Carbon Date. 3350BC. Middle Neolithic Carbon Dates

ID: 6090, C14 ID: OxA-4902 Date BP: 5350 +/- 80, Start Date BP: 5270, End BP: 5430

Abstract: Stonehenge, England

Archaeologist Name: Allen

Reference Name: Archaeometry 38(2), 1996, 391-415

Council for British Archaeology (2012) Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1017767

Between 3000BC and 1500BC. Stonehenge Phase 1 Aubrey Holes are fifty-six pits 1m in diameter known as the Aubrey Holes after John Aubrey who first identified them. It isn't known whether the pits held posts or stones or neither.

The date for these holes, and consequently where they fit into the order of the wide monument is very vague. Excavation indicates Sarsen stone chips are found only in the upper layers suggesting the Aubrey holes pre-date the Sarsens.

The pits originally contained the 50,000 cremated bone fragments of sixty-three individuals which were excavated in 1920 by who re-interred them in a single pit; Aubrey Hole 7.

In 2013 a team led by analysed the remains finding the individuals were equally male and female, including children, originally from south-west wales, the source of the Stonehenge Bluestones, and had not lived in the Stonehenge area for long before death. Evidence of chalk crushing at the base of the pits is believed to indicate the pits once contained the Stonehenge Bluestones as grave markers.

Antiquaries Journal Volume 1 Section 1 The Aubrey Holes. We are indebted to Bodley's Librarian for allowing us to examine the Plan of Stonehenge made by Aubrey in 1666 which forms part of the Monumenta Britannica preserved in the Bodleian Library. Aubrey mentions and marks upon his plan certain depressions, or cavities, at intervals within the circular earthwork. None of them was visible to us, but with a steel bar we searched for and found one, and subsequently more, all apparently at regular intervals round the earthwork. It occurred to us that there might be intermediate cavities, and excavation showed them to be at regular intervals of 1 6 ft., with the exception of two on the south-east side, which are a little closer together. To these we have given the name of "Aubrey Holes" to distinguish them from others that may hereafter be found, and as a compliment to our respected pioneer who left such a useful record.

Antiquity 2022 Volume 96.2: Stonehenge: the Aubrey Holes. The lack of evidence for a stone circle at Waun Mawn is mirrored in the available evidence for Stage 1 at Stonehenge, 225km to the south-east. Here, Parker Pearson has argued, the ring of 56 pits known as the Aubrey Holes were dug around 3080–2950 BC as sockets for Bluestones, which would have formed a circle about 87m in overall diameter (Parker Pearson et al. 2021: 86). There is no question that Bluestones from a range of sources within and around the Preseli Hills were used in the construction of a series of circles and ovals at Stonehenge, but there is no evidence in the form of actual pieces of Bluestone that any arrived at the site before Stage 2, which is dated to the period between 2760–2510 BC and 2470–2300 BC (Darvill et al. 2012: 1030). The suggestion that Bluestones from west Wales once stood in the Aubrey Holes around the inner edge of the inner bank is therefore an intriguing one but is not supported by the currently available evidence.

The Stonehenge Phase I Bank and Ditches are believed to have been constructed around 3100BC although this would appear somehat inconsistent with the carbon dates which range from 2500BC to 2000BC? The source of the earlier date of 3100BC is unclear?

Antiquaries Journal Volume 1 Section 1 Ditch and Rampart. We made a small investigation, of the ditch and rampart, by cutting a trench 3 ft. wide from one of the Aubrey holes through the rampart till we met the edge of the ditch. We found the vallum to be a very low one of chalk and rubble, only 2 ft. 6 in. high from its crest to the chalk rock. Just under the humus were three sarsen chips, ten of foreign stone, and two small pieces of Romano-British pottery. These were all that were found.

Bluestone Circles aka Q and R Holes are believed to have been erected around 2600BC. Two concentric crescents of holes known as the Q and R holes - they could be concentric circles. The holes are believed to have contained the Bluestones which came from the Presceli Hills in South-West Wales.

Antiquity 2022 Volume 96.2: Stonehenge: the Aubrey Holes. None of the Aubrey Holes excavated during the twentieth century contained Bluestone in either their primary or secondary fills; all the known pieces originate from later intrusions or from the overburden. The re-excavation of AH7, conducted by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008 in order to recover an assemblage of cremated bone redeposited there in 1935, provided an opportunity to review aspects of the earlier observations. Contrary to the interpretations offered by Parker Pearson et al. (2020: 181), the results, in fact, support Walker’s two-phase interpretation of the Aubrey Holes and the absence of Bluestone in Stage 1. Removal of the 1930s backfill and the redeposited cremations in AH7 revealed a fairly regular, circular cut (Parker Pearson et al. 2020: 177–92 & fig. 4.16). The edges represented the maximum extent of earlier archaeological excavations—originally in 1920 and again in 1935—rather than the original cut. Little or nothing remained of the primary pit, although it is suggested that "the previous excavators failed to fully bottom AH7; within its base, there remained a thin patch of crushed chalk (022) extending 0.35m north-south × 0.4m east-west and up to 40mm thick" (Parker Pearson 2020: 182–85). No visible pieces of Bluestone are reported from these deposits, while a detailed technical analysis by French not only failed to find microscopic fragments of Bluestone but, in considering the possibility that a stone had formerly stood in the hole, concluded that "any association with compaction caused by use in the life of the Aubrey Hole cannot be substantiated by the micromorpho logical analysis" (French, in Parker Pearson et al. 2020: 190). This is especially important because elsewhere at Stonehenge where Bluestones were set up and then removed there is clear evidence of broken pieces in the fill of the empty socket and chips embedded in the floor, as, for example, with some of the Q and R Holes (Cleal et al. 1995: 171).

Slaughter Stone [Map] and one, or possibly two, large portal stones were erected just inside the north-eastern entrance during Stonehenge Phase 3 I. Only the fallen Slaughter Stone 4.9m long, now remains. The date of the erection of the stone is unknown.

Antiquaries Journal Volume 1 Section 1 Ditch and Rampart. Figure 13. Sections through Slaugter Stone [Map]: Lower section shows large hole which may have once contained the Slaughter Stone.

Antiquaries Journal Volume 1 Section 1 Ditch and Rampart. In dealing with the Slaughter Stone [Map] we already knew that Cunnington had examined it in 1801, so we thought it best to remove his spoil from around it to get further information. We found a cavity for about 3 ft. or 4 ft. around the stone, evidently his work, but one could see that the stone had been buried earlier in a pit very roughly dug in the solid chalk and just deep enough to allow the soil to cover it at ground-level. Perhaps the intention had been to bury it deeper, but the hole was not made long enough, consequently the top and bottom rest on sloping chalk and cause a void of about 10 in. under it. This void was filled with dirty rubble containing much modern rubbish, evidendy returned by Cuiinington. There could be little doubt about this, as we found a botde of port wine left under the stone, presumably by him out of consideration for future excavators. The seal was intact, but the cork had decayed and let out nearly all of the contents.

Antiquaries Journal Volume 1 Section 1 The Aubrey Holes. We have excavated a series of these holes from stone no. 80 (called the Slaughter Stone [Map]) round by the east to one on the south-west, where we stopped, deciding to gain experience before completing the circle. The holes so far excavated are twentythree in number, but the series in the semicircle is not complete, as there is an intervening barrow on the south ; so we left out four holes until we can give attention to the barrow. Unfortunately it has been opened before; and to distinguish the disturbed from the undisturbed portion it will have to be very leisurely and carefully worked, for it is very important, and may help us to arrive at the relative ages of barrow, bank, and holes, and settle the order of succession.