| Summary : An Early Neolithic pit, located 12 metres northwest of the later Coneybury Henge (SU 14 SW 14). The pit contained a considerable assemblage of early Neolithic pottery, representing a minimum of 41 vessels, plus flints. Also present was a large assemblage of animal bones, representing a minimum of 10 cattle, plus several roe deer, two red deer and a pig. A radiocarbon date of 3980-3708 Cal BC was obtained on a sample from the primary fill. The contents may represent the remains of one major episode of feasting, although some of the material may have accumulated elsewhere prior to deposition in the pit. The upper fills included small quantities of Beaker and Deverel-Rimbury pottery, plus broadly contemporary lithic material. The pit may well have been visible as a substantial backfilled depression at the time the nearby henge was constructed. |
More information : (SU 13424160) A Neolithic pit, 1.9m in diameter, 1.25m deep, containing pottery, animal bone and flint implements, was located 12m northwest of Coneybury Henge (SU 14 SW 14). It had a diameter of 1.9m, c. 1.25m deep and contained pottery representing a minimum of 41 Earlier Neolithic vessels. These may have been incorporated within a midden deposit prior to burial. Animal bone representing a minimum of ten cattle, several roe deer, a pig and two red deer was also recovered. The authors have interpreted the pit contents as possibly representing either a single major feast, or a period of feasting, which accumulated in a temporary midden prior to burial within the pit. Flint implements recovered include flake tools and scrapers. The upper fills of the pit contained Early Neolithic to Bronze Age material including transverse arrowheads. It is likely that the pit was visible as a substantial depression, c.2m in diameter, c. 0.7m deep, at the time of the construction of Coneybury Henge. (1)
This location falls within the area mapped from aerial photographs by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project. No further information about this feature was obtained from aerial photographic evidence. (3) |