Navigation – Plan du site

AccueilNuméros45-11. Case studies and archaeologica...Multidisciplinary Investigation o...

1. Case studies and archaeological feedback

Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Pit Circuit at Durrington Walls, UK

Chris Gaffney, Vincent Gaffney, Eamonn Baldwin, Martin Bates, Richard Bates, Tim Kinnaird, Tom Sparrow, Klaus Lockyear, Wolfgang Neubauer, Immo Trinks et Mario Wallner
p. 59-61

Résumé

– Comprehensive geophysical assessment of huge pits; ERT, GPR, mag and EM.

– Novel approach to testing and interpreting pits via coring.

– Largest pit circuit confirmed in both the Stonehenge landscape and the UK.

Haut de page

Entrées d’index

Haut de page

Texte intégral

1A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, were identified during fluxgate gradiometer survey undertaken by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP). While they were initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated with greater archaeological significance and they have been shown to extend north of the henge monument, which lies outside of the SHLP survey area. Their interpretation as large pits, provides additional data on this significant research issue within British later prehistory (e.g. Anderson-Whymark & Thomas, 2011; Bailey, 2018; Blinkhorn & Little, 2018; Garrow, 2006, 2007; Roberts & Marshall, 2020). The literature indicates that ‘pits’ have a plethora of uses in prehistory including settlement, mining, through to proxies for the arcane; pits within British prehistory are, as Garrow concluded for the British and Irish Neolithic, ‘a diverse phenomenon’ (Garrow, 2011, 219).

2At Durrington, analysis of the available data, has identified 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to the henge. In 2019, further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several of the geophysical anomalies that had been interpreted as pits to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence (Gaffney et al., 2020).

3The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20 m or more and a depth of at least 5 m. Struck flint and bone were recovered from primary silts and radiocarbon dating indicates a Late Neolithic date for the lower silts of one pit. The degree of similarity across the 20 features suggests that they could have formed part of a circuit of large pits around Durrington Walls. It is of interest that the circuit could also have incorporated the recently discovered Larkhill causewayed enclosure (Fig. 1). The diameter of the circuit of pits exceeds 2 km and there is some evidence that an intermittent, inner post alignment may have existed within the circuit of pits. One pit may provide evidence for a recut; suggesting that some of these features could have been maintained through to the Middle Bronze Age. Together, these features represent a unique group of features related to the henge at Durrington Walls, executed at a scale not previously recorded.

Figure 1. Distribution of features over a composite Lidar and OS profile data derived digital surface model (shaded) with OS 10k overlay © Environment Agency copyright and database right 2019. All rights reserved. Lidar Composite DTM 2m resolution, Scale 1:8000 and 1 m resolution, Scale 1:4000; © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 OS 1:10000 Scale and Profile DTM Raster, Scale 1:10K; EDINA Digimap Ordnance Survey Service (100025252) http://digimap.edina.ac.uk.

Figure 1. Distribution of features over a composite Lidar and OS profile data derived digital surface model (shaded) with OS 10k overlay © Environment Agency copyright and database right 2019. All rights reserved. Lidar Composite DTM 2m resolution, Scale 1:8000 and 1 m resolution, Scale 1:4000; © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 OS 1:10000 Scale and Profile DTM Raster, Scale 1:10K; EDINA Digimap Ordnance Survey Service (100025252) http://digimap.edina.ac.uk.

4To advance the understanding of the pit circuit, additional work was undertaken in 2021 (Fig. 2) and included the following objectives:

  • to undertake GPR, ERT and EM survey and coring on six additional features;

  • to explore the use of core scanning and high resolution XRF technologies as a tool to explore the geochemistry of the pits;

  • to integrate the data through drone photogrammetry and multispectral imagery.

Figure 2. Coring rig on site.

Figure 2. Coring rig on site.

5In the paper the authors will outline the significance of the work in the context of the understanding of this important landscape.

Haut de page

Bibliographie

Anderson-Whymark, H., Thomas, J., 2011. Regional perspectives on Neolithic pit deposition. Beyond the Mundane, Neolithic Studies Group Seminar Papers 12, Oxbow Books, Oxford.

Bailey, D., 2018. Breaking the Surface. An art/archaeology of prehistoric architecture. Oxford, University Press Oxford.

Blinkhorn, E., Little, A., 2018. Being ritual in Mesolithic Britain and Ireland: identifying ritual behaviour within an ephemeral material record. Journal of World Prehistory, 31: 403- 420.

Gaffney, V. et al., 2020. A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge. Internet Archaeology, 55.

Garrow, D., 2006. Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia. British Archaeological Reports British Series 414, Oxford.

Garrow, D., 2007. Placing pits: landscape occupation and depositional practice during the Neolithic in East Anglia. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 73: 1-24.

Garrow, D., 2011. Concluding discussion: pits and perspective. In H. Anderson-Whymark, J. Thomas (eds.) Regional Perspectives on Neolithic Pit Deposition. Beyond the mundane, Neolithic Studies Group Seminar Papers 12. Oxbow Books Oxford, 216-225.

Haut de page

Table des illustrations

Titre Figure 1. Distribution of features over a composite Lidar and OS profile data derived digital surface model (shaded) with OS 10k overlay © Environment Agency copyright and database right 2019. All rights reserved. Lidar Composite DTM 2m resolution, Scale 1:8000 and 1 m resolution, Scale 1:4000; © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 OS 1:10000 Scale and Profile DTM Raster, Scale 1:10K; EDINA Digimap Ordnance Survey Service (100025252) http://digimap.edina.ac.uk.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/docannexe/image/8455/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 3,0M
Titre Figure 2. Coring rig on site.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/docannexe/image/8455/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 2,5M
Haut de page

Pour citer cet article

Référence papier

Chris Gaffney, Vincent Gaffney, Eamonn Baldwin, Martin Bates, Richard Bates, Tim Kinnaird, Tom Sparrow, Klaus Lockyear, Wolfgang Neubauer, Immo Trinks et Mario Wallner, « Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Pit Circuit at Durrington Walls, UK »ArcheoSciences, 45-1 | 2021, 59-61.

Référence électronique

Chris Gaffney, Vincent Gaffney, Eamonn Baldwin, Martin Bates, Richard Bates, Tim Kinnaird, Tom Sparrow, Klaus Lockyear, Wolfgang Neubauer, Immo Trinks et Mario Wallner, « Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Pit Circuit at Durrington Walls, UK »ArcheoSciences [En ligne], 45-1 | 2021, mis en ligne le 16 août 2021, consulté le 07 novembre 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/8455 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/archeosciences.8455

Haut de page

Auteurs

Chris Gaffney

Corresponding author, School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford

Articles du même auteur

Vincent Gaffney

School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford

Articles du même auteur

Eamonn Baldwin

Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Birmingham

Martin Bates

School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Richard Bates

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews

Articles du même auteur

Tim Kinnaird

School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Articles du même auteur

Tom Sparrow

School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford

Articles du même auteur

Klaus Lockyear

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, ZAMG-Archeo Prospections

Wolfgang Neubauer

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna

Articles du même auteur

Immo Trinks

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna

Articles du même auteur

Mario Wallner

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology

Articles du même auteur

Haut de page

Droits d’auteur

CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont susceptibles d’être soumis à des autorisations d’usage spécifiques.

Haut de page
Rechercher dans OpenEdition Search

Vous allez être redirigé vers OpenEdition Search