Robin Hood’s Ball is a

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 ...

causewayed enclosure on Salisbury Plain in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England, approximately northwest of the town of Amesbury, and northwest of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

. The site was designated as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

in 1965.

Etymology

Robin Hood's Ball is unrelated to the

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

hero

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

. 19th-century maps indicate that Robin Hood's Ball was the name given to a small circular

copse Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

of trees just to the northwest of the earthworks; it is probable that over time the name came to be associated with the enclosure instead. Greenwood's map of 1820 shows the copse named as Robin Hood's Ball and the enclosure as Neath Barrow.

Context

A causewayed enclosure consists of a circuit of ditches dug in short segments, leaving 'causeways' passing between them to the centre. Whilst some have three or four causeways, Robin Hood’s Ball has only one, cutting through two circuits of ditches with low banks behind them. If it is assumed that the area was free of woodland in the

period, then its position on a low hill would have afforded clear views of the plain in all directions, and the site of Stonehenge would have been visible, although it is likely that the enclosure predates it by some time. Robin Hood's Ball is outside the northern boundary of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

History

Robin Hood’s Ball is a Neolithic feature that dates from the earliest developments around the plain. It was probably constructed at around 4000 BC and in use possibly up to 3000 BC. When first constructed, none of the monuments to the south such as the Stonehenge Cursus, Durrington Walls, or Stonehenge itself had yet been constructed. However, there may have been a henge at Coneybury, one mile east of Stonehenge, and it is possible that there were earlier features at Stonehenge before the bank and ditch were dug, as indicated by the Mesolithic postholes found beneath the former visitors' car park (in use until 2013) and now marked in grassland, adjacent to the access track to the main site. Several long barrows were constructed on the plain around the same time, including one close to the Ball and several more within short distances such as White Barrow and Winterbourne Stoke Long Barrow. It is estimated that the site began to fall out of use around 3000 BC, about the same time as the earliest earthworks at Stonehenge (itself originally a causewayed enclosure) began.

Use

Though Robin Hood's Ball has never been comprehensively excavated and its use is unclear, it has been suggested that these camps may have served as centres or rally points for a fairly wide area, where tribal ceremonies could be performed. The exact functions of causewayed enclosures are unknown. Suggestions include use as trade centres, for defence, ritual, and celebration, with multiple uses possible. The site was constructed at a time of transition from

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

to permanent settlement during the

Neolithic Revolution The Neolithic Revolution, also known as the First Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period in Afro-Eurasia from a lifestyle of hunter-gatherer, hunting and gathering to one of a ...

, and the relatively even spacing of causewayed enclosures across the south indicates that they may have been the central points of tribes or communities.

Location

The site is within the Salisbury Plain Training Area, inside the boundaries of the Larkhill live firing area. It is next to a public right of way, but this can only be used when danger flags are not flying, and it is not permissible to leave the track.

Bibliography

* Chippendale, C, ''Stonehenge Complete.'' (Thames and Hudson, London, 2004) * Richards, J, ''The Stonehenge Environs Project.'' (English Heritage, 1990) * English Heritage Guidebooks: ''Stonehenge'' (English Heritage, 2005)

Etymology

Context

History

Use

Location

Bibliography

References

Further reading