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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. Keywords: Britain, Neolithic, long mounds, causewayed enclosure, Bayesian modelling, social organisation, Introduction Recent years have seen lively discussions of the earliest centuries of the Neolithic period in Britain. The movement of new populations into these islands from the end of the [...]

In response to Timothy Darvill's article, 'Mythical rings?' (this issue), which argues for an alternative interpretation of Waun Mawn circle and its relationship with Stonehenge, Parker Pearson and colleagues report new evidence from the Welsh site and elaborate on aspects of their original argument. The discovery of a hearth at the centre of the circle, as well as further features around its circumference, reinforces the authors' original interpretation. The authors explore the evidence for the construction sequence, which was abandoned before the completion of the monument. Contesting Darvill's argument that the Aubrey Holes at Stonehenge originally held posts, the authors reassert their interpretation of this circle of cut features as Bluestone settings. Keywords: UK, Waun Mawn, Stonehenge, stone circles, Introduction In responding to our Antiquity article, The original Stonehenge?' (Parker Pearson et al. 2021b), Timothy Darvill (2022) questions both the interpretation of Waun Mawn as an unfinished stone circle [...]

The discovery of a dismantled stone circle--close to Stonehenge's bluestone quarries in west Wales-raises the possibility that a 900-year-old legend about Stonehenge being built from an earlier stone circle contains a grain of truth. Radiocarbon and OSL dating of Waun Mawn indicate construction c. 3000 BC, shortly before the initial construction of Stonehenge. The identical diameters of Waun Mawn and the enclosing ditch of Stonehenge, and their orientations on the midsummer solstice sunrise, suggest that at least part of the Waun Mawn circle was brought from west Wales to Salisbury Plain. This interpretation complements recent isotope work that supports a hypothesis of migration of both people and animals from Wales to Stonehenge. Keywords: Britain, Preseli, Stonehenge, Neolithic, megaliths, stone circle, Introduction In the oldest story of Stonehenge's origins, the History of the Kings of Britain (c. AD 1136), Geoffrey of Monmouth describes how the monument was built using stones from [...]

Geologists and archaeologists have long known that the bluestones of Stonehenge came from the Preseli Hills of west Wales, 230km away, but only recently have some of their exact geological [...]

The long-distance transport of the Stonehenge bluestones from the Mynydd Preseli area of north Pembrokeshire was first proposed by geologist H.H. Thomas in 1923. For over 80 years, his work on the provenancing of the Stonehenge bluestones from locations in Mynydd Preseli in south Wales has been accepted at face value. New analytical techniques, alongside transmitted and reflected light microscopy, have recently prompted renewed scrutiny of Thomas's work. While respectable for its time, the results of these new analyses, combined with a thorough checking of the archived samples consulted by Thomas, reveal that key locations long believed to be sources for the Stonehenge bluestones can be discounted in favour of newly identified locations at Craig-Rhos-yfelin and Carn Goedog. Keywords: Britain, Wales, Mynydd Preseli, Stonehenge, bluestones, H.H. Thomas, provenancing, Introduction Stonehenge is one of Europe's finest and most iconic prehistoric monuments. It stands on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, some 15km north of Salisbury, and forms part of a complex [...]

MARY F. OWNBY, ISABELLE C. DRUC & MARIA A. MASUCCI (ed.). Integrative approaches in ceramic petrography. 2017. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press; 978-1-60781-506-8 $70. ANN WOODWARD & J.D. [...]

The long-distance transport of the bluestones from south Wales to Stonehenge is one of the most remarkable achievements of Neolithic societies in north-west Europe. Where precisely these stones were quarried, when they were extracted and how they were transported has long been a subject of speculation, experiment and controversy. The discovery of a megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin in 2011 marked a turning point in this research. Subsequent excavations have provided details ofthe quarrying process along with direct dating evidence for the extraction of bluestone monoliths at this location, demonstrating both Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity. Keywords: Britain, Preseli, Stonehenge, Mesolithic, Neolithic, megalithic, bluestone, rhyolite, dolerite, prehistoric quarrying, Introduction Stonehenge is notable for the unusually distant origins of some of its stones. The larger stones are of sarsen, a silicified sandstone that is found in dense concentrations within [...]

The authors review the significance of bracers by undertaking a detailed examination of their morphology, fragmentation, manufacture and wear. The results have a number of implications regarding their use and value and this is supported by the use of petrographic and geochemical analyses which suggest discrete patterns of raw material acquisition. A description of the technical methodology and appropriate data tables are available at http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/woodward. Keywords: bracer, Beaker, Britain, use wear, petrography, geochemistry, Introduction Bracers are thin pieces of fine-grained stone, usually rectangular, and perforated at their narrow ends. The number of perforations present is usually two (one at each end) or four, [...]