Recent Work at Duggleby Howe, East Yorkshire. A summary of the lecture given
to ERAS by Dr. Alex Gibson , in November 2010
From ERAS News issue 75 March 2011
Duggleby Howe, one of the most iconic of the Wolds barrows, is surrounded by what appears to be a causewayed ditch, with a further outer ditch in some places, the whole monument having no true parallel.
The many drawings which have been produced over the years, of the ring ditches surrounding the barrow are all very different. Some new work needs to be done on these versions, looking at the reasons for the differences and producing a definitive up
- to - date plot. New work carried out by Bradford [University] shows that the large ring ditch does survive topographically, whereas it was previously known only as a cropmark. No banks appear to remain upstanding. An intriguing question which arises is why the massive internal space between the barrow and the ring ditch has remained so clear and empty of any archaeological features. "
The causewayed ditch, on the inner side of the Roman ditch, proved to be two metres deep and showed evidence of a very gradual, natural fill.
In the bottom of this ditch, just on top of the primary silts, an area of in-situ burning was found, with several hazelnut shells, which (at the time of writing) are awaiting radio-carbon dating. Also found in the lower levels of the ditch were antler picks, in very poor condition, which have are being radiocarbon dated . Very little in the way of environmental evidence, such as snail shells etc , was found in the ditch fills at the lowest levels and Dr. Gibson suggested that the idea that the area was heavily forested in Neolithic times would appear not to be valid.
Full article http://www.eras.org.uk/ERASnews75.pdf
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