Neolithic settlement patterns at Avebury, Wiltshire

The Sanctuary, Overton Hill, Wiltshire: A Re-examination

“…The notion of an area of 'sacred geography', 'that saw religion and subsistence as closely linked parts of daily life' (Harding & Lee 1987,62), is particularly pertinent to the Avebury region. Fieldwalking has shown that extensive late Neolithic flint scatters lie within the main monument complex, demonstrating little division between areas of the landscape involved in routine, day-to-day, and special activities (Holgate 1987;Thomas 1984, 170). Although access into the monuments was probably restricted, being dependent upon factors such as social position, gender, or the temporal division of events within the ritual cycle, monuments like the Sanctuary would have been a part of the everyday landscape, constantly imposing their own spatial structure upon the routine of daily activity.…”

THE NEOLITHIC of the AVEBURY AREA: SEQUENCE, ENVIRONMENT, SETTLEMENT and MONUMENTS

“…Holgate 1987; and none of the known groups of subsoil features can really be said to constitute a full 'site' in its own right; further search for settlement remains is a major priority for the future.…”

“…The overall density of settlement is likely to have been low. Initial surveys of surface lithics indicate small, scattered assemblages, though that on the southern flank of Windmill Hill may have been more substantial (Holgate 1987). A test pit survey around Easton Down long barrow and surface survey around the Roughridge long barrow have also shown low flint densities."…”

“…The surface lithic assemblages may suggest both more and larger sites (Holgate 1987;Holgate 1988), but what these collections represent is problematic; in the Stonehenge area the presence of lithic scatters on the surface did not automatically correlate with substantial subsoil features (Richards 1990). There are pit groups and artefact scatters as in Phase C, for example on the line of the West Kennet Avenue (Smith 1965a), under Avebury G.55 (Smith 1965b), West Overton G.6b (Smith and Simpson 1966) and unexplored round barrows on Overton Hill,14 but it is not possible yet to demonstrate that these were more extensive than the remains seen in Phase C. It is possible, however, that the nature of settlement was changing.…”

What future for Avebury?

“…Since 1960 there have been numerous minor digs that have explored questions of interpretation, or attempted to save a record in the face of road-works or building -much of this still unpublished. A useful study of finds from earlier surface collecting, supplemented by new survey work, was conducted in 1983 (Holgate 1987). John Evans has been exploring the ecological history of the area for 20 years (Evans 1972;Evans et al 1985).…”