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.
4To advance the understanding of the pit circuit, additional work was undertaken in 2021 (Fig. 2) and included the following objectives:
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to undertake GPR, ERT and EM survey and coring on six additional features;
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to explore the use of core scanning and high resolution XRF technologies as a tool to explore the geochemistry of the pits;
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to integrate the data through drone photogrammetry and multispectral imagery.
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.