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The dead of Stonehenge.

Willis, C., Marshall, P., McKinley, J., Pitts, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C., Richards, J., Thomas, J., Waldron, T., Welham, K. and Pearson, M.P., 2016. The dead of Stonehenge. Antiquity, 90 (350), 337 - 356.

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DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2016.26

Abstract

The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge is the largest in Britain, and demonstrates that the monument was closely associated with the dead. New radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis indicate that cremated remains were deposited over a period of around five centuries from c. 3000-2500 BC. Earlier cremations were placed within or beside the Aubrey Holes that had held small bluestone standing stones during the first phase of the monument; later cremations were placed in the peripheral ditch, perhaps signifying the transition from a link between specific dead individuals and particular stones, to a more diffuse collectivity of increasingly long-dead ancestors.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:0003-598X
Uncontrolled Keywords:Stonehenge; Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age; cremation; Bayesian dating
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:25585
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:21 Dec 2016 11:17
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:01

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