeological research study of the development of the Stonehenge landscape in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. In particular, the project was interested in the relationship between the Stones and surrounding monuments and features including; the River Avon, Durrington Walls, the Cursus, the Avenue, Woodhenge, burial mounds, and nearby standing stones. The project involved a substantial amount of fieldwork; it found that the Stonehenge was built 500 years earlier than previously thought and was built to unify the peoples of Britain. It also found a new stone circle Bluestonehenge. Stonehenge is Britain's largest third millennium BC cemetery, containing 52 cremation burials and many other fragments of both burnt and unburnt bone. ]Many of the cremation deposits contained more than one individual, so that an estimate of the number of people buried here during that period may be between 150 and 240. Teams working on the Stonehenge Riverside Project believe the circle was built after a long period of conflict between east and west Britain. Researchers also believe the stones, from southern England and west Wales, symbolize different communities. Prof Mike Parker Pearson said building Stonehenge required everyone "to pull together" in "an act of unification". "The same styles of houses, pottery and other material forms were used from Orkney to the south coast - this was very different to the regionalism of previous centuries," said Prof Parker Pearson, from University of Sheffield. "Stonehenge itself was a massive undertaking, requiring the labour of thousands to move stones from as far away as west Wales, shaping them and erecting them. Stonehenge may also have been built in a place that already had special significance for prehistoric Britons. The SRP team found that its solstice-aligned avenue sits upon a series of natural landforms that, by chance, form an axis between the directions of midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset. "When we stumbled across this extraordinary natural arrangement of the sun's path being marked in the land, we realised that prehistoric people selected this place to build Stonehenge because of its pre-ordained significance," said Mr Parker Pearson. The winter solstice is also believed to have been of more significance to Britain's Neolithic people "This might explain why there are eight monuments in the Stonehenge area with solstitial alignments, a number unmatched anywhere else. Perhaps they saw this place as the centre of the world"‌All the architectural influences for Stonehenge can be found in previous monuments and buildings within Britain, with origins in Wales and Scotland," said Mr Parker Pearson.
26 "In fact, Britain's Neolithic people were isolated from the rest of Europe for centuries. "Britain may have become unified but there was no interest in interacting with people across the Channel. "Stonehenge appears to have been the last gasp of this Stone Age culture, which was isolated from Europe and from the new technologies of metal tools and the wheel." D6 Durrington Walls • large Neolithic settlement • later henge enclosure: At 500m in diameter, the henge is the largest in Britain and recent evidence suggests that it was a complementary monument to Stonehenge • 1,000 homes have been found, supporting a population of 4,000 people at one time. Excavations at Durrington Walls conducted by Geoffrey Wainwright5 in 1967, revealed the remains of two timber circles standing within the henge, and vast quantities of animal bones which could indicate that feasting took place there. The pottery that was found was from the late Neolithic period, and a large number of deer antlers found at the foot of the ditch were identified as picks used in the construction of the monument. Concerning the timber circles, the Southern Circle, at the south-eastern entrance to the henge, was found to consist of two huge entrance posts and 166 posts of various sizes arranged in five concentric circles. The circle was 40 metres across and aligned so that the midwinter sun would rise between the entrance posts. The Northern Circle consisted of two timber rings with an avenue of posts leading into it. It has been suggested that the timbers supported roofs and that the two circles represent large buildings that stood within the henge around 2500 BC. In 2003, a magnetometry survey by English Heritage revealed two new entrances to the henge. The area outside the east entrance was found to contain a number of Neolithic pits, large quantities of animal bones, pottery and worked flints, including arrowheads. Analysis of the bones showed that the largest proportion came from pigs, and the remainder from cattle. Examination of the pig teeth revealed that they came from animals which were slaughtered at about nine months old, suggesting that this took place in midwinter. The teeth were also found to have been affected by caries, leading to the suggestion that they had been fed honey to sweeten the meat. In 2005, a team of archaeologists from several universities discovered a massive Neolithic track way, estimated to be ten metres wide, running down to the River Avon from the eastern entrance of the henge. The track way is metalled with flint cobbles and is the first of its kind to be found in Europe. These findings have prompted Professor Mike Parker Pearson to claim a definite functional link between Durrington Walls Henge and Stonehenge, which also had an earthwork avenue (the Avenue) leading down to the River Avon. Pearson suggests that the two sites were interlinked and in use at the same time.
27 Durrington Walls, being made of wood, was a temporary structure and subject to decay and thus represented the land of the living, while Stonehenge, being made of stone, was permanent and represented the land of our ancestors - the afterlife. The remains of the dead would be collected at Durrington Walls and periodically, at the midwinter festival would be transported along the track way and then down-river to Stonehenge. The journey would begin at Durrington Walls (and Woodhenge) in the east at sunrise and end at Stonehenge in the west at sunset. The Avenue at Stonehenge provides an approach from the northeast where the mid-summer sun rises; and facilitates the observation of the midwinter sunset as it passes between the highest stones of the inner sarsen horseshoe of Stonehenge. This final straight approach to the stones is dated to 2200 BC (ie, to Phase II of Stonehenge). However, the Avenue was extended in the later Bronze Age to curve round to the southeast down to the River Avon.
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E Earlier Bronze Age The beginning of the Bronze Age in Britain can be put around 2,000 BC. Although not certain, it is generally thought that the new bronze tools and weapons identified with this age were brought over from continental Europe. The skulls recovered from burial sites from the Bronze Age are different in shape from Stone Age skulls. We see the rise of stone circles, with: “The Late Neolithic also signaled an ideological change in the British Isles, as communities ceased performing cultic ceremonies at the chambered tombs of the dead. Instead, stone circles began to be erected… "There was a change from the cramped, gloomy chamber of a tomb to the unroofed, wide ring, a change from darkness to light, from the dead to the living, from the grave to the sky ….the circular shape of the rings "mirrors the sun, the full moon and the bounds of the horizon" and that such a shape can also be "profoundly egalitarian Bronze Age funerary rituals include • cremation • inhumation • urn burial • barrows/flat graves • urnfields and cemeteries of barrows • grave goods • food offerings • primary/secondary/satellite burials E 1Wessex Culture and the Beaker People • Beaker Folk-invasion or assimilation? • Hierarchy replacing community • Grave goods • Trade links The predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern Britain during the early Bronze Age, originally defined by the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938. Since the late 20th century it has become customary to consider 'Wessex Culture' as a limited social stratum rather than a distinct cultural grouping, specifically referring to the hundred or so particularly richly furnished graves in and around Wiltshire. It is widely thought, although not certain, that bronze was first brought over to Britain by the Bell Beaker folk. They were so named because of their distinctive bell-shaped pottery drinking vessels. They probably came up through the south-west coast of Britain, which at the time had rich deposits of copper and tin. The Bell Beaker folk mixed with the Neolithic farmers they found in Britain, and Bell beakers have been found in megalithic tombs, with the henge temples of the Neolithic.
29 They improved the existing temple at Stonehenge and made another great henge monument at Avebury. This is a large circular ditch and bank, and within it was a ring of standing stones - although these have now gone. Nearby, at Silbury Hill, stands the largest man-made mound in prehistoric Britain, again thought to have been made by the Beaker people. No burial has been found inside it. The grave goods include stone battle axes, metal daggers with elaborately decorated hilts, and precious ornaments of gold and amber - these are some of the loveliest prehistoric objects ever to be found in Britain. Among the golden cups found in the graves, some were found that were so like those of the Mycenae that they are used as examples to prove the existence of trade between Wessex and Greece Early Wessex culture closely associated with the construction and use of the later phases of Stonehenge. They buried their dead under barrows using inhumation, later using cremation and often with rich grave goods. They appear to have had wide ranging trade links with continental Europe, importing amber from the Baltic, jewellery from modern day Germany, gold from Brittany as well as daggers and beads from Mycenaean Greece and vice versa. The wealth from such trade probably permitted the Wessex people to construct the second and third (megalithic) phases of Stonehenge and also indicates a powerful form of social organisation. E2 Chieftains, craftsmen and social hierarchy E2.1 Bush Barrow. • Grave goods • Crouched burial • Status Finds from this round barrow have been called "Britain's first Crown Jewels" belonging to the so-called “King of Stonehenge".[ It has been described as; ".. the richest and most significant example of a Bronze Age burial not only in the Normanton Group or in association with Stonehenge, but arguably in the whole of Britain" Bush Barrow is dated to the early British Bronze Age (ca. 2000 BC), at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex. Two nearby barrows contained similarly lavish objects and this may indicate a family group. The primary burial was of an adult male, buried lying on his left side, in the crouched position. The grave goods placed with him show that this was a princely burial from about 1900 -1700 BC. The rich grave goods included • a large 'lozenge'-shaped sheet of gold, • a sheet gold belt plate, • three bronze daggers, (One has a hilt that was decorated by 140,000 gold pins set to make a herringbone pattern*) • a bronze axe, • a stone macehead • bronze rivets.
30 *It is suggested that the dagger may have belonged to an ancestor who was involved in the construction of the enormous sarsen stone circle and horseshoe of trilithons at Stonehenge. The precision and accuracy displayed by the work demonstrates both a sophisticated tool kit and a sound knowledge of geometric form. The myriad of minute fine gold wire pins set within the dagger handle is further testimony to the sophisticated level of skill and expertise of contemporary Bronze Age artisans.
31 E2.2 Amesbury Archer: • grave goods • Beaker burial • status The Amesbury Archer is an early Bronze Age man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development in Amesbury near Stonehenge. He is nicknamed the "archer" because of the many arrowheads that were among the artefacts buried with him. He brought with him Beaker pottery His grave had the greatest number of artefacts ever found in a British Bronze Age burial. Among those discovered were: • Five funerary pots of the type associated with the "Beaker culture" • three tiny copper knives • 16 barbed flint arrowheads • a kit of flint-knapping and metalworking tools, (including stones that functioned as a portable anvil, suggests he was a coppersmith) • Some boar's tusks. • On his forearm was a black Stone wrist-guard. • A similar red wrist-guard was by his knees. With the second wrist-guard was a shale belt ring and a pair of gold hair ornaments He may have been: 1. The leader/chief of the people who built Stonehenge (most experts dispute this) 2. A pilgrim coming to Stonehenge from France, along with others whose graves are nearby 3. A trader and metalworker “This was a time of great change in Britain – the first metals were being brought here from abroad and great monuments such as Stonehenge were being built. “We have long suspected that it was people from Europe who initiated the trade that first brought copper and gold to Britain, and the Archer is the first discovery to confirm this. “He would have been a very important person in the Stonehenge area and it is fascinating to think that someone from abroad – probably or Switzerland, Germany or Austria – could well have played an important part in the construction of Britain’s most famous archaeological site.”
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33 E3 Upton Lovell Barrow Shaman Leader Grave goods This round barrow measures 12m in diameter and is now less than 0.5m high. It dates from the Early Bronze Age, about 1900-1700 BC. It covered one of the most unusual burials of the Early Bronze Age and may have been the grave of an early Shaman, who also worked as a goldsmith. The adult man was buried in a cloak to the edge of which 36 bone points had been sewn. A further group of bone points found on his chest were possibly from a necklace. Four pierced boar's tusks found by his knees may have decorated a pouch. The grave goods are many and varied. Among them were four axe heads, including a prestigious battle-axe made of black dolerite. A circular polished, milky coloured stone was placed on his chest. At his feet was a collection of stones, which were probably a set of metalworker's hammers and grinding stones, indicating that he was also a metalworker - almost certainly a goldsmith. There was also four cups made from split flint nodules. Necklaces or garment fringes of perforated teeth and bone points reflect a much earlier hunting tradition and this burial has been compared with Mesolithic Shamans' graves found in northern Europe. The shaman may also have been a political leader. In the past priests and kings were not so sharply separated and the man from Upton Lovell may have exercised both spiritual and political authority. E 4 Flag Fen • ritual barrier Worship of water “goddess”/deity Propitiation, ie pleasing/ appealing to the gods through offerings • ritual island • symbolism of water • liminal place • special deposits • broken votive offerings • inversion of normality e.g. pot under floor In the context of religion and ritual the significance of Flag Fen is that it represents a uniquely detailed record of Bronze Age ritual structures and votive deposition in a liminal context. Flag Fen near Peterborough is a religious site. It comprises over 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows (around 1 km) connecting Whittlesey Island with Peterborough across the wet fenland. Part way across the structure, a small island was formed which is where it is presumed that the religious ceremonies occurred. Dendrochronological dating provides a date of 1365–967 BC.
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There was great environmental change during this period. The land began to get wetter due to floods becoming more common as a result of more rainy seasons. Due to this, people were losing the land on which they farmed, causing great alarm for the nearby populations. In the 10th century BC the ground level was much lower than today, increasing around 1 mm (0.039 inches) per year as autumnal debris is added to the surface of the fens. This caused the structure to be covered up and preserved. The anaerobic conditions found in the waterlogged soil prevented the timbers and other wooden objects from rotting away. The site was first discovered in 1982 when a team led by Francis Pryor carried out a survey of dykes in the area funded by English Heritage. Due to extensive drainage of the surrounding area, many of the timbers are drying out and are threatened with destruction. In the preservation hall one section of the timbers is preserved in-situ and prevented from drying out by misting with water. Also at the site are reconstructions of two Bronze Age roundhouses and one from the Iron Age. One section of the poles is being preserved by replacing the cellulose in the wood with water carried wax impregnating of the wood over the years. This technique is also being used to preserve Seahenge. Another preservation technique used for timbers found at the site is freeze drying. In the surrounding water of Flag Fen votive offerings have been found, e.g., daggers broken in half placed on top of each other. This supports the theory that Flag Fen was a site involved in religious rites, as great wealth was being thrown into the water. One theory is that these were being given as votive offerings to the Gods, to ask them to stop the environmental changes which were occurring around the time. Amongst the daggers and jewellery found, there were a number of small, white beach pebbles. These were not natural to the local area which suggests that people travelled from afar to give offerings to the Gods. Other artefacts that were found comprised animal bones. Of these, horse mandibles were found. Horses were very valuable to the prehistoric people, as they provided not only a means of transport, but also man power. They could be used to carry timbers, for example, over long distances. Some of the timbers themselves were not natural to the local environment, as few were made of oak. This means that the people who constructed this timber causeway wanted to use materials that perhaps had religious significance to their lives, and felt that it was worth the effort to transport the timbers from far lying sources to the site itself. This isn't rare in the prehistoric world, as the bluestones from Stonehenge were brought to the site in Salisbury from the Preseli Mountains in Wales. On the island known as Northey Island, many round barrows, contemporary with Flag Fen, were found. These seemed to be constructed over the dwellings of 'chiefs'. Mike Parker Pearson refers to this as the "Land of the Dead", although there is evidence of farming, including sheep remains, contemporary with the site. Phosphate analysis reveals high concentrations of cremations in the barrows, in the form of satellite and secondary burials in the round barrows. This suggests that the primary burials
35 may have been of chiefs, or socially powerful/respected people, and that some people may have paid to be buried close to the person they respected or followed. E 5 Seahenge • Enclosure-timber circle • Inversion • Excarnation • Astronomical calendar • Timber analysis and conservation • Dendrochronolgy In the summer of 1998 the shifting sands of Holme beach on the north Norfolk coast revealed the remains of a unique timber circle dating back over 4000 years, to the Early Bronze Age. Although discovered on a modern beach, the circle was originally built on a saltmarsh, some distance inland. The discovery captured the imagination of archaeologists and public alike and the site soon became known as ‘Seahenge’. The timbers came from a circle 6.6m (21 ft) in diameter, comprising 55 closely-fitted oak posts, each originally up to 3m (10 ft) in length. At the centre of the circle was a great upturned tree stump. Scientific dating methods showed that the trees were felled in the spring or early summer of 2049BC. Whilst we can never be certain why the site was built, it was probably used following the death of an important person, with a body laid out on the upturned stump so birds and animals could pick the bones clean. They were removed for burial elsewhere. We do know that after only a short period of time, the entrance to the circle was sealed. Seahenge was built by people living and farming near the saltmarshes. 4000 years ago, in the Early Bronze Age, people would have lived in small farming communities, growing crops such as wheat and barley and grazing sheep and cattle. Their homes were simple roundhouses, with walls of wattle and daub and roofs of thatch or turf. Everybody in the family would have helped with the chores and many of the things they used and owned would have been homemade, including their clothes. Up to 50 people may have helped to build the circle, possibly a local tribe coming together to mark a special occasion – perhaps the death of an important member of the community. Across Britain, many ceremonial monuments survive from this period. Some are associated with burials, whilst others were used for community ceremonies spanning centuries. Many archaeologists think that the upturned stump supported the body of an important person, a process known as ’excarnation’. Birds and animals would have been allowed to pick the body clean before the bones were removed elsewhere for burial. As with many ceremonial sites of this period, the circle may also have served as a simple astronomical calendar, marking the Midwinter sunset and Midsummer sunrise. ”The analysis has told us how the circle may have been erected, but not why. Early in the project, when asked by journalists, I simply spieled off theories of excarnation and an inverted underworld. I now feel less inclined to suggest a body was ever laid within the tree roots. Inversion, however, is literally central to the site. Elsewhere in the Early Bronze Age inversion (most commonly in funerary vessels) appears to be
36 appropriate in some circumstances, but not in others. A pattern is not readily evident, but the symbolism may have transformed the everyday into the extraordinary. The tree stump was hauled from the place of its growth to a funerary monument in a saltmarsh, and turned upside down. It was then entirely closed off to the world around, possibly not even visible. There may be references to builders and astronomical events, and the large number of people involved emphasises the communal statement: but the main motivation seems to have been to place the tree stump in the right place, in the right way, within its own wall of oak posts. While there are parts of the central stump’s trunk in the north-east section of the circle, most of that tree is not represented. Nor do we have all of the split posts, as there are too many half splits with the central pith intact. We cannot rule out that the missing timber was used in another structure. Where that might have been we can only guess, but we think the circle’s site was chosen for its proximity to an earlier monument, just 100 metres to the east. This structure is represented by two concentric rings of roughly split oak timbers surrounding an oak hurdle-lined pit containing two large oak logs. There are good reasons for suggesting that the pit was a grave and that the wood was all that remained of a palisaded barrow, not unlike examples excavated in the Netherlands. Radiocarbon dating indicates this monument was probably constructed several centuries before the excavated circle (c 2400-2030 bc), but it is possible that both monuments at some time were in use together.
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F Iron Age The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC (European Early Iron Age), developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC (Late Bronze Age) and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture. It is commonly associated with Celtic populations in the Western Hallstatt zone and with (pre-)Illyrians in the eastern Hallstatt zone. By the 6th century BC, it spanned across territories in much of central Europe. It is named for its type site, Hallstatt, a lakeside village in the Austrian Salzkammergut southeast of Salzburg.
Trade and population movements (very probably both) spread the Hallstatt cultural complex into the western Iberian peninsula, Britain, and Ireland. It is probable that some if not all of this diffusion took place in a Celtic-speaking context Trade with Greece is attested by finds of Attic black-figure pottery in the élite graves of the late Hallstatt period. It was probably imported via Massilia (Marseille). Other imported luxuries include amber, ivory (Gräfenbühl) and probably wine. Recent analyses have shown that the reputed silk in the barrow at Hohmichele was misidentified. Red dye (cochineal) was imported from the south as well (Hochdorf burial). The settlements were mostly fortified, situated on hilltops, and frequently included the workshops of bronze-, silver-, and goldsmiths. Typical sites are the Heuneburg on the upper Danube surrounded by nine very large grave tumuli, Mont Lassois in eastern France near Châtillon-sur-Seine with, at its foot, the very rich grave at Vix, and the hill fort at Molpír in Slovakia. In the central Hallstatt regions toward the end of the period, very rich graves of highstatus individuals under large tumuli are found near the remains of fortified hilltop settlements. They often contain chariots and horse bits or yokes as commonly used
38 by Cimmerian knights Well known chariot burials include Vix and Hochdorf. Elaborate jewellery made of bronze and gold, as well as stone stelae (see the famous warrior of Hirschlanden) were found in this context. The material culture of Western Hallstatt culture was apparently sufficient to provide a stable social and economic equilibrium. The founding of Marseille and the penetration by Greek and Etruscan culture after ca 600 BC, resulted in long-range trade relationships up the Rhone valley which triggered social and cultural transformations in the Hallstatt settlements north of the Alps. Powerful local chiefdoms emerged which controlled the redistribution of luxury goods from the Mediterranean world that is characteristic of the La Tène culture. F1 Vix • Royal grave? • Complex of fortified settlement and burial grounds • Grave goods The area around the village of Vix in northern Burgundy, France is the site of an important prehistoric complex from the Celtic Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods, comprising an important fortified settlement and several burial mounds. The most famous of the latter, the Vix Grave, also known as the grave of the Lady of Vix, dates to circa 500 BC. Her grave had never been looted and contained remarkably rich grave offerings (collectively sometimes known as the Trésor de Vix), including a great deal of jewellery and the Vix krater, the largest known metal vessel from anti F2 Hochdorf • Rich burial-prince? • Control of trade routes • Wagon burial The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave is a richly-furnished Celtic burial chamber dating from 530 BC, Halstatt D. An amateur archaeologist discovered it in 1977 near Hochdorf an der Enz (municipality of Eberdingen) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. By then, the originally 20 ft (6 m) high burial mound covering the grave, which is about 200 ft (60 m) in diameter, had shrunk to about 3 ft (1 m) height and was hardly discernible due to centuries of erosion and agricultural use. A man, roughly 40 years of age and 6 ft 2 in (187 cm) tall, was laid out on an exceptionally richly decorated 9 ft (275 cm) bronze couch on wheels inside the burial chamber. Judging by other objects found there, this man probably had been a Celtic chieftain: He had been buried with • a gold-plated torc on his neck, • a bracelet on his right arm, • a hat made of birch bark, • a gold-plated dagger made of bronze and iron, • rich clothing, amber jewelry, a razor knife, • a nail clipper, a comb, fishing hooks, arrows, and most notably, • thin embossed gold plaques were on his now-disintegrated shoes. At the foot of the couch was a large cauldron decorated with three lions around the brim. This cauldron was originally filled with about 100 gallons (400 l) of mead. The east side of
39 the tomb contained an iron-plated wooden four-wheeled wagon holding a set of bronze dishes—along with the drinking horns found on the walls enough to serve nine people. After the examination of the grave, the burial mound has been reconstructed to its original height. Nearby a museum about this grave was built, during the construction of which the foundations of an ancient Celtic village were found, probably the one to which the chieftain belonged. These were incorporated into the museum.
Iron Age funerary customs Death in Iron Age Great Britain seems to have produced different behaviours in different regions. Cremation was a common method of disposing of the dead, although the chariot burials and other inhumations of the Arras culture of East Yorkshire, and the cist burials of Cornwall, demonstrate that it was not ubiquitous. In fact, the general dearth of excavated Iron Age burials makes drawing conclusions difficult. Excarnation has been suggested as a reason for the lack of burial evidence with the remains of the dead being dispersed either naturally or through human agency. Early Iron Age • Cremation and scattering of the ashes, • Cremation and burial in a pit or under a barrow. • Crouched inhumations in stone cists of Late Bronze to Late Iron Age date seem to have been the prevalent rite in the south-west peninsula and Wales. • A number of burials have been found in settlement sites such as Gussage All Saints, Dorset, and hill forts such as Danebury in Hampshire. These include skeletons with parts missing, and burials of individual bones, especially skulls, at the bottom of pits in hill forts. There may have been selection of particular bones after exposure for use in ritual prior to burial. • But only a small part of the population was involved. Some may have been killed in war, others may have been human sacrifices. Middle-Late Iron Age
40 • • • • •
The Arras culture of Yorkshire - large cemeteries with graves under mounds surrounded by rectangular ditched enclosures. These include men, women and children. The culture is an elite burial tradition involving the interment of a two-wheeled vehicle with the body. The burials are generally of men, but at least one woman is known. They are similar to several groups of La Tene burials in Northern Europe, but the crouched position is native to Britain, suggesting emulation of exotic behaviour. Other types of burial in this period include bog bodies such as Lindow Man, an example of the ritual deposition of bodies in water. Inhumations with grave goods are again found. Men usually have swords, shields and sometimes spears, women have mirrors, and sometimes bronze bowls or beads
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Gazetteer of sites Palaeolithic: • Burial sites o Boxgrove o Sungir o DV o Goughs Cave, Cheddar Gorge o Paviland Cave • Cave art o Altamira o Lascaux o Trois Frères Mesolithic • Ertebølle Culture of N Denmark: o Vedbaek o Skateholm • Star Carr Early Neolithic • Long barrows: o West Kennet o Fussel’s Lodge o Haddenham •
Causewayed camps/enclosures o Windhill Hill o Hambledon Hill
Late Neolithic • Megalithic architecture o Newgrange o Maes Howe o Waylands Smithy (initial long barrow, then megalithic tomb) o Stonehenge •
Henges and related enclosures: o o o o o o
Stonehenge Thornborough Durrington Walls Woodhenge Stanton Drew Ring of Brodgar
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Bronze Age • Individual barrows ( Beaker) o Shrewton o Bush Barrow •
Barrow Cemeteries o Winterbourne Stoke
•
Flat cemeteries o Oxfordshire Henges o “Seahenge” o Stonehenge Flag Fen-timber causeway, settlement and focus of ritual deposition
• •
Iron Age • “Royal” Burials o Hochdorf o Vix • Cemeteries o Arras, Yorkshire ( chariot burials and inhumations) • Bog Bodies • Lindow Man
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Sample Questions and answers (AQA) What is meant by symbolism? marks)
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Symbolism in religion and ritual involves the use of pictures and abstract referents to communicate important ideas about the cosmos and the position of people within it. The symbols may be part of a system representing letters of an alphabet or standing for whole words. Symbols may also be metaphors for ideas that are hard to explain. Symbols are most often discovered in or on ritual structures as part of their architecture and decoration and on ritual objects. Prehistoric In prehistoric contexts a whole raft of symbols have been suggested for the pictures, reliefs and signs found in cave art at Cosquer and Chauvet caves in France or in the many ‘Venus figurines’ found across Europe at Petersfels, Willendorf and Lespugue. Spirals and cup marks on stones in the landscape and megalithic monuments like Newgrange together with the circular shape of many early monuments have all been interpreted as symbolic in nature. What is meant by liminal?
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A natural place or building or other structure that acts as a boundary, threshold, portal or gateway to the ‘other world’ through which the living may communicate with the dead and/or the dead may return to old haunts. A sort of limbo between worlds. Lakes and rivers and bogs such as Llyn Cerrig Bach/The Thames and bog body finds at Clonycavan, Oldcroghan and Lindow. Associated with votive deposition and offering at Flag Fen. What is meant by shamanism? marks)
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Belief in individuals with special power to communicate with gods, spirits and the other world, often through trance or even psychotropic, hallucinogenic substances. Sometimes called witchdoctors and associated with healing abilities. The anthropic figures in cave art at Lascaux/Les Trois Frères • The Upton Lovell burial • South African ethnography – Bushmen • Entoptic images.
44 Compare and contrast a range of Palaeolithic burials in Britain and Europe. (15 marks) • Paviland Cave, mammoth artefacts, ochre • Sungir with elaborate grave goods – old man and children • Dolni Vestonice bizarre triple burial • Grimaldi shell ornament • La Ferrassie cemetery.
45 What evidence is there for religious leaders in prehistoric Britain and Europe? marks)
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• Size and complexity of monuments • elaborate rituals repeated • astronomical calculations • standardisation • shaman burials – Upton Lovell • important individuals buried near monuments – Amesbury Archer • shamen in cave art? • grooved ware • regalia, eg Hochdorf Discuss the range of evidence from henge sites in Britain.
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• Different types of henge • regional variation in position of ditch and bank • number of entrances • special burials • associated settlement at Durrington Walls • timber/stone circles • internal structures in timber – roofed? • symbolism of primeval forest • deposition of special pottery types • viewing ritual • part of ritual landscape. We would expect to see a clear definition of what a henge is within this answer. Despite its name Seahenge is NOT a henge, and the Stone Circle at Stonehenge is also NOT a henge. Discuss the nature and purpose of causewayed enclosures. marks)
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• Shape and size • causeways and method of construction • thorn fences • vast open reeking cemeteries? • body parts on surface and in ditches • disarticulation and excarnation? • part of system with long barrows? • ritual and economic centres? • Windmill Hill • Hambledon Hill. Explain the typical features of megalithic monuments. marks)
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46 • Large stone construction involving earth/wood • antler picks and ox scapulae • Funerary or other ritual? • astronomical alignment and significance • burial chambers • settings of stones • portal stones/orthostats • decoration • Newgrange • West Kennet • Avebury Outline the practice of votive deposition in prehistoric Europe. marks)
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• appeasement of deities • watery places • liminality • valuable metal • human remains • deliberate breakage • conspicuous consumption • climate • Flag Fen • Llyn Cerrig Bach • River Thames/Witham • Tollund Man Compare two different types of Iron Age burial. marks) • chariot burial • cremation/inhumation/excarnation • carriage of body to grave • dismantling and burial of chariot • fittings and fixtures • exotic material • food offerings • feasting and drinking • absence of burials? • Wetwang Slack • Vix • Hochdorf Aylesford-Swarling burials • Welwyn Garden City • Birdlip
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