White Horse Stone, ARC WHS 98
Oxford Archaeology (South), 2004. (updated 2017) https://doi.org/10.5284/1044779. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © High Speed 1 unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Stuart
Foreman
Senior Project Manager
Oxford Archaeology (South)
Janus House
Osney Mead
Oxford
OX2 0ES
UK
Tel: 01865 263800
Fax: 01865 793496
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 1953
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1044779
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
The group of sites uncovered evidence for settlement occupation in the Neolithic period (c. 4000 BC – 2000 BC), possibly the middle Bronze Age (c. 1750 BC – 1150 BC), and the transitional period between the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (c. 900 BC – 600 BC). There is evidence for peripheral settlement activity and ritual use of the landscape in the late Iron Age, including a possible post-hole structure, cremation deposits and animal burials. Agricultural features including field boundaries of various periods, indistinct post-hole enclosures of the late Iron Age and early Roman periods (c. 100 BC – 200 AD), and an early medieval corndrier (c.1100 AD – 1300 AD), were also found. The information below is centred on the findings from White Horse Stone only.
Neolithic
Major discoveries include the clearly defined traces of a longhouse, found near the bottom of the dry valley, apparently sealed by a later prehistoric palaeosol. It is thought to date from the early Neolithic (c.3750 BC), although mid-late Neolithic pottery (Grooved Ware and Peterborough Ware) was also recovered from features in the immediate vicinity, suggesting activity on the site over a long period of time. The structure was defined by a substantial array of postholes, bedding trenches, pits and hearths. Associated activity areas in the form of utilised tree throw holes, pits and ditches lay to the south and east of the building.
Late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age
A late Bronze Age / early Iron Age settlement was found on the chalk spur forming the western side of the dry valley, on the White Horse Stone site. Patterns of postholes suggest possible roundhouses and numerous four-post structures. A number of pits contained rich deposits of pottery and animal bone suggestive of domestic refuse, and three human pit burials were also recorded. A unique cremation deposit produced an exceptional group of transitional late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age artefacts, including an iron knife, four iron awls, a whetstone, a small curved iron blade and a group of at least six pottery vessels, one of which was a large urn containing a deposit of grain. A metal-working area located on the eastern side of the settlement produced furnace bases and pits containing large quantities of slag.
A very few sherds were found that may suggest a diminishing intensity of activity extending into the middle Iron Age.
Site stratigraphy
The main dry valley at White Horse Stone was in-filled with a series of late glacial solifluction deposits. Within these the remnants of a Pleistocene palaeosol were located, possibly dating from the Allerød Interstadial. These deposits were sealed by a substantial, well-preserved Holocene buried soil which is truncated by an Iron Age ploughsoil. This in turn is overlain by a deep colluvial sequence dating from the Iron Age to the present day. Initial assessment indicates that these deposits have considerable potential for environmental reconstruction.
