Abstract
In 1809 Richard Colt Hoare was alerted to the discovery of a burial at Durrington Walls. The burial contained an
important set of grave goods, which were subsequently included in his famous publication Ancient Wiltshire and are
now on display within Devizes Museum. Although Colt Hoare recovered artefacts from the burial, the location of the
grave was only vaguely described in Ancient Wiltshire, with the burial recorded as being capped by a sarsen stone. This
Sarsen Burial is reconsidered in this contribution, with its probable location defined through identification of sarsen stones
on early OS maps. The artefact grouping indicates a burial date between 2250–1950BC, a time when Beaker burials
dominate the archaeological record. We consider the importance of the burial, under a sarsen stone, with an important
grave assemblage which lacks a Beaker vessel, in context of the Beaker period and the Durrington Walls henge.
important set of grave goods, which were subsequently included in his famous publication Ancient Wiltshire and are
now on display within Devizes Museum. Although Colt Hoare recovered artefacts from the burial, the location of the
grave was only vaguely described in Ancient Wiltshire, with the burial recorded as being capped by a sarsen stone. This
Sarsen Burial is reconsidered in this contribution, with its probable location defined through identification of sarsen stones
on early OS maps. The artefact grouping indicates a burial date between 2250–1950BC, a time when Beaker burials
dominate the archaeological record. We consider the importance of the burial, under a sarsen stone, with an important
grave assemblage which lacks a Beaker vessel, in context of the Beaker period and the Durrington Walls henge.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 74-84 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Magazine |
| Volume | 112 |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2 Feb 2019 |