Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:38:51.242Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

SURVEY AND SAMPLING AT THE CASTLE DYKES IRON AGE ‘HENGE’, WENSLEYDALE, NORTH YORKSHIRE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2019

Alex Gibson
Affiliation:
15 Alexandra Crescent, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 9ER, UK. Email: alexgibsonarchaeol@outlook.com
Wolfgang Neubauer
Affiliation:
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, University of Vienna, Hohe Warte 38, A-1190 Vienna, Austria. Email: administration@archpro.lbg.ac.at
Sebastian Flöry
Affiliation:
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, University of Vienna, Hohe Warte 38, A-1190 Vienna, Austria. Email: administration@archpro.lbg.ac.at
Petra Schneidhofer
Affiliation:
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, University of Vienna, Hohe Warte 38, A-1190 Vienna, Austria. Email: administration@archpro.lbg.ac.at
Mike Allen
Affiliation:
Allen Environmental Archaeology, Redroof, Green Road, Codford, Wiltshire BA12 0NW, UK. Email: aea.escargots@gmail.co.uk
Enid Allison
Affiliation:
Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 92A Broad Street, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2LU, UK. Email: enid.allison@canterburytrust.co.uk
Wendy Carruthers
Affiliation:
Sawmills House, Castellau, Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan CF72 8LQ, UK. Email: wendycarruthers@jenner8.orangehome.co.uk
Dana Challinor
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK. Email: dana.challinor@tiscali.co.uk
Charles French
Affiliation:
McBurney Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK. Email: caif2@cam.ac.uk
Garry Rushworth
Affiliation:
Butts Farm, Thurstonland, West Yorkshire HD4 6XG, UK. Email: garryrushworth2@gmail.com
Alison Sheridan
Affiliation:
Principal Curator of Early Prehistory, National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK. Email: a.sheridan@nms.ac.uk

Abstract

Survey and sampling at the classic single-entranced henge monument at Castle Dykes, in North Yorkshire, has revealed traces of circular timber structures, interpreted as later prehistoric roundhouses, in the immediate vicinity and within the henge. Coring of the waterlogged silts of the internal ditch has produced considerable environmental data: plant, insect, pollen and charcoal remains. A small jet bead was also recovered. Radiocarbon dates from short-lived materials unexpectedly indicate that the monument was constructed in the Iron Age, which prompts a review of other potentially Iron Age ‘henges’ further afield.

Type
Research paper
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allason-Jones, L 1996. Roman Jet in the Yorkshire Museum, The Yorkshire Museum, York Google Scholar
Allason-Jones, L and Miket, R 1984. Catalogue of Small Finds from South Shields Roman Fort, The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon TyneGoogle Scholar
Allcroft, A H 1908. Earthwork of England, MacMillan & Co, LondonGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, R J C 1951. ‘The henge monuments of Great Britain’, in R J C Atkinson, C M Piggott and N K Sandars (eds), Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon., Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 81107Google Scholar
Barclay, G J 1983. ‘Sites of the third millennium bc to the first millennium ad at North Mins, Strathallan, Perthshire’, Proc Soc Antiq Scotland, 113 (1982–3), 122281Google Scholar
Barrett, J C 1999. ‘The mythical landscapes of the British Iron Age’, in A B Knapp and W Ashmore (eds), Archaeology of Landscapes: contemporary perspectives, 253265, Blackwell, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Bell, A and Thompson, A 2002. ‘Jet and shale objects from Bainesse and Catterick Bridge (Sites 46 and 240)’, in P R Wilson (ed), Cataractonium. Roman Catterick and its Hinterland: excavations and research, 1958–1997, part 2, 176179, CBA Res Rep 129, YorkGoogle Scholar
Bennett, K D, Whittington, G and Edwards, K J 1994. ‘Recent plant nomenclature changes and pollen morphology in the British Isles’, Quat Newslet, 73, 16Google Scholar
Bradley, R and Nimura, C (eds) 2016. The Use and Re-use of Stone Circles, Oxbow Books and Aberdeenshire Council, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R and Sheridan, A 2005. ‘Croft Moraig and the chronology of stone circles’, Proc Prehist Soc, 71, 269282Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C and Lee, S 2013. ‘Recent and planned developments of the program OxCal’, Radiocarbon, 55 (2–3), 720730Google Scholar
Cappers, R T J, Bekker, R M and Jans, J E A 2006. Digitale Zadenatlas van Nederland, Barkhuis Publishing, EeldeGoogle Scholar
Carruthers, W and Hunter, K forthcoming. ‘A review of archaeological plant remains from the Midland counties report’CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, M R and Johnson, A W 1984. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man, Min of Ag and Food Ref Book 161, HMSO, LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duff, A (ed) 2012. Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles. Iver, PemberleyGoogle Scholar
Evans, C, Appleby, G and Lucy, S 2016. Lives in the Land: Mucking excavations by Margaret and Tom Jones 1965–1978, Oxbow Books, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Evans, J G 1972. Land Snails in Archaeology, Seminar Press, LondonGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 1994. ‘Excavations at the Sarn-y-bryn-caled cursus complex, Welshpool, Powys, and the timber circles of Great Britain and Ireland’, Proc Prehist Soc, 60, 143223Google Scholar
Gibson, A M 1995. ‘The dating of timber circles: new thoughts in the light of recent Irish and British discoveries’, in J Waddell and E Shee Twohig (eds), Ireland in the Bronze Age, 8789, The Stationery Office, DublinGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 1998. Stonehenge and Timber Circles, Tempus, StroudGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 2000. ‘Circles and henges: reincarnations of past traditions?’, Archaeol Ireland, 14 (1), 1114CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 2002. ‘The Later Neolithic palisaded sites of Britain’, in A M Gibson (ed), Behind Wooden Walls: Neolithic palisaded enclosures in Europe, 523, BAR Int Ser 1013, Archaeopress, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 2012a. ‘An introduction to the study of henges: time for a change?’, in A M Gibson (ed), Enclosing the Neolithic: recent studies in Britain and beyond, 2136, BAR Int Ser 2440, Archaeopress, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 2012b. ‘What’s in a name? A critical review of Welsh “henges”’, in W J Britnell and R J Silvester (eds), Reflections on the Past: essays in honour of Frances Lynch, 78121, Cambrian Archaeological Association, WelshpoolGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A M 2017. ‘Survey and excavation at the henges of the Wharfe Valley, North Yorkshire, 2013–15’, Archaeol J, 175, available online at <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00665983.2017.1312071> (accessed 20 Nov 2018)Google Scholar
Gibson, A M 2018. ‘Llandegai A: sanctuary or settlement?’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 167, 95108Google Scholar
Harding, A F with Lee, G 1987. Henge Monuments and related Sites of Britain, BAR Brit Ser 175, British Archaeological Reports, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Hill, M O, Mountford, J O, Roy, D B and Bunce, R G H 1999. Ellenberg’s Indicator Values for British Plants. ECOFACT Vol 2: technical annex, HMSO, LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hingley, R 1996. ‘Ancestors and identity in the later prehistory of Atlantic Scotland: the re-use and reinvention of Neolithic monuments and material culture’, World Archaeol, 28 (2), 231243Google Scholar
Hingley, R 1999. ‘The creation of later prehistoric landscapes and the context of re-use of Neolithic and earlier Bronze Age monuments in Britain and Ireland’, in B Bevan (ed), Northern Exposure: interpretative devolution and the Iron Ages in Britain, 233251, Leicester Archaeol Monogr No 4, School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Hingley, R 2009. ‘Esoteric knowledge? Ancient bronze artefacts from Iron Age contexts’, Proc Prehist Soc, 75, 143166Google Scholar
Hodgson, J M 1997. Soil Survey Field Handbook, Soil Survey and Land Research Centre, ReadingCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jessop, L 1986. Handbooks for the Identification of British insects. Vol 5, part 11: dung beetles and chafers, Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea, Royal Entomological Society, LondonGoogle Scholar
Jones, A M, 2014. ‘Hay Close, St Newlyn East: excavations by Cornwall Archaeological Society, 2007’, Cornish Archaeol, 53, 115156CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, T and Williams, G 2000. ‘Glandy Cross: a later prehistoric monumental complex in Carmarthenshire, Wales’, Proc Prehistoric Soc, 66, 257296Google Scholar
Lang, A T O 2016. ‘Defining Banjo enclosures: investigations, interpretations and understanding in the Iron Age of southern Britain’, Proc Prehistoric Soc, 82, 341361Google Scholar
Limbrey, S 1975. Soil Science and Archaeology, Academic Press, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lynch, F and Musson, C 2004. ‘A prehistoric and early medieval complex at Llandegai, near Bangor, North Wales’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 150, 17142CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manby, T G 2007. ‘Continuity of monumental traditions into the Late Bronze Age? Henges to ring-forts and shrines’, in C Burgess, P Topping and F Lynch (eds), Beyond Stonehenge: essays on the Bronze Age in honour of Colin Burgess, 403424, Oxbow Books, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, P D and Webb, J A 1978. An Illustrated Guide to Pollen Analysis, Hodder and Stoughton, LondonGoogle Scholar
Murphy, P 2002. ‘Macrofossils’, in C Evans and M Knight, ‘A great circle: investigations at Arbury Camp, Cambridge’, Proc Cambridge Antiq Soc, 91, 4041Google Scholar
Mytum, H and Webster, C 2003. Geophysical Surveys at Defended Enclosures in the Neighbourhood of Castell Henllys, Pembrokeshire, privately circulatedGoogle Scholar
Newman, C 1997. Tara: an archaeological survey, The Discovery Programme, DublinGoogle Scholar
O’Sullivan, M 2005. Duma na nGiall = the Mound of the Hostages, Tara. Wordwell, DublinGoogle Scholar
O’Sullivan, M, Davis, S and Stout, G 2012. ‘Henges in Ireland: new discoveries and emerging issues’, in A M Gibson (ed), Enclosing the Neolithic, 3753, BAR Int Ser 2440, Archaeopress, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Parker Pearson, M, Casswell, C and Welham, K, 2017. ‘Excavations at Castell Mawr Iron Age Hillfort, Pembrokeshire’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 166, 141173Google Scholar
Parker Pearson, M, Casswell, C and Welham, K 2018. ‘A Late Bronze Age ring-fort at Bayvil Farm, Pembrokeshire’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 167, 113141Google Scholar
Pelling, R 2008. ‘Charred plant remains’, in M Luke (ed), Life in the Loop: investigation of a prehistoric and Romano-British landscape at Biddenham Loop, Bedfordshire, 92, 119–20, 154–6, 192–3, 240–2, 285–7, E Anglian Archaeol Rep 125, Albion Archaeology, BedfordGoogle Scholar
Reimer, P J, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, J W, Blackwell, P G, Bronk Ramsey, C, et al 2013. ‘IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal bp, Radiocarbon, 55 (4), 18691887Google Scholar
Roberts, I 2005. Ferrybridge Henge: the ritual landscape, West Yorkshire Archaeological Services, LeedsGoogle Scholar
Sheridan, J A 2015. ‘Discussion of disc bead and spacer plate necklaces of jet and jet-like materials’, in Woodward and Hunter 2015, 341–62Google Scholar
Sheridan, J A, Woodward, A and Hunter, J 2015. ‘Disc bead necklaces’, in Woodward and Hunter 2015, 261–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, E 2008. ‘Environmental samples’, in C Evans and M Knight, ‘Further investigations at Arbury Camp, Cambridge. The eastern entrance: a monumental architecture’, Proc Cambridge Antiq Soc, 97, 2324Google Scholar
Smith, G, Davies, T and Crowther, J 2008. ‘Evaluation excavations at Tytandderwen Cropark enclosure, Meirionnydd: excavations by the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust and T Davies’, Sheffield University Rep 767, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, BangorGoogle Scholar
Smith, P L 2012. Indicator Plants: using plants to evaluate the environment, Wildtrack Publishing, SheffieldGoogle Scholar
Stace, C 2001. New Flora of the British Isles, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Stace, C 2010. New Flora of the British Isles, 3rd edn, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
St George Gray, H 1903. ‘On the excavations at Arbor Low, 1901–1902’, Archaeologia, 58, 461498Google Scholar
Thomas, J (ed) 2007. Place and Memory: excavations at the Pict’s Knowe, Holywood, and Holm Farm, Dumfriess and Galloway, 19941998, Oxbow Books, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Wainwright, G J 1962. ‘The excavation of an earthwork at Castell Bryn-Gwyn, Llanidan parish, Anglesey’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 111, 2558Google Scholar
Warner, R 2000. ‘Keeping out the Otherworld: the internal ditch at Navan and other Iron Age “hengiform” enclosures’, Emania, 18, 3944CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, R 2005. The Yorkshire Dales: a landscape through time, Great Northern Books, IlkleyGoogle Scholar
Williams, G 1984. ‘A henge monument at Ffynnon Newydd, Nantgaredig’, Bull Board Celtic Stud, 31, 177190Google Scholar
Williams, G and Mytum, H 1998. Llawhaden, Dyfed: excavations on a group of small defended enclosures 198084, BAR Brit Ser 275, British Archaeological Reports, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Woodward, A and Hunter, J (eds) 2015. Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods, Oxbow Books, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Gibson et al. supplementary material

Gibson et al. supplementary material
Download Gibson et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 447.4 KB