Pit alignments are a type of prehistoric monument found throughout the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, the function of which is at present poorly understood. They consist of a series of evenly spaced and often relatively shallow pits arranged in lines. These monuments are most frequently discovered through

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

, being morphologically well suited to identification by this method. Some alignments run for large distances, in straight or curving lines, and clearly represent massive undertakings by large numbers of people or by smaller numbers over long periods of time. Some examples appear to have been left open for some time rather than being immediately backfilled and do not appear to have held timber posts; they can sometimes be seen to interact with other pre-existing monuments. Such features would not have formed a significant impediment to travel even if the soil removed from them were used to create a bank running parallel and it seems likely that they would have been used more as markers. In some cases a bank has survived and these monuments are referred to as embanked pit alignments. They may also occur as a series of segments following the same line, and are then referred to as segmented pit alignments.

Possible uses

Pit alignments occur in two forms, single alignments and double alignments. It has been suggested that single pit alignments date principally from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and represent agricultural boundaries. They may represent a period of agricultural intensification and population growth in the later Iron Age. Dennis William Harding (2004) ''The Iron Age in Northern Britain'' p. 75 Double pit alignments are thought to date to the later

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and to be ritual in function, sometimes being found in relation to cursus monuments and

henges A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. 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 ditches ...

. At

Thornborough Henge The Thornborough Henges are an ancient monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. They are located on a raised plateau above the River Ure near the village of Thornborough, North Yorkshire, Thornborough ...

a double alignment of pits, possibly evidence of a timber processional avenue, extends from the southern henge. However, double and single alignments have been found together at a number of sites, some of which show alignments that switch between the two forms, so that the form cannot be taken as clear dating evidence.

Notes

{{reflist Stone Age sites in England Types of monuments and memorials Bronze Age Britain