Landscape of the Megaliths: Excavation and Fieldwork on the Avebury Monuments, 1997-2003

Description

This volume describes the results of the Longstones Project, a joint-universities programme of excavation and survey designed to develop a fuller understanding of the context and dynamics of monument construction in the later Neolithic (3rd millennium BC) of the Avebury region, Wiltshire. Several elements of this internationally important prehistoric monument complex were investigated: an early-mid 3rd millennium BC enclosure at Beckhampton; the recently re-discovered Beckhampton Avenue and Longstones Cove; a section of the West Kennet Avenue; the Falkner's stone circle; and the Cove within Avebury's Northern Inner Circle. The research sheds new light on the complexities and development of this monument rich area and consideration is given to the questions of how and why ceremonial centres such as that at Avebury came into being in the 3rd millennium BC. The importance of understanding the agency - the affective and perceived inherent qualities - of materials and landscapes is stressed; and the unusual character of the Wessex monument complexes is highlighted by comparison with the format and sequences of other ceremonial centres in southern Britain. The second part of the monograph tracks the later, post-prehistoric, lives of Avebury's megalithic monuments including a detailed account of the early 18th-century records of the Beckhampton Avenue made by the antiquary William Stukeley. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction:The Longstones Project and its context The legacy of research and how it shaped the project The research questions Organisation of fieldwork Landscape of the Megaliths 2. Monumentality in the third millennium BC– the Beckhampton Complex 2.1 The Longstones Enclosure and associated features Geophysical survey Andrew David Excavation results The form of the ditch Ditch fills Finds from the ditch The gully-defined enclosure Dating the Longstones Enclosure Artefactual and environmental evidence Earlier prehistoric pottery Lithics Faunal remains Molluscan analysis Charcoal Archaeobotanical material Soil micromorphology Discussion: location, sequence, activities and analogies 2.2 The Beckhampton Avenue and Longstones Cove Sarsen The ‘snake dream of the fanciful doctor’: antiquaries, archaeologists and the Beckhampton Avenue Survey and excavation on the Beckhampton Avenue and Longstones Cove, 1989–2003 Geophysical survey and the Beckhampton Avenue and Longstones Cove Excavation Investigation Methodology Stone numbers Longstones Field south-west Detailed stone and stone-hole descriptions The eastern section of the Beckhampton Avenue: earlier observations and reconstruction Artefactual material Worked flint from the Longstones Cove and Beckhampton Avenue Worked flint from Avenue contexts Worked chalk Molluscan analysis Avebury Trusloe Geophysical survey Excavation results Discussion Observations and fieldwork on the area south-west of Longstones Field Survey and excavation in Long Barrow Field, 2002 Geophysical survey in Long Barrow Field Excavation Surface collection and geophysical survey in Beckhampton Field, 2001 Geophysical survey at Manor Farm, Avebury Trusloe, 2005 Discussion The course of the Beckhampton Avenue Dating the Beckhampton Avenue The format and construction of the avenue and associated activities The relationship between the Longstones Enclosure and Beckhampton Avenue The Cove and avenue terminal The Cove and the Sanctuary: architectural references 3 Monumentality in the third millennium BC– the West Kennet Avenue andFalkner’s Circle 3.1. The West Kennet Avenue Post-processional perspectives Excavations on the West Kennet Avenue, 2002 and 2003 Excavation Results Test pit sampling Geology and buried soils Features Prehistoric pottery Worked flint Discussion Pre-avenue activity The logic of avenue construction 3.2. The Falkner’s Circle The 2002 Excavations Geophysical survey Excavation methodology Results Prehistoric pottery Worked flint Discussion The circle as a hybrid construction The circle as a ‘conventional’ monument 4. Monumentality in the third millennium BC– the Avebury Cove Excavation results Trench 1 (Stone II) Prehistoric features Later features and deposits Trench 2 (Stone I) Prehistoric features Worked flint Radiocarbon dating Optically stimulated luminescence dating Discussion Constructing the Cove The structure and symbolism of the Cove 5. Landscape, environment and monumentality Wider context and chronology Schematic representations The Avebury landscape Geology, topography, hydrology and soil Palaeoenvironmental data sources Plant communities and their habitats Before the Neolithic (before c.4200BC) Mesolithic/Neolithic transition (c.4200–3700BC) Earlier Neolithic (c.3700–3400BC) Middle Neolithic (c.3400–3000BC) Later Neolithic (c.3000–2600BC) Final Neolithic (c.2600–2200BC) Early Bronze Age (c.2200–1600BC) Middle and later Bronze Age (c.1600–600BC) Monuments in their landscape 6. Monumentality in the 3rd millennium BC– Avebury and beyond The sequence and chronology of monuments in the later Neolithic of the Avebury region Avebury in context Wessex and its hinterland The Stonehenge Region Dorchester, Dorset Stanton Drew Discussion Beyond Wessex Etton/Maxey Dorchester-on-Thames Walton Basin Thornborough Ferrybridge Theme and diversity in later Neolithic ceremonial centres Monuments, cosmology, materiality and non-human agency Coda: a return to the Avebury landscape 7. Later Prehistoric, Roman and early Post-Roman activity in Longstones Field The later prehistoric ditch system Roman and early post-Roman activity at the Longstones Cove Metalwork Romano-British pottery Faunal remains Discussion Roman activity elsewhere in the region 8. Bounding the Avebury landscape The interior of Avebury The North-West Quadrant The South-West Quadrant The South-East Quadrant Avebury Summary The Beckhampton Avenue The West Kennet Avenue Ownership Stones and boundaries 9. Stone burial Early encounters with buried sarsens The excavations of Keiller West Kennet Avenue (Figure 9.3) North-West Quadrant (Figure 9.4) South-West Quadrant (Figure 9.4) South-East Quadrant (Figure 9.5) Excavations on the Beckhampton Avenue Excavations on the West Kennet Avenue Finds from the burial pits Medieval pottery Metalwork from the T1 burial pit Animal Bone The practices of stone-burial Digging the burial pit Toppling the stone Preparing the stone Manoeuvring stones into the pits and back-filling Summary: the practice of burying stones Dating the burials Stratigraphy: burials Stratigraphy: boundaries Stratigraphy: destruction pits Stratigraphy: structures Material culture Radiocarbon dating Summary of dating evidence The impact of stone burial Motivations Simple economics: burial for clearance Challenging the clearance hypothesis Burial: a religious dimension? Problems with superstition and religion Stone burial in the Avebury landscape Conclusions 10. Stone-breaking Destruction and depredation Ad hoc usage and the pragmatic breaking of stones Documentary evidence for deliberate stone breaking The Stukeley drawings A poetical assault Archaeological evidence for stone destruction The unpublished Keiller records North-West Quadrant South-West Quadrant South-East Quadrant The West Kennet Avenue Clay pipes from the Keiller excavations After Keiller Stone destruction at Millbarrow Excavations on the Beckhampton Avenue 1999–2003 Excavations at the Falkner’s Circle, 2002 Medieval and post-medieval artefacts from the Beckhampton Avenue and Falkner’s Circle Post-medieval pottery Glass Clay pipes Ironwork from settings L7–L16 Animal Bone Analysis of the destruction debris associated with Beckhampton Avenue setting L10 Approaching stone destruction debris Quantifying the assemblage Fuelling Destruction Charcoal from the Beckhampton Avenue Charcoal from the Falkner’s Circle After the destruction The process of destruction Variations in practice Approaches to burning upright stones Approaches to burning recumbent stones Direct fracture Dragging away Further complications What does this variation represent? Dating the destructions Summary of dating evidence Techniques revisited Which stones were destroyed? The pace of destruction Who was breaking the stones and why? A religious dimension? Non-conformity in the latter half of the 17th century Acts of resistance? The everyday life of the village Dispute and persecution The danger of replacing one orthodoxy with another The five-mile boomtown Stone destruction and the parcelling up of the land Conclusion: one rationale and one motivation? The Stukeley factor Conclusions: stone destruction in the Avebury landscape Postscript: stone burning today 11. Burial and burning in context Introduction: seeking parallels Burial and burning: a capsule summary The Sarsen Stones Project ‘Wrecking’ Stonehenge The Devil’s Quoits Burial, breaking and the Medway megaliths Stanton Drew Conclusions: a unique phenomenon? 12. Antiquarian encounters with the Beckhampton Avenue Thomas Twining’s account of the Beckhampton Avenue William Stukeley and the Beckhampton Avenue Summary of Stukeley’s observations on the Beckhampton Avenue Appendix 1: Stukeley manuscripts relating to the Beckhampton Avenue held in the Bodleian Library. A summary list and transcription of notes Appendix 2: The social and economic relationships between individuals named by Stukeley withi nearly 18th-century Avebury Appendix 3: Concordance between the Avebury stone numbering schemes adopted by Keiller (unpublished excavation records) and Smith (1965) Bibliography