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The age of Stonehenge

The age of Stonehenge
The age of Stonehenge
Stonehenge is the icon of British prehistory, and continues to inspire ingenious investigations and interpretations. A current campaign of research, being waged by probably the strongest archaeological team ever assembled, is focused not just on the monument, but on its landscape, its hinterland and the monuments within it. The campaign is still in progress, but the story so far is well worth reporting. Revisiting records of 100 years ago the authors demonstrate that the ambiguous dating of the trilithons, the grand centrepiece of Stonehenge, was based on samples taken from the wrong context, and can now be settled at 2600-2400 cal BC. This means that the trilithons are contemporary with Durrington Walls, near neighbour and Britain's largest henge monument. These two monuments, different but complementary, now predate the earliest Beaker burials in Britain – including the famous Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen, but may already have been receiving Beaker pottery. All this contributes to a new vision of massive monumental development in a period of high European intellectual mobility….
0003-598X
617-639
Parker Pearson, M.
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Cleal, R.
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Marshall, P.
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Needham, S.
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Pollard, J.
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Richards, C.
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Ruggles, C.
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Sheridan, A.
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Thomas, J.
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Tilley, C.
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Welham, K.
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Chamberlain, A.
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Chenery, C.
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Evans, J.
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Knüsel, C.
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Lindford, N.
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Martin, L.
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Montgomery, J.
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Payne, A.
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Richards, M.
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Parker Pearson, M.
f25cdd58-8045-40db-9018-3f8341ad53f4
Cleal, R.
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Marshall, P.
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Needham, S.
a886b8ec-c7bb-4327-9039-c0972f940309
Pollard, J.
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Richards, C.
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Ruggles, C.
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Sheridan, A.
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Thomas, J.
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Tilley, C.
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Welham, K.
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Chamberlain, A.
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Chenery, C.
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Evans, J.
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Knüsel, C.
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Lindford, N.
559c65c6-fbae-408c-a498-6f03188caa69
Martin, L.
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Montgomery, J.
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Payne, A.
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Richards, M.
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Parker Pearson, M., Cleal, R., Marshall, P., Needham, S., Pollard, J., Richards, C., Ruggles, C., Sheridan, A., Thomas, J., Tilley, C., Welham, K., Chamberlain, A., Chenery, C., Evans, J., Knüsel, C., Lindford, N., Martin, L., Montgomery, J., Payne, A. and Richards, M. (2007) The age of Stonehenge. Antiquity, 81 (313), 617-639. (doi:10.1017/S0003598X00095624).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Stonehenge is the icon of British prehistory, and continues to inspire ingenious investigations and interpretations. A current campaign of research, being waged by probably the strongest archaeological team ever assembled, is focused not just on the monument, but on its landscape, its hinterland and the monuments within it. The campaign is still in progress, but the story so far is well worth reporting. Revisiting records of 100 years ago the authors demonstrate that the ambiguous dating of the trilithons, the grand centrepiece of Stonehenge, was based on samples taken from the wrong context, and can now be settled at 2600-2400 cal BC. This means that the trilithons are contemporary with Durrington Walls, near neighbour and Britain's largest henge monument. These two monuments, different but complementary, now predate the earliest Beaker burials in Britain – including the famous Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen, but may already have been receiving Beaker pottery. All this contributes to a new vision of massive monumental development in a period of high European intellectual mobility….

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Published date: September 2007
Organisations: Archaeology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 394115
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/394115
ISSN: 0003-598X
PURE UUID: 07c82d09-847c-49ea-8388-e449ea9b0fcd
ORCID for J. Pollard: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8429-2009

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Date deposited: 26 May 2016 15:55
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:38

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Contributors

Author: M. Parker Pearson
Author: R. Cleal
Author: P. Marshall
Author: S. Needham
Author: J. Pollard ORCID iD
Author: C. Richards
Author: C. Ruggles
Author: A. Sheridan
Author: J. Thomas
Author: C. Tilley
Author: K. Welham
Author: A. Chamberlain
Author: C. Chenery
Author: J. Evans
Author: C. Knüsel
Author: N. Lindford
Author: L. Martin
Author: J. Montgomery
Author: A. Payne
Author: M. Richards

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