Big pits, Stonehenge and Durrington

Two diagrams showing the location of the pits discovered, claimed to rest on the circumference of a gigantic circle or "circuit" centred on Durrington Walls.  As we can see, the arrangement is somewhat haphazard,   and it may be an artifice thrown up by highly selective ground investigations. As we can see, there are two assumed arc segments -- are these real, or imagined?

This is all over the media today -- new research from Vince Gaffney and his team.  It's all very interesting, and I'll take a look at the research and report back.  I hope it's all a bit more reliable than some of the earlier research from the Gaffney team, relating to pits, shafts and holes either holding stones or not, as the case may be.........

There have been some very red faces in the past, relating to some of the linked research over a period of ten years, so we shall see how reliable this latest set of discoveries may be.

https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2014/09/stonehenge-latest-amazing-revelations.html
https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2010/08/another-flight-of-fancy.html

https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2016/08/durrington-red-herrings-and-red-faces.html

https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-hundred-standing-stoones-ar-durrington.html

https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2017/07/yet-more-bbc-nonsense-on-stonehenge.html

---------------------------

A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge

by Vincent Gaffney, Eamonn Baldwin, Martin Bates, C. Richard Bates, Christopher Gaffney, Derek Hamilton, Tim Kinnaird, Wolfgang Neubauer, Ronald Yorston, Robin Allaby, Henry Chapman, Paul Garwood, Klaus Löcker, Alois Hinterleitner, Tom Sparrow, Immo Trinks, Mario Wallner and Matt Leivers

https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.55.4
#DurringtonPits

A 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). Initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated, along with information on similar features revealed by archaeological contractors undertaking survey and excavation to the north of the Durrington Walls henge. Analysis of the available data identified a total of 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to Durrington Walls. Further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several geophysical anomalies to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence. The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20m or more and a depth of at least 5m. 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 identified suggests that they could have formed part of a circuit of large pits around Durrington Walls, and this may also have incorporated the recently discovered Larkhill causewayed enclosure. The diameter of the circuit of pits exceeds 2km 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.

 

----------------------------

Here is the BBC report, complete with the expected purple prose:

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found near sacred site
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53132567

Archaeologists have discovered a ring of prehistoric shafts, dug thousands of years ago near Stonehenge.
Fieldwork has revealed evidence of a 1.2 mile (2km) wide circle of large shafts measuring more than 10m in diameter and 5m in depth.
They surround the ancient settlement of Durrington Walls, two miles (3km) from Stonehenge.
Tests suggest the ground works are Neolithic and were excavated more than 4,500 years ago.
Experts believe the 20 or more shafts may have served as a boundary to a sacred area connected to the henge.
A team of academics from the universities of St Andrews, Birmingham, Warwick, Glasgow and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David worked on the project.
Dr Richard Bates, from St Andrews' School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: "Remote sensing and careful sampling is giving us an insight to the past that shows an even more complex society than we could ever imagine.
"Clearly sophisticated practices demonstrate that the people were so in tune with natural events to an extent that we can barely conceive in the modern world.
His colleague Tim Kinnaird said sediments from the shafts that were tested "contain a rich and fascinating archive of previously unknown environmental information".
He said studying the finds allowed archaeologists to "write detailed narratives of the Stonehenge landscape for the last 4,000 years".
Dr Nick Snashall, National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, hailed the "astonishing discovery".
She said: "As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted Durrington Walls is key to unlocking the story of the wider Stonehenge landscape, and this astonishing discovery offers us new insights into the lives and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors.
"The Hidden Landscapes team have combined cutting-edge, archaeological fieldwork with good old-fashioned detective work to reveal this extraordinary discovery and write a whole new chapter in the story of the Stonehenge landscape."
The announcement of the discovery comes after the Summer Solstice, which took place online this year as the annual gathering at Stonehenge was cancelled due to coronavirus.