Archaeologists to explore feasting habits of ancient builders of Stonehenge

[Allikas]

Archaeologists to explore feasting habits of ancient builders of Stonehenge

By Culture24 Staff

| 21 December 2009



a photograph of a stone circle at dusk with red sky and snow

(Above) a new research project seeks to investigate how builders and worshippers would have feasted for the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge. © English Heritage

[Allikas]

The team who worked on the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2009 are to return to their findings to explain the eating habits of the people who built and worshipped at the stone circle over four thousand years ago.

Once again led by Professor Mike Parker Pearson from the University of Sheffield, and funded with an  £800,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the new ‘Feeding Stonehenge’ project will analyse a range of materials including cattle bones and plant residue.

At the time of the Winter Solstice experts believe people would have brought livestock with them to Stonehenge for a solstice feast. Initial research suggests the animals were brought considerable distances to the ceremonial site at this time of year.

 The original Stonehenge Riverside project, which strengthened the idea that nearby Durrington Walls was part of the Stonehenge complex, yielded a surprisingly wide range of material ranging from ancient tools to animal remains.

[Allikas]

Bluestone Henge excavation August 2009. Courtesy AHRC

[Allikas]

“One of the unforeseen outcomes (of the Stoneheng Riverside Project) is the vast quantity of new material - flint tools, animal bones, pottery, plant remains, survey data, and chemical samples - which now needs analysing,” explained Professor Parker Pearson.

“The new grant from the AHRC for the 'Feeding Stonehenge' project allows us to get the maximum information out of this unexpected wealth of remains. We are going to know so much about the lives of the people who built Stonehenge - how they lived, what they ate, where they came from.”

A large collection of cattle jaws collected during the last few years’ excavations will now undergo strontium and sulphur isotope analysis to establish where they originally came from and when they were culled. This will give experts a better idea of where people had travelled from to visit the site.

[Allikas]

Bluestone Henge excavation August 2009. Courtesy AHRC

[Allikas]

The research will also offer a better understanding of the dressing of the famous sarsen stones of Stonehenge and insights into how the public and private spaces at Durrington Walls and Stonehenge differ from each other.

Researchers will also try and ascertain whether Britain’s Copper Age started 50 years earlier than first thought. Circumstantial evidence points to copper tools being in use at Durrington Walls earlier than originally thought. Cut-marks on animal bones should reveal whether they were made by copper daggers as opposed to flint tools.

‘Feeding Stonehenge’, will take place over the next three years. Find out more about the Stonehenge Riverside Project at:  http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/Stonehenge

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/archaeology/megaliths+and+prehistoric+archaeology/art74382