<< Other Photo Pages >> Kingsmead Quarry - Ancient Village or Settlement in England in Berkshire

Submitted by Andy B on Thursday, 08 February 2018  Page Views: 9788

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Kingsmead Quarry
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.998 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Berkshire Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Windsor  Nearest Village: Horton
Map Ref: TQ01707520
Latitude: 51.466641N  Longitude: 0.537318W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 1 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 3

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Kingsmead Quarry
Kingsmead Quarry submitted by dodomad : An aerial view of the site of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Photo Credit: Wessex Archaeology (Vote or comment on this photo)
A neolithic monument has been discovered less than two miles from Windsor Castle. Dating from 5,500 years ago, it is one of the earliest known examples of monument-building in Britain. A ceremonial gathering place known as a causewayed enclosure has been revealed with the discovery of a series of encircling ditches, artificial boundaries with gap entrances, at a vast site in Berkshire.

Previous news from this site: October 2013: Four early Neolithic houses, dated to 3700 BC, have been unearthed by archaeologists at Kingsmead Quarry, Horton in Berkshire. The discovery is unprecedented on a single site in England and challenges current understanding of how people lived more than 5,700 years ago. This rare find gives a unique opportunity to learn more about the earliest permanent settlements in prehistoric Britain and how such sites developed. At this time new practices were being adopted with people switching lifestyle from hunter-gather to settled farmer.

Few houses of this date have been found in England and rarely has more than one been found on a single site. These discoveries by excavators from Wessex Archaeology are key to enhancing the knowledge and understanding of this period nationally, and at a local level tell us more about the history of the area around the Rivers Colne and Thames near Windsor.

“Unfortunately only the ground plans have survived as any timber would have rotted away long age”. “However, we have a good idea of what these structures may have looked like from the many house finds in Ireland, from experimental work reconstructing prehistoric buildings, and (for wood working techniques) from timber-built walkways of the same date, such as the Sweet Track, that were found preserved in the peat deposits of the Somerset Levels”.

All the houses were rectangular in shape with the largest being 15 x 7 metres. Two were constructed out of upright oak planks set into foundation trenches, whilst the others were built using wooden posts.

Investigations at Kingsmead Quarry, Horton, Berkshire, operated by CEMEX have revealed a complex archaeological landscape and that people had used the area since the end of the last Ice Age, a period of over 12,000 years.

An excavation team from Wessex Archaeology has been investigating the site since 2003, with further excavation planned for the next two years. To date, over 28 hectares of the quarry have been examined.

Read more at Wessex Archaeology and also this page.

Note: Causewayed enclosure found in quarry near Windsor. Not sure if it's exactly this quarry but one in the close vicinity of this location. See the most recent comment on our page for more.
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Kingsmead Quarry
Kingsmead Quarry submitted by Andy B : Three of the Early Neolithic houses discovered at Kingsmead Quarry, Horton Photo credit: Wessex Archeology (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
TQ0175 : St. Michael & All Angels, Horton by Geoff Pick
by Geoff Pick
©2006(licence)
TQ0275 : Coppermill Rd by N Chadwick
by N Chadwick
©2015(licence)
TQ0174 : Coppermill Road by Burgess Von Thunen
by Burgess Von Thunen
©2011(licence)
TQ0275 : Coppermill Rd by N Chadwick
by N Chadwick
©2015(licence)
TQ0274 : Coppermill Road by Alan Hunt
by Alan Hunt
©2013(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 788m NNW 331° Kingsmead Quarry Ancient Village or Settlement (TQ01307588)
 2.7km SSE 166° Staines Enclosure* Causewayed Enclosure (TQ024726)
 3.3km E 83° Heathrow* Cursus (TQ050757)
 3.6km E 101° Stanwell Cursus* Cursus (TQ053746)
 3.7km NE 48° Stanwell Cursus* Cursus (TQ044777)
 4.0km SSE 162° Negen Stones Standing Stones (TQ030714)
 4.0km ESE 106° St. Anne's Well (Stanwell)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TQ056742)
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"Kingsmead Quarry" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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A Causewayed Enclosure in Datchet by Andy B on Thursday, 21 May 2020
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Causewayed enclosures are idiosyncratic monuments that have been variously interpreted since they were first recognised as a monument type.

Archaeologists have had a rare opportunity to excavate an entire causewayed enclosure ahead of gravel extraction near Datchet, on the flood plain of the R Thames. The earliest activity on the site dates from the Mesolithic period (c8500-c4000 BCE); around 820 pieces of flint and a chunk of a beautifully worked flint axe have been found. Subsequently, farmers from the continent came in along the Thames, colonising the fertile land on either bank. The causewayed enclosure was seemingly built during the early Neolithic to satisfy the human need to get together.

The monument has some features unlike other such monuments. One is that a natural paleochannel was used along the N border. The rest of the enclosure consisted of 25 separate ditches, with causeways left for access. Between them, people and nature managed to form an enclosure 185m across, enclosing an area of about two football pitches. The trenches varied from between 5-25m long, and 0.5-1.1m deep. A wide gap along the S boundary suggests
the entrance.

It is generally assumed that causewayed enclosures were used for large commensal gatherings, because of the large quantities of cooked and gnawed bone found in the ditches. A number of
cultural items were also found here, which were probably of significance. In some cases, sections were used for a unique type of object – one had a nearly complete Neolithic pot, while another had fragments of polished stone and flint axes. Others were mixed. Human bones were found deposited in four ditches. In one case, an almost complete human skeleton was found at the bot-
tom – after the flesh had decayed, the body was disturbed and the skull and left femur removed; similar treatment has been noted at other sites, including Hambledon Hill in Dorset.

More in Northern Earth May 2020
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146414500
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Discovery of Windsor neolithic monument excites archaeologists (and the rest of us!) by Andy B on Thursday, 08 February 2018
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A neolithic monument has been discovered less than two miles from Windsor Castle. Dating from 5,500 years ago, it is one of the earliest known examples of monument-building in Britain.

A ceremonial gathering place known as a causewayed enclosure has been revealed with the discovery of a series of encircling ditches, artificial boundaries with gap entrances, at a vast site in Berkshire.

Archaeologists have found extensive quantities of animal bones as well as decorated pottery sherds, and evidence that pots were deliberately smashed, perhaps as festivities came to a boisterous close. Other finds include finely worked, leaf-shaped flint arrowheads, serrated blades, stone axes and grinding stones.

About 80 neolithic monuments have been identified in Britain, but archaeologists are particularly excited by this one as they expect to uncover the entire circuit of the enclosure. Specialists from Wessex Archaeology made the discovery at a sand and gravel quarry near Datchet, within sight of Windsor Castle.

More at
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/08/discovery-of-windsor-neolithic-monument-excites-archaeologists
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Discovery of Windsor neolithic monument excites archaeologists (and the rest of u by angieweekender on Saturday, 10 February 2018
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    I suppose the excitement is over being able to excavate a complete enclusre.
    [ Reply to This ]

When Prehistoric Farming Begins: New Insights From Kingsmead Quarry, Alistair Barclay by Andy B on Thursday, 09 October 2014
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Video of Talk given to the Society of Antiquaries London
When Prehistoric Farming Begins: New Insights From Kingsmead Quarry, Horton, Berkshire, by Alistair Barclay, FSA, and Gareth Chaffey.
20 March 2014. Ordinary Meeting of Fellows.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR3htVhSeMQ&list=UUdW1zR19oxD3JAPmkYWdU5g
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Re: 4,000 year old gold-adorned skeleton found near Windsor by ryszard on Monday, 04 November 2013
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Some photos would be appreciated.
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4,000 year old gold-adorned skeleton found near Windsor by bat400 on Sunday, 27 October 2013
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Archaeologists, excavating near the Royal Borough, have discovered the 4400 year old gold-adorned skeleton of an upper class woman who was almost certainly a member of the local ruling elite. She is the earliest known woman adorned with such treasures ever found in Britain.

The individual, aged around 40, was buried, wearing a necklace of folded sheet gold, amber and lignite beads, just a century or two after the construction of Stonehenge some 60 miles to the south-west. Even the buttons, thought to have been used to secure the upper part of her now long-vanished burial garment, were made of amber. She also appears to have worn a bracelet of lignite beads.

The archaeologist in charge of the excavation, Gareth Chaffey of Wessex Archaeology, believes that she may have been a person of power – perhaps even the prehistoric equivalent of a princess or queen.

It’s known that in southern Britain, some high status men of that era – the Copper Age – had gold possessions, but this is the first time archaeologists have found a woman of that period being accorded the same sort of material status.

It’s thought that the gold used to make the jewellery probably came originally from hundreds of miles to the west – and that the amber almost certainly came from Britain’s North Sea coast. The lignite (a form of coal) is also thought to have come from Britain.

The funeral rite for the potential prehistoric royal may have involved her family arranging her body so that, in death, she clasped a beautiful pottery drinking vessel in her hands. The 25 centimetre tall ceramic beaker was decorated with geometric patterns.

Of considerable significance was the fact that she was buried with her head pointing towards the south. Men and women from the Stonehenge era were often interred in opposing directions – men’s heads pointing north and women’s heads pointing south. Europe-wide archaeological and anthropological research over recent years suggests that women may have been associated with the warm and sunny south, while mere men may have seen themselves as embodying the qualities of the colder harder north!

The woman’s skeleton and jewellery were found 18 months ago – but were kept strictly under wraps until now, following the completion of initial analyses of the woman’s bones – and metallurgical analysis of the gold.
The discovery is part of a still ongoing excavation which started a decade ago. The elite gold-and-amber-adorned Copper Age woman is merely the most spectacular of dozens of discoveries made at the site – including four early Neolithic houses, 40 Bronze Age burials, three Bronze Age farm complexes and several Iron Age settlements.

The excavations are being funded by the international cement company CEMEX, whose gravel quarry near Windsor is the site of the discoveries.

Archaeologist Gareth Chaffey of Wessex Archaeology, who is directing the ongoing excavation, said that the woman unearthed at the site “was probably an important person in her society, perhaps holding some standing which gave her access to prestigious, rare and exotic items. She could have been a leader, a person with power and authority, or possibly part of an elite family - perhaps a princess or queen.”

For more, see archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk and http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects.
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