Dorstone Hill: A Neolithic timescape

Ray, K, Thomas, J, Overton, N, Griffiths, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5168-9897, Hoverd, T, Allen, MJ, Barclay, A, Birchenall, J, Challinor, D, French, C, Healey, E, Ixer, R, Roseveare, A, Roseveare, M, Rovira, IG, Stanford, A and Wiltshire, I (2023) Dorstone Hill: A Neolithic timescape. Antiquity, 97 (394). pp. 869-886. ISSN 0003-598X

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Abstract

Studies of early fourth-millennium BC Britain have typically focused on the Early Neolithic sites of Wessex and Orkney; what can the investigation of sites located in areas beyond these core regions add? The authors report on excavations (2011-2019) at Dorstone Hill in Herefordshire, which have revealed a remarkable complex of Early Neolithic monuments: three long barrows constructed on the footprints of three timber buildings that had been deliberately burned, plus a nearby causewayed enclosure. A Bayesian chronological model demonstrates the precocious character of many of the site's elements and strengthens the evidence for the role of tombs and houses/halls in the creation and commemoration of foundational social groups in Neolithic Britain.