Megaphone archaeology

 

Here we go again.  A big article in the Guardian, based on info fed to it by Vince Gaffney and relating to the supposed "mega-circle" of giant pits in the Durrington - Larkhill area.  The "circle" is no more circular this year than it was last year.

It's here, in all its glory:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/23/new-tests-show-neolithic-pits-near-stonehenge-were-humanmade

Other media outlets have picked up on the story as well, so as not to be outdone by the Guardian.

This is all based on third-hand information and speculation, issued now in order to drum up interest in a new programme to be shown on December 9th on Channel Five.  No mention of flint mining or flint excavation pits or enlarged solution hollows for the purpose of finding flint nodules.  No data, no evidence -- just excited hogwash which we are all expected to believe because there is no way to scrutinize what has actually been discovered.    Maybe there is another paper somewhere in the pipeline, and maybe not.  This is real megaphone archaeology, using the media and press releases as a substitute for sound academic research and peer review.

Programme title: Stonehenge: The New Revelations. This is a couple of miles away from Stonehenge -- but that's the word that pulls the viewers in, so what the hell.......

I thought archaeology was in a bad way, having looked in detail at the working methods of our old friend MPP.  This is now confirmed.  And how.

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PS.  This is what Gaffney et al said in the discussion at the end of their original paper:  

Given the presumed later Neolithic date for the pit group, the size of the features, and the scale at which the circuit of pits has been implemented, it is difficult to identify directly comparable groups of features within the British Isles. In respect of clustering of large pits, those associated with, generally earlier, flint mines may invite consideration (Field and Barber 1998; Barber et al. 1999; Mercer 1981). In some instances, such as Cissbury hillfort, large pits associated with mining do form linear alignments; presumably following seams of flint within the boundary of the later Iron Age hillfort (Barber et al. 1999, 29). More locally, work by Booth and Stone (1952) and Stone (1958) record the presence of flint mines near Durrington. However, the illustrations provided by Stone demonstrate that these features are significantly narrower at the entrance than those described above (Figure 21). When considered spatially, Stone's features are also unlikely to be directly linked with the arcs of massive pits presented within this article. While it is not impossible that flint extracted from these pits may have been used on an ad hoc basis, the structural arrangement of the pit group around Durrington Walls, and their apparent link to the area of the henge monument, suggest that such a prosaic interpretation is not sufficient as an explanation for these features.

This was right at the end of the paper, the authors having previously studiously avoided any mention of consideration of flint mining or the excavation or enlargement of solution hollows for the purpose of flint nodule extraction.  Occam's Razor appears to have been forgotten about.  The authors are so keen on seeing their giant circle (which seems to me to be fanciful in the extreme) and on flagging up "the mystery of the giant pits" that the simplest and most logical explanation of these features has simply been shunted aside.........

Source:

Gaffney, V. et al. 2020 A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge, Internet Archaeology 55. 

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

Above: From the Gaffney et al paper in 2020.  The superimposition of the "giant circle" is speculative in the extreme.  If they had wanted a circle, they would have measured one out properly.

From the Stonehenge Research Framework document.  Note the areas of flint mining / flint pit creation, as known at that time.  Gaffney et al have simply found a few more.......