Sample: 4710, context 1552, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: shed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: `a large stag horn pick was found in the cast in chalk' (Hawley's Diary 7/10/1922). This is the deliberate backfill layer in the western terminal of the main entrance (C25). The object matches the description given in the Diary, including a description of the heat treatment used to remove the beam and tine in antiquity.
Objectives: to discover whether the deliberate backfilling of this part of the Ditch is distinguishable in date from its construction using radiocarbon analysis. Also to discover how much earlier this backfilling was in comparison with the secondary silting.
Calibrated date range: 3095-2920 cal BC (95% confidence)
Quality assurance measurements are available for this sample, along with details of the chemistry and measurement techniques.
OxA-4880 3875+/-55BP (-20.7 per mil)
Sample: S54.57, context 3893, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, large pig or boar radius and ulna (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the upper (secondary) fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C41).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 2560-2140 cal BC (95% confidence)
OxA-4881 4300+/-60BP (-21.6 per mil)
Sample: S54.818, context 3899, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, Cervus elaphus, metatarsal (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the upper (secondary) fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C42).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3080-2700 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): the extra archive of the 1954 excavations which became available after the submission shows that this piece came from the upper part of the secondary fill.
OxA-4882 4270+/-65BP (-23.2 per mil)
Sample: S54.79, context 3893, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, Bos, femur (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the secondary fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C41).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3040-2660 cal BC (95% confidence)
OxA-4883 4300+/-70BP (-21.4 per mil)
Sample: 1593A, context 2475, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, probably Bos longbone (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: found in the upper part of the eastern terminal of the Ditch at the southern causeway - almost certainly from a cut within the secondary fill (C26.5). This sample was from a chisel.
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3100-2700 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): chisels of this type are known in southern England and Scotland from the middle Neolithic through the Bronze Age. This result is consistent with this evidence.
Quality assurance measurements are available for the results from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit listed above.
OxA-4904 4365+/-55BP (-22.4 per mil)
Sample: S54.85, context 3893, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: antler, Cervus elaphus tine (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the upper (secondary) fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C41).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3300-2900 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): the extra archive of the 1954 excavations which became available after the submission shows that this piece came from the base of the secondary fill. It is possible that this sample is a broken tine from one of the antler tools which were used to dig the Ditch and are buried within the primary fill, and so is residual from phase 1 rather than providing an early date for phase 2.
Quality assurance measurements are available for this result.
OxA-4841 4295+/-60BP (-19.6 per mil)
Sample: S54.77, context 3893, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, Bos, right ulna (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the upper (secondary) fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C41).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3040-2700 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): the extra archive of the 1954 excavations which became available after the submission shows that this piece came from the upper part of the secondary fill.
OxA-4843 4315+/-60BP (-22.3 per mil)
Sample: S54.72, context 3893, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: animal bone, Bos, pelvis (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the upper (secondary) fill of the main Ditch, west of the main entrance (C41).
Objectives: to determine how long it took for the Ditch to silt up, and whether this phase of activity overlapped with the stone settings of phase 3.
Calibrated date range: 3100-2700 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): the extra archive of the 1954 excavations which became available after the submission shows that this piece came from a cut within the secondary fill.
Quality assurance measurements are available for OxA-4841 and OxA-4843, in addition to further details of the chemistry and measurement techniques used for all the results from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit.
Comment on series (M Allen): all these results fall comfortably between the digging of the Ditch (phase 1) and the insertion of the burial (phase 3). This provides a date range for phase 2 of the Monument from the silting of the Ditch. The timber structure of the Monument is contemporary with this process, but could not be dated because there is no datable material from the post settings.
Ditch SiltingSample: context 3931, submitted by R Atkinson in 1952
Material: charcoal
Initial comment: from secondary disturbance within Aubrey Hole 32.
Calibrated date range: 3020-1520 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen): this result is too imprecise to be very informative.
AML comment: this sample was measured by W F Libby at the University of Chicago in the screen wall counter c 1952. Methods of preparation and measurement, along with details of the large numbers of known-age samples which were measured at the laboratory at this time, are given in full in Libby (1955). Although the charcoal does not seem to have been identified prior to dating, the very large error term on this determination probably allows the unknown offset to be safely ignored.
References: Atkinson et al 1952; Libby 1955
Aubrey Holes