Abstract
Studies of early fourth-millennium BC Britain have typically focused on the Early Neolithic sites of Wessex and Orkney; what can the investigation of sites located in areas beyond these core regions add? The authors report on excavations (2011-2019) at Dorstone Hill in Herefordshire, which have revealed a remarkable complex of Early Neolithic monuments: three long barrows constructed on the footprints of three timber buildings that had been deliberately burned, plus a nearby causewayed enclosure. A Bayesian chronological model demonstrates the precocious character of many of the site's elements and strengthens the evidence for the role of tombs and houses/halls in the creation and commemoration of foundational social groups in Neolithic Britain.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 869-886 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Antiquity |
Volume | 97 |
Issue number | 394 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 26 Aug 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Beneath Hay Bluff project has been supported by the Universities of Manchester and Cardiff, Herefordshire Council, and the Institute for Field Research.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.
Keywords
- Bayesian modelling
- Britain
- causewayed enclosure
- long mounds
- Neolithic
- social organisation