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43-570: Priddy Circles are a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures near the village of Priddy on the Mendip Hills in Somerset , England. The circles have been listed as Scheduled Ancient Monuments , and described as 'probable Neolithic ritual or ceremonial monuments similar to a henge'. The southernmost Priddy Circle falls on adjoining land to a house and stables that are owned by retired businessman Roger Penny. In 2012 Penny

86-576: A ritual landscape or complex, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments inside and outside the henge. Earlier monuments associated with a later henge might include Neolithic monuments such as a cursus (e.g., at Thornborough Henges the central henge overlies the cursus), or a long barrow, such as the West Kennet Long Barrow at Avebury, Wiltshire , or, as in the case of Stonehenge, Mesolithic post holes. A circle of large pits c. 2 km ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4  mi) across

129-593: A European tradition that included a variety of ditched enclosures. He notes that henges and the grooved ware pottery often found at them are two examples of the British Neolithic not found on the Continent. Caroline Malone (2001) also says that henges were not built in the rest of Western Europe, but they developed from a broader tradition of enclosure to become "a phenomenon of the British Isles,

172-433: A coherent tradition. They seem to take the concept of creating a space separate from the outside world one step further than the causewayed enclosure , and they focus attention on an internal point. In some cases, the construction of the bank and ditch was a stage that followed other activity on the site. At Balfarg , North Mains , and Cairnpapple , for example, earlier cremations and deliberate smashing of pottery predate

215-631: A community matriarch. It is the largest such structure in the wider Horn region. Bigo bya Mugenyi is an extensive earthworks site in the interlacustrine region of southwestern Uganda . On the south shore of the Katonga river, the Bigo earthworks consist of a series of ditches and berms comprising an outer arch that encompasses four interconnected enclosures. When combined, the Bigo earthworks measure more than 10 km (6 mi) long. Radiometric dates from archaeological investigations at Bigo date

258-685: A conical mound is the Miamisburg Mound in central Ohio, which has been estimated to have been built by people of the Adena culture in the time range of 800 BC to 100 AD. The American Plains also hold temple mounds, or platform mounds , which are giant pyramid-shaped mounds with flat tops that once held temples made of wood. Examples of temple mounds include Monks Mound located at the Cahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois, and Mound H at

301-517: A feature which makes them unique in Britain. Although no dating evidence has been found, they appear to be contemporary with Stonehenge , i.e. Neolithic circa 2500 BC - 2180 BC. Two round barrow cemeteries, Ashen Hill and Priddy Nine-Barrows , located less than 1 km (0.62 miles) south of the Circles, would seem to imply that the area to the northeast of Priddy held ritual significance into

344-481: A few centimetres to the size of Silbury Hill at 40 metres (130 ft). They can date from the Neolithic to the present. The structures can also stretch for many tens of miles (e.g. Offa's Dyke and Antonine Wall ). In area, they can cover many hectares; for example, Maiden Castle , which is 19 hectares (47 acres). Shallow earthworks are often more visible as cropmarks or in aerial photographs if taken when

387-405: A geographic information system ( GIS ) to produce three-dimensional representations of the earthworks. An accurate survey of the earthworks can enable them to be interpreted without the need for excavation . For example, earthworks from deserted medieval villages can be used to determine the location, size, and layout of lost settlements. Often these earthworks can point to the purpose of such

430-476: A native tradition with sophisticated architecture and calendrical functions." Henges may have been used for rituals or astronomical observation rather than day-to-day activity. That their ditches are located inside their banks indicates that they were not used for defence, and that the barrier of the earthworks was more likely symbolic than functional. Following arguments presented for Irish Iron Age enclosures, Barclay suggested that they are 'defensive': that

473-402: A number are placed at a latitude of 55 degrees north, where the same two markers can indicate the rising and setting sun for both the spring and autumn equinoxes. But as henges are present from the extreme north to the extreme south of Britain, their latitude could not have been of great importance. Formalisation is commonly attributed to henges: indications of the builders' concerns to control

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516-688: A settlement, as well the context in which it existed. Earthworks in North America include mounds built by Native Americans known as the Mound Builders . Ancient people who lived in the American Midwest commonly built effigy mounds , which are mounds shaped like animals (real or imaginary) or people. Possibly the most famous of these effigy mounds is Serpent Mound . Located in Ohio , this 411-metre-long (1,348 ft) earthen work

559-483: A slight tendency to have an entrance set in the north or north-east quarter. Class II henges generally have their axes aligned approximately south-east to north-west or north-east to south-west. It has been suggested that the stone and timber structures sometimes built inside henges were used as solar declinometers to measure the position of the rising or setting sun. These structures do not appear in all henges; and when they do, often they are considerably more recent than

602-423: A surviving ditch up to 6 m (20 ft) wide and 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) deep. It has several gaps, but the one to the north-north-east was a causewayed entrance feature. Circle 2 is 185 m (607 ft) in diameter, with a bank up to 6 m wide and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high, and the ditch is up to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) deep. There are three gaps present in this earthwork, and

645-777: Is a small extant external bank as well. The term was first coined in 1932 by Thomas Kendrick , who later became the Keeper of British Antiquities at the British Museum . A broader usage of henge to refer to standing-stone monuments was recorded in Yorkshire in 1740, from Old English usage dating to at least the 10th century, with a root of either hencg ' hinge ' , or hen(c)en ' to hang , to suspend ' . Henges may be classified as follows: Sub groups exist for these when two or three internal ditches are present rather than one. Henges are usually associated with

688-515: Is centered on Durrington Walls henge. Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age cairns as at Arbor Low . Examples of such ritual landscapes are: Burials have been recorded at a number of excavated henges, both pre-dating the henge and as a result of secondary reuse. For example: Efforts to delineate a direct lineage for the henge from earlier enclosures have not been conclusive. Their chronological overlap with older structures makes it difficult to classify them as

731-508: Is no missing enclosure in the gap between the northernmost enclosure and the others. This gap is bisected by the B3135 road and the course of the Roman road which runs between Charterhouse and Old Sarum . The four circles each consist of a flat circular area surrounded by a bank and external ditch enclosure with more than one entrance. Excavations carried out between 1956 and 1959 by members of

774-536: Is thought to memorialize alignments of the planets and stars that were of special significance to the Native Americans that constructed it. Cone-shaped or conical mounds are also numerous, with thousands of them scattered across the American Midwest, some over 24 m (80 ft) tall. These conical mounds appear to be marking the graves of one person or even dozens of people. An example of

817-624: The Bronze Age . Earthwork (archaeology) In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface. Earthworks of interest to archaeologists include hill forts , henges , mounds , platform mounds , effigy mounds , enclosures , long barrows , tumuli , ridge and furrow , mottes , round barrows , and other tombs . Earthworks can vary in height from

860-685: The Crystal River site in Citrus County , Florida . The earthworks at Poverty Point occupy one of the largest-area sites in North America, as they cover some 920 acres (320 ha) of land in Louisiana. Military earthworks can result in subsequent archaeological earthworks. Examples include Roman marching forts which can leave small earthworks. During the American Civil War , earthwork fortifications were built throughout

903-458: The University of Bristol Spelæological Society showed that the banks had stone cores with post and stake holes on either side. Geophysical surveys in 1995 and a magnetometer survey in 2006 are exploring further the make up of the circles. The circles are numbered in sequence 1 to 4, with number 1 being the most southerly of the group. Circle 1 is 194 m (636 ft) in diameter, with

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946-407: The British Isles." Although still with a multiple-causewayed ditch and entrances at cardinal points, the roundels are described by John Hodgson (2003) as not being positioned with defensive aims in mind. The largest, at Kothingeichendorf, appeared to be "midway between a henge and a causewayed enclosure". Alasdair Whittle (2005) also views the development of the henge as a regional variation within

989-490: The Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and especially with the pottery of this period: Grooved Ware, Impressed Wares (formerly known as Peterborough Ware), and Beakers. Sites such as Stonehenge also provide evidence of activity from the later Bronze Age Wessex culture . Henges often contain evidence of a variety of internal features, including timber or stone circles, pits, or burials , which may pre- or post-date

1032-403: The arrival at, entrance into, and movement within the enclosures. This was achieved by placing flanking stones or avenues at the entrances of some henges, or by dividing the internal space with timber circles . While some henges were the first monuments to be built in their areas, others were added to already important landscapes, especially the larger examples. The concentric nature of many of

1075-408: The circle to the west, and possibly four inside. In June 2011, it was reported that English Heritage was investigating damage to the site, and during July 2011 photographs were published that appear to show significant damage to a section of the southernmost circle. The owner of the southernmost ring, Roger Penny, was fined £10,000 and ordered to restore the earthwork at a cost of £38,000 following

1118-463: The country, by both Confederate and Union sides. The largest earthwork fort built during the war was Fortress Rosecrans , which originally encompassed 255 acres (103  ha ). In northeastern Somalia , near the city of Bosaso at the end of the Baladi valley, lies an earthwork 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 mi) long. Local tradition recounts that the massive embankment marks the grave of

1161-474: The damage as a "major incident", adding the structure was one of only about 80 henges in England. She said the loss of the fabric to the henge meant a "really, really rare piece of Neolithic engineering had been lost forever". They are probably Neolithic ritual or ceremonial monuments similar to a henge but this interpretation is somewhat speculative due to the presence of external rather than internal ditches,

1204-407: The damage caused by contractors he had hired. Rubble had been used to fill important “swallet” holes in the ring, these have been described as natural cavities which may have been key to the monument’s creation. The workers also cleared gorse and bracken between April and October 2011, bringing rubble into the field to help rebuild a wall and moving a gate. In bringing in the rubble, ruts were made in

1247-413: The ditch and bank face something 'dangerous' inside the enclosure. He has also suggested that the considerable range of elements surrounded by the earthworks, and the very long date range, are because henges were designed mainly to enclose pre-existing ceremonial sites that were seen as 'ritually charged' and therefore dangerous to people. It has been conjectured that whatever took place inside the enclosures

1290-546: The earthworks to roughly AD 1300–1500, and they have been called Uganda's "largest and most important ancient monument". The Steppe Geoglyphs , discovered in 2007 using Google Earth, are an example of earthworks in Central Asia. Henge The word henge is a backformation from Stonehenge , the famous monument in Wiltshire . Stonehenge is not a true henge, as its ditch runs outside its bank, although there

1333-840: The editors of the 1982 edition of the Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology (Bray and Trump, 1982), have claimed that henges are unique to the British Isles . They state that similar, much earlier, circles on the European continent, such as Goseck circle (which has no bank), and later ones such as Goloring are not proper "henges". But The Penguin Archaeological Guide (Bahn, 2001) does not comment on geographical locations for henges. Julian Cope , in The Megalithic European , proposes that

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1376-430: The enclosure. Concentrations of henges occur over much of Britain. Orkney (Cunliffe 2001) and Wessex (Burl 1969) have both been suggested as the original provenance of the monument type; however, others remain unconvinced (Barclay 2005). Unlike earlier enclosure monuments, henges were not usually built on hilltops but on low-lying ground, often close to watercourses and good agricultural land. Some scholars, such as

1419-430: The ground inside the circle by agricultural machinery. The damage included the destruction of a circular ditch said to be completely bulldozed. Penny was aware the ring was a scheduled monument and told the contractors not to touch it, but because part of the site is not visible to the naked eye "serious damage" was caused. English Heritage had not been consulted about the works. A spokeswoman for English Heritage described

1462-497: The henge enclosure. A henge should not be confused with a stone circle within it, as henges and stone circles can exist together or separately. At Arbor Low in Derbyshire , all the stones except one are laid flat and do not seem to have been erected, as no stone holes have been found. Elsewhere, often only the stone holes remain to indicate a former circle. Some of the best-known henges are at: Henges sometimes formed part of

1505-552: The henge was a regional development from the Europe-wide causewayed enclosure . He notes it appeared following a cultural upheaval in around 3000 BC, which inspired the peoples of Neolithic Europe to develop more independently. He notes the rondel enclosures of Bavaria 's Isar Valley , which according to investigations by the German archaeologist R. A. Maier, "drew comparisons with the henge monuments and causewayed enclosures of

1548-639: The henges. Thus, they are not necessarily connected with the henge's original function. It has been conjectured that the henges would have been used to synchronize a calendar to the solar cycle for purposes of planting crops or timing religious rituals. Some henges have poles, stones or entrances that indicate the position of the rising or setting sun during the equinoxes and solstices , while others appear to frame certain constellations. Additionally, many are placed so that nearby hills either mark or do not interfere with such observations. Finally, some henges appear to be placed at particular latitudes. For example,

1591-759: The internal features, such as the five rings of postholes at Balfarg or the six at Woodhenge, may represent a finer distinction than the inside-out differences suggested by henge earthworks. The ordering of space and the circular movement suggested by the sometimes densely packed internal features indicates a sophisticated degree of spatial understanding. Hengiform monuments, or mini henges, are distributed throughout England and mainland Scotland (with examples as far north as Caithness), though no examples have been found in Wales. Pits, cremations , postholes , stone-sockets, and graves have been found within them, and postholes and cremation pits have also been found to be present close to

1634-414: The one to the north-north-east is possibly an original feature. Within circle 2 is a possible ovoid barrow mound measuring 14 by 9 m (46 by 30 ft), and 0.4 m (1 ft 4 in) high. Circle 3 is up to 190 m (620 ft) across, with a bank up to 1 m high and 7 m (23 ft) wide, and ditch up to 1 m deep and 5 m (16 ft) wide. There are four gaps in this circle,

1677-449: The one to the south-south-west is considered an original entrance feature because it directly faces the north-north-west entrance of circle 2. Circle 4 has a diameter of up to 190 m but only two-thirds of the earthwork is present. Boreholes made in the 1950s suggested that the missing western section was never finished, possibly due to subsidence in the area. Associated with circle 4 is a group of mounds interpreted as barrows, one outside

1720-551: The site in some cases. They typically have either one entrance or two opposing entrances. In plan, a mini henge can be mistaken for a ploughed-out round barrow , although the former tend to be slightly larger and their earthworks more substantial. As with ordinary henges, they are thought to have served ritual purposes and are thought to be of late Neolithic date. Henge enclosures often contain or lie close to one or more ordinary henges. Finds of animal bone, grooved ware pottery, and evidence of dwellings have been found and coupled with

1763-485: The sun is low in the sky and shadows are more pronounced. Similarly, earthworks may be more visible after a frost or a light dusting of snow. Earthworks can be detected and plotted using Light Detection and Ranging ( LIDAR ). This technique is particularly useful for mapping small variations in land height that would be difficult to detect by eye. It can be used to map features beneath forest canopy and for features hidden by other vegetation. LIDAR results can be input into

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1806-406: Was fined £10,000 after the earthwork was damaged by work he had permitted. The enclosures range in diameter from 185 to 194 m (607 to 636 ft). Three of the circles are closely spaced in a nearly straight line, while the fourth is 350 m (1,150 ft) to the north and somewhat out of line with the other three. The total arrangement is spread over roughly 1.2 km (0.75 miles). There

1849-423: Was intended to be separate from the outside world and perhaps known only to select individuals or groups. The alignment of henges is a contentious issue. Popular belief is that their entrances point towards certain heavenly bodies. But henge orientation is highly variable and may have been determined more by local topography than by desire for symbolic orientation. Statistical analysis showed that Class I henges have

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