Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London 89

Publication of an interim account of work in progress at Stonehenge, first presented as a paper at the Ordinary Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 9 October 2008.\r\n\r\nExplains that the 2008 excavation set out to date the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle at Stonehenge and to chart the subsequent history of the bluestones and their use at the monument. Evidence is presented for a provisional working date of around 2300 bc for the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle, while it is argued that the history of the site is far more complex than has been allowed for in existing interpretations, with a multiplicity of overlapping and intercutting (though not continuous) events, including substantial late Roman, medieval and early modern activity. The excavated material, and the evidence from the surviving stones, is argued to support the suggestion that bluestones were brought to the site because of their perceived special qualities, perhaps for their supposed healing properties, and that some knowledge of those qualities remained current in later times with the result that in excess of two-thirds of the original bluestone volume has now disappeared.

Argues for an interpretation of the overall plan of the shield as a deliberately constructed configuration crafted specifically by a constructional geometry, within a tradition which persisted and later pervaded Insular art. Au/PP-B

Gough's second edition of Camden's Britannia contains a description of a gold Roman coin-ring from Benniworth, Lincolnshire, identified as a counterfeit of Probus. Re-examination of the evidence suggests the coin may have been an aureus of Geta.\r\n

Reports on the excavation of a small, but high-status, later seventh-century Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Ely. Of fifteen graves, two were particularly well furnished, one of which was buried with a gold and silver necklace that included a cross pendant, as well as two complete glass palm cups and a composite comb, placed within a wooden padlocked casket. Reports on the skeletal and artefactual material (including isotopic analysis of the burials), and seeks to set the site in its wider social and historical context, arguing that this cemetery may well have been associated with the first monastery in Ely, founded by Etheldreda in ad 673.

The characteristics of the carving are here examined and the various attributions of dating are reviewed, as a consequence of which it is suggested that the sculpture is neither Roman nor Romanesque in date, but rather is of pre-Conquest origin, most probably of around ad 800. It is thus suggested that the Upton Bishop sculpture represents a significant addition to the corpus of Anglo-Saxon figural sculpture in Herefordshire and the western Midlands, that the characteristics of the sculpture suggest well-established traits forming part of a local style and that these were taken forward into the Romanesque period, thus contributing to the distinctive character of the Herefordshire School of sculpture.

Uses examples from Wiltshire and Dorset to show the great variety of manorial customs, the effect these had on the lives of copyhold tenants and the problems which some long-established customs could cause for landowners.

Using the Society's records, Sir Joseph Banks is considered as an ordinary Fellow, as a member of Council, as an auditor of the finances and as a scrutator at elections. The relations between the Royal and Antiquarian Societies on first moving into Somerset House and the contemporary question of whether they might have merged is also examined. Joseph Banks's role in the circumstances of the three contested presidential elections of 1785, 1799 and 1812 is especially considered, and these are argued not just to represent internal squabbling amongst the Fellows, but to reflect the wider social and political strains of the time. Lastly the relationship between George III and the Society of Antiquaries is touched upon.

Reviews the contribution of Professor Christopher Hawkes, FSA, to the development of Bronze and Iron Age studies in the decades before and '“ more especially '“ after World War II. Also provides an overview and analysis of the Hawkes Papers, kept in the Bodleian Library, and particularly of the general correspondence section, with a view to assessing the potential of this documentation for the study of the development of British prehistoric archaeology within its European context. Examination of the first thirty-one boxes of the archive situates Hawkes at the interface between several networks of individuals and communities of interest, including amateurs, professional archaeologists and his own students.