Sample: 1808A, context 2804, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: unshed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the bottom of the Ditch in C28. The sample is an antler pick with the pedicule burnt and chopped in antiquity.
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3095-2920 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3787 4375+/-19BP (-23.1+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 1556c, context 2801, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: unshed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the bottom of the Ditch in C20 (label dated 5/5/1921). The sample is an antler pick or rake (photo) with no evidence of heat treatment.
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3085-2920 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3789 4430+/-18BP (-23.1+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 4606, context 2800, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: unshed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the bottom of the Ditch segment to the west of the western terminal at the main entrance (C25). The sample is an antler pick with heat treatment on the tine and sooting on the main branch (photo).
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3020-2910 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3790 4367+/-18BP (-23.0+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 4608, context 2799, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: shed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the bottom of the Ditch in C22 (Hawley's Diary 29/3/1922). The sample is an antler pick which may have been heat treated by the tines (photo).
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3040-2915 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3792 4365+/-18BP (-22.9+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 4727, context 2935, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: unshed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: from the Ditch north of the main causeway (C25), described on the label as `on the bottom'. The sample may be an antler pick (photo).
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3040-2915 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3793 4393+/-18BP (-23.4+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 4735, context 2934, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: shed antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: found `below ground level 64" on floor of ditch at foot of counterscarp' (Hawley's Diary 25/3/1922) (C22). The description given of the pick having a broken tine, matches the sample, in addition to matching numbering on the label. The pedicule and tines seem to have been heat treated in antiquity (photo).
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3095-2920 cal BC (95% confidence)
UB-3794 4432+/-22BP (-23.7+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: 4736, context 2934, submitted by M Allen on 11 March 1994
Material: antler, Cervus elaphus (D Serjeantson)
Initial comment: found on the bottom of the Ditch (C25.4) in the segment west of the western terminal of the main entrance (Hawley's Diary 9/11/1922). The antler crown may be formed into a rake.
Objectives: to determine the date of the initial construction of the Monument, and so to determine whether this is contemporary with the material deliberately deposited in the terminals of the Ditch.
Calibrated date range: 3305-2925 cal BC (95% confidence)
Quality assurance measurements are available for these results from the Queen's University of Belfast Radiocarbon Laboratory, in addition to further details of the chemistry and measurement techniques.
Comment on series (M Allen): the results from the seven antlers on the floor of the Ditch beneath the primary fill form a consistent group of unparalelled precision. Each of the antlers was securely located from archive records and is thought to have been used in the digging of the Ditch and placed on the bottom soon afterwards, before the accumulation of any primary fill. The dates also fall within the range of the two previous results (see below) from the same stratigraphic location. The Ditch can be considered to have been dug in c 2950 cal BC. This date is late within the British middle Neolithic rather than falling into the late Neolithic. Chronologically this falls between dates for causewayed enclosures and henges. The segmented nature of the Ditch and the characteristics of the phase 1 Monument also fall between these two traditions. BM-1583 4410+/-60BP (-22.7+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: context 3895/3900, submitted by R Atkinson in 1979
Material: antler
Initial comment: from the primary silt of the Ditch near the western terminal (C41/2).
Calibrated date range: 3340-2910 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen):
Laboratory comment (J Ambers: this sample was measured six months to a year before the period in which we recognise an error in our measurements (Bowman et al 1990), during the time when the samples for the Harwell intercomparison (Otlet et al 1980) were measured. In this intercomparison the laboratory produced results in agreement with the other British laboratories. The error term of the result was calculated on the basis of the (two) modern standards and the (two) background standards used, combined with the counting statistics of the samples themselves.
References: Burleigh et al 1982 BM-1617 4390+/-60BP (-22.7+/-0.2 per mil)
Sample: context 3895/3900, submitted by R Atkinson in 1979
Material: antler
Initial comment: from the primary silt of the Ditch near the western terminal (C41/2).
Calibrated date range: 3330-2910 cal BC (95% confidence)
Archaeological comment (M Allen):
Laboratory comment (J Ambers: this sample was measured six months to a year before the period in which we recognise an error in our measurements (Bowman et al 1990), during the time when the samples for the Harwell intercomparison (Otlet et al 1980) were measured. In this intercomparison the laboratory produced results in agreement with the other British laboratories. The error term of the result was calculated on the basis of the (two) modern standards and the (two) background standards used, combined with the counting statistics of the samples themselves.
References: Burleigh et al 1982
Ditch
