Coneybury Henge is a

henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

which is part of the Stonehenge Landscape in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. The henge, which has been almost completely flattened, was only discovered in the 20th century. Geophysical surveys and excavation have uncovered many of its features, which include a northeast entrance, an internal circle of

posthole In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide; however, truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive, most ...

s, and fragments of bone and pottery.

Location

Coneybury Henge is around 1.4 kilometres east-by-southeast of Stonehenge, which can be seen from the site. The location has extensive views southeast across the Avon valley, and west towards Normanton Down. The henge is difficult to identify on the ground, having been levelled by ploughing, but has been identified on

aerial photographs Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the E ...

, and by excavation. The absence of any mention of the henge in historical records suggests that it may have been levelled in medieval times or soon after, and this theory is supported by

ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open-field system. It is also known as rig (or rigg) and f ...

marks visible on some aerial photographs.

Discovery and excavation

The site was first noted from the air in the 1920s and thought to be a

disc barrow A disc barrow is a type of tumulus or round barrow, a variety of fancy barrow identified in English Heritage's Monument Class Descriptions. A disc barrow comprises a circular or oval-shaped flat platform, defined by a continuous earthen bank and ...

. Later aerial photographs gave strong indications it was a Class I henge. The photographs show an oval ditch, around 45 metres by 55 metres in diameter. The entrance is on the longer axis on the northeast side. Traces of an external bank are said to be visible. The henge was excavated in 1980 as part of the Stonehenge Environs Project. The excavations revealed a broad oval ditch around 4 metres wide by 3 metres deep defining the henge. Excavation of internal features included a few pits and

s, numerous stakeholes, and an arc of postholes inside the inner edge of the enclosure ditch which may have represented a post circle. Some of the internal features may pre-date the henge. Finds included pottery ranging from the early

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

to middle

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, as well as animal bone and a human cremation.

Coneybury Anomaly

Around 12 metres northwest of Coneybury Henge, evidence suggests a unique cross-cultural feast held long before the Henge was built. The Anomaly is a pit containing a large amount of early Neolithic pottery together with a large quantity of animal bone, and flint tools of both Mesolithic and Neolithic types. The excavators suggest that the Coneybury Anomaly represents the material remains of a gathering organized by a regional community, with participants coming from different cultures and locations. CC-BY icon

Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Wiltshire Henges Sites associated with Stonehenge