Featured Title: The Prehistory of the Peak District
The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life, Whittle
Login
Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like your own Home Page, configurable settings and your contributions link to your page.
no data Internal Links: External Links: Knapp Hill submitted by bec-zog
Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure in Wiltshire
Situated in the vale of Pewsey this is a Neolithic causewayed camp ~1.6 hectare . On thenorth-west side seven ditch sections follow the 255m contour. The ditch dates to 3500BC. Windmill Hill & Beaker (date 2200BC) pottery has been found.
Knapp Hill submitted by twentytrees A close up of Knap Hill with the bank and ditch, with a number of 'causeways'. The two people in the middle right provide a scale!
Knapp Hill submitted by twentytrees Knap Hill seen from Adam's Grave lit by the setting summer sun.
Knapp Hill submitted by bec-zog Knapp Hill Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure
Knapp Hill submitted by Wolfie Knapp Hill.
Hill fort or settlement
Nearest Town: Marlborough (9km NE)
Ordnance Survey: SU121636
Landranger Sheet: 173
Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Knapp Hill (Score: 0) by Anonymous on Thursday, 19 June 2003
This site is not a hill fort. It is a neolithic causwayed enclosure (the same as windmill hill), probably from circa 3,500 BC, and no doubt related to Adams grave which is probably of a similar age and on the next peak along the ridge to the west. Both also no doubt related to the Wessex Ridgeway which runs between them.
Causwayed enclosures are probably early ritual centres and it is unlikely that they are related to residence, the evidence is for periodic feating at these sites, perhaps as part of a seasonal round. As an example of a causwayed enclosure this is quite well preserved, better in my opinion than the much better studied Windmill Hill. The banking is still quite evident round about 2/3 of the site, while there seems to be no ditch or bank, on the side adjacent to the steep drop off to the escarpment. This is quite typical of this class of site, not just in Britain but across Europe (they are as widely distributed as long barrows). They are often in dramatic physical locations like this one and often make use of the landscape to demarcate a sacred area. They are first monuments to enclose a space, perhaps making it sacred, and also through the causways delineating ways of accessing that sacred space. This is a practice which is taken up in the henge & stone circle tradition of the next millenia, and these monuments can perhaps be interpreted as precursors of henges. Certainly the best description for Stonehenge 1 (circa 3000 BC) is as a late causwayed enclosure.
Re: Knapp Hill (Score: 1) by bec-zog on Monday, 20 October 2003 (User Info | Send a Message)
It was described as .....Neolithic causewayed camp....
HILL FORT is a misnomer in most cases.
Initial ditch silting RC dated @3500BC
The scarce findings of Windmill Hill pottery indicate the site was abandoned after a relatively short period. When ditches were almost filled with silt the Beaker pottery 2200BC was deposited.
Later in the Bronze age 3 Barrows were positioned inside the enclosure. There is a 1st centuary AD Romano - British enclosure adjoining the site due N of the neolithic structure with a NE entrance.
Ref. Connah:W.A.M. 60(1965) 1
IMPORTANT NOTES: Please do not use this web site if you do not agree to our Terms and Conditions of use. If you plan to visit ancient sites in person, please make sure you follow our Charter.
RSS News Feeds: Main News
Forum Latest
New Images
What`s This?
Articles, photographs and comments are the property of their respective posters, all the rest 1997-2003 by Andy Burnham. You can syndicate our news using the file backend.php or ultramode.txt
Main News
