Avebury project diary 2003 - Day 17

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Date: Thursday, 18th September

Day 17

AVEBURY DIARY

A group of some 15 people had joined the tour of the site organised by the Site Directors. Josh Pollard explained the work being undertaken around the Long Stones. He described how a series of short causewayed ditches had been knocked through in prehistory to create a longer single ditch. Josh also explained how the ditch had been dug out and back filled several times, probably in the period before the stones were erected. This was shown by the shallow layer of natural infill at the base level which was covered by a clearly visible layer of placed chalk. As yet this is unexplained. Bones indicating feasting have also been found here which may point to some sort of celebration taking place.

In the same trench the shattered remains of a sarsen broken up by burning have been excavated. The position of this stone shows that it is the true pair for the standing stone known as 'Eve' while 'Adam' is part of the Cove. In addition a gully pre-dating medieval cultivation is being sectioned. This may be a prehistoric enclosure around Eve.

At the Avebury Trusloe end of the field, the other major trench had looked to be full of potential features. Mark Gillings showed the tour what had been discovered. The sarsen that the team began to excavate in the previous week is now much more visible with a void beneath it containing a knife tip and pottery showing it to be a medieval burial. A more precise date for the burial will be possible when the pottery has been studied. The back of the original stone socket has also been found; the front of this was destroyed during the medieval burial.

Not far from the buried sarsen, a smaller pit has been excavated and found to contain several worked flint blades of Neolithic date. Although nothing like this has been found during the current project, Alexander Keiller describes similar pits. The other features in this trench has transpired to be the work of burrowing animals and fallen trees. However, locating one stone has allowed Mark and Josh to speculate where its partner would have stood. The missing stone has no trace in the current trench and speculation is that it might lie just outside, under the spoil heap.

Last updated: 23 February 2011