Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 66

A review of specific artefact types (including daggers, arrowheads and axes) and burial rites on the two sides of the western English Channel gives little credence to the migration of more than occasional individuals. On the contrary, an essential autonomy in the way that materials and artefacts are employed by elites comes through, yet this is set against some important material connections. It is suggested that interdependence was actually limited and the procurement of exotic goods and materials was driven by the needs of `cosmological acquisition' which, if anything, maintained real differences between distant participating societies. In Wessex, however, this exploitation of long-range contacts was to have profound consequences for subordinate centres based around Late Neolithic ceremonial complexes -- their ultimate transformation and eclipse.

Presents the results of excavations conducted in 1991--92, along with a summary of survey, salvage, and research spanning the period 1981 to 1992. This new data set is tentatively interpreted in terms of historical process and social practice of monumental construction. A brief comment on the heritage management of the site is also presented.

Sixteen `accessory' or `pygmy' cups of the Early Bronze Age from several sites in Lincolnshire are illustrated and discussed for the first time.

Reports on experiments undertaken to determine the level of heating produced in the soil underneath different fires and the degree of reddening preserved in the final stratigraphy. It is concluded that temperatures beneath most surface-built fires remain below 500 degrees centigrade and that reddening of the soil happens only rarely, although there is some variation and the explanation of the observations is somewhat complex.