| Summary : Neolithic mortuary enclosure on Normanton Down. Originally a rectangular ditched enclosure with internal banks, orientated east-south-east to west-north-west, measuring circa 36 metres by 21 metres. The eastern end was slightly wider than the western. The banks were visible as earthworks in 1949 but had been competely ploughed out by the time the site was fully excavated in 1959. Excavation showed the enclosure to be rectangular with rounded ends, the ditch being interrupted by 11 causeways. The largest causeway, 16 feet long, was at the eastern end. Within and at right angles to this "entrance" were a pair of bedding trenches, each containing 3 post holes. Both yielded evidence for horizontal timbers linking each set of three posts. A shallow linear depression ran across the entrance causeway, linking the ditch segments on either side. The segment south of the entrance showed evidence for recutting. The segment north of the entrance featured a deposit of three antler picks in the ditch terminal adjacent to the entrance. Finds were few - there were no flint or stone artefacts, and only a single potsherd - Mortlake Ware, found high in the ditch silts on the south side. In all, 11 antler were recovered, plus a few bones of sheep/goat and cattle. A radiocarbon date of 3510-2920 Cal BC has been obtained. The enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. |
More information : SU 11434100. Site of sub-rectangular enclosure,
perhaps a long mortuary enclosure. ? Neolithic. (1)
The site was excavated by F de M Vatcher in 1959 and proved to
be a Neolithic long mortuary enclosure orientated ESE - WNW. It is
oblong with rounded corners and measures 124ft x 68ft to the
outside of the causewayed ditch. The eastern end is broader than
the western by about four feet. Inside this end of the enclosure
two 10ft long post-bedding trenches were found. Both contained
three posts strengthened by horizontal tie bars and they may have
supported lintels though this seems unlikely. A more plausible
explanation is that both sets of posts were separate units, possibly
forming either side of a passage or portal which led into the
interior of the enclosure.
Finds in the enclosure consisted of a total of ten antler picks,
other animal remains, and one sherd of Mortlake pottery found high
in the silting of the south ditch. (2)
No trace of the enclosure is visible in the field, at present under
short grass. (3)
The enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs, and has been mapped by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project. (7-8) |