New analysis confirms details of massive pit structure surrounding Durrington Walls henge, Wiltshire

New research from the University of St Andrews, as part of a team led by the University of Bradford, has confirmed the details of a massive, neolithic pit structure recently discovered during geophysical survey around the Durrington Walls Henge, Wiltshire.  

The site, situated to the north of Stonehenge, is located in a landscape that is well-known for its Neolithic monuments. Following the original discovery of the pits as what may be the largest structure of its type in Britain, researchers from St Andrews’ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences have since returned to confirm the details of the pit circle and to provide more precise dating and environmental information. 

This work, published  in Internet Archaeology has confirmed that Durrington Walls henge, itself one of the largest prehistoric enclosures in Britain, was ringed by a large structure of at least 16 massive pits, many of which measured 10m in diameter and up to 5m in depth. 

llustration of the distribution of all magnetic pit-like anomalies with greater than 5m diameter identified across the wider Stonehenge environs (c. 20 sq. km) between 2010–2019.  The distribution highlights the geometry of largest of the pit-like anomalies surrounding Durrington Walls henge and their spatial relationship to the Larkhill causewayed enclosure.  © Crown copyright and database rights 2024 – Ordnance Survey (100025252)/EDINA supplied Service OS Profile DTM (5m resolution) Scale 1:10K) (Image: Eamonn Baldwin).  

None of the very large features investigated show forms that would be interpreted as deriving from natural chalk solution features. Rather, the recent work confirms that they were likely dug and filled during the later Neolithic. Specifically, optically stimulated luminescence studies now indicate a date of c. 2480 BC.

Dr Tim Kinnaird, who conducted these analyses at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Dating Laboratory at the University of St Andrews, said: “The new dating evidence, coupled with the remarkably consistent geochemical signature seen within the fills at the pits provides definitive evidence that they were constructed by people living at the site over a very short time period.  The synchronous timing of this could only have been achieved by a dedicated and coordinated action.”  

Illustration of the distribution of all magnetic pit-like anomalies with greater than 5m diameter identified across the wider Stonehenge environs (c. 20 sq. km) between 2010–2019.  The distribution highlights the geometry of largest of the pit-like anomalies surrounding Durrington Walls henge and their spatial relationship to the Larkhill causewayed enclosure.  © Crown copyright and database rights 2024 – Ordnance Survey (100025252)/EDINA supplied Service OS Profile DTM (5m resolution) Scale 1:10K) (Image: Eamonn Baldwin).  

The application of sedimentary DNA studies has also provided new evidence for the plants and animals associated with the chalk landscape surrounding these features.  Even within a landscape as exceptional as that surrounding nearby Stonehenge, the results of this work emphasis that these pits are a cohesive structure, which represent an elaboration of the Durrington Walls monument complex at a massive – and completely unexpected – scale. 

Professor Richard Bates from the University of St Andrews, who was part of the geophysical investigation team, said: “The skill and effort that must have been required to not only to dig the pits, but also to place them so precisely within the landscape is a marvel. When you consider that the pits are spread over such a large distance, the fact they are located in a near perfect circular pattern is quite remarkable.” 

Professor Bates also believes that these multidisciplinary investigations are key to understanding the past, adding: “It is rare to have the opportunity to apply so many geophysical and geochemical techniques together to investigate a site but demonstrates the power of doing so when you do.”