Maiden Castle
The causewayed enclosure at Maiden Castle (AMIE uid 451864), circa 3.7 km southwest of Mount Pleasant, lies beneath the defences of the Early Iron Age hillfort. A Neolithic presence on the hill was long suspected (Oswald et al 2001, 11) but not confirmed until Mortimer Wheeler’s excavation campaign in the 1930s, and it was examined again during the 1985-6 excavations undertaken by Niall Sharples. Only a few ditch segments have been uncovered, so it is by no means definite that the causewayed enclosure matches the extent and shape of the first phase hillfort, but this seems a plausible assumption.
The causewayed enclosure featured two concentric circuits of interrupted ditch spaced up to 15 metres apart. The inner ditch enclosed an area of some 8 hectares. A bank barrow, built in a more or less east-west alignment, crossing the enclosure earthworks on their western side, measures some 546 metres in length and up to 17.5 metres in width, the long linear mound being flanked by a ditch on either side, each circa 5.5 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep. The barrow mound actually comprises 3 distinct segments, each on a slightly different alignment. It has been suggested that it may have started life as a long barrow located just outside the causewayed enclosure, though this remains conjecture at present. Recent re-evaluation of available radiocarbon dates using Bayesian analysis (Whittle et al 2011, 164-193) suggests that for the enclosure, construction began in the 36th century Cal BC and that the site may have been in use for no more than one or two generations. Dates from the eastern and central section of the long mound suggest it belongs to the 35th century Cal BC, and that the outer ditch at least of the causewayed enclosure had become filled up before the mound was constructed.
Ref: Sharples 1991 - not expanded on - oops!
Source:
http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=6297|%20Mount%20Pleasant,%20Dorset:%20A%20Survey%20of%20the%20Neolithic%20%E2%80%98Henge%20Enclosure%E2%80%99%20and%20Associated%20Features
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road