Dorset ‘mega henge’ Mount Pleasant was built in a hurry by stone age builders who ‘sensed end of an era’, study suggest
STONE age builders created a “mega henge” in a hurry because they sensed the end of an era, according to new research. The sprawling Mount Pleasant site in Dorset was built at the end of the neolithic period around 2,500 years ago – shortly before incomers from Europe changed life in Britain for ever. And […]
STONE age builders created a “mega henge” in a hurry because they sensed the end of an era, according to new research.
The sprawling Mount Pleasant site in Dorset was built at the end of the neolithic period around 2,500 years ago – shortly before incomers from Europe changed life in Britain for ever.
And researchers now believed it was built at a frantic pace in a matter of decades rather than centuries as previously thought.
Cardiff University archaeologists said it appeared hurried work was launched in the south of England shortly before new arrivals from the Continent brought new technology, culture and beliefs.
Lead researcher Susan Greaney said: “The picture emerging is an explosion in building activity with large and labour-intensive monuments being constructed across southern England, and perhaps further afield.
“The building of Mount Pleasant would have involved a huge number of people – digging out the enormous ditches with simple tools like antler picks.
“This was right at the end of the stone age, just before people came from the continent with metal goods, new types of pottery, new styles of burial and so on.”
She said this can be considered as the “last hurrah of the stone age”.
She added: “They could see the changes coming and decide to resist them.
“They may have been thinking, we don’t need these changes. We’ll build bigger and better monuments to our gods. We’ll knuckle down and stick with what we know.”
Mount Pleasant, which is now ploughed fields, was constructed with a henge, which is a circular enclosure encircled by bank and ditch.
It also had a palisade, a fence which is made out of massive tree trunks.
Mount Pleasant’s size is equivalent to nine football pitches and is among five mega henges, including Durrington Walls and Avebury in Wiltshire.
They were all built around the same time period.
Stonehenge is the most famous satone circle from the period.
It is believed to have been an important spot where ceremonies and rituals were held.
In the early 1970s, archeologists discovered objects such as picks, human bone and pieces of charcoal following an excavation of Mount Pleasant.
The items found were then dating by the help of new methods which had not been discovered 50 years ago.
The study concluded that the majority of the site was built in between 35 and 125 years.
However, Greaney also presented another theory.
She said: “It may also be that the effort of building these monuments led to a rebellion or a collapse in belief that created a vacuum that allowed people to come in from the continent.”
She wondered whether a part of a central stone monument which appeared broken was “destroyed during a time of unrest”.
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Historic England’s Peter Marshall said: “This research shows the importance of archaeological collections stored in museums.
Even though the site was excavated 50 years ago, it has been possible to use utilise new scientific techniques to examine the material held in Dorchester.
“As archaeological practices evolve, the value of these museum collections and the importance of their long-term preservation cannot be underestimated.”
