Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/28561
Appears in Collections:Biological and Environmental Sciences Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: One Thing After Another: the Date of the Ascott-under-Wychwood Long Barrow
Author(s): Bayliss, Alex
Benson, Don
Galer, Dawn
Humphrey, Louise
McFadyen, Lesley
Whittle, Alasdair
Contact Email: alexandra.bayliss@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Ascott-under-Wychwood
radiocarbon dates
long barrow
Issue Date: 28-Feb-2007
Date Deposited: 14-Jan-2019
Citation: Bayliss A, Benson D, Galer D, Humphrey L, McFadyen L & Whittle A (2007) One Thing After Another: the Date of the Ascott-under-Wychwood Long Barrow. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 17 (S1), pp. 29-44. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774307000157
Abstract: Forty-four radiocarbon results are now available from the Ascott-under-Wychwood long barrow, and are presented within an interpretive Bayesian statistical framework. Three alternative archaeological interpretations of the sequence are given, each with a separate Bayesian model. In our preferred model, pre-barrow occupation including small timber structures and a midden was followed by a gap long enough to allow a turfline to form. Cists and the primary barrow were then initiated and the first human remains inserted into the cists; there was subsequently a secondary extension to the barrow. In the Bayesian model for this interpretation, occupation goes back to the 40th century cal BC, the midden being quite short-lived in the latter part of the 40th or first part of the 39th century cal BC. The gap was very probably not less than 50 years long, in the latter part of the 39th century cal BC and the first half of the 38th century cal BC. The barrow was begun between 3760–3695 cal BC and extended in 3745–3670 cal BC, probably within a generation. The first bodies were inserted in 3755–3690 cal BC, contemporaneously with the primary barrow, and the last remains were probably deposited in the 3640s or 3630s cal BC. The use of the monument probably did not exceed three to five generations. In an alternative interpretation of the sequence, greater continuity is seen between the underlying timber structures and midden on the one hand and the cists on the other, which could have preceded the initiation of the barrow itself. The Bayesian model for this interpretation suggests the gap between occupation and barrow was much shorter, probably of only 1–40 years’ duration. It gives slightly different other estimates for the sequence but agrees with the main model in suggesting an overall short span of use for the whole monument. In a third interpretation, some of the human remains are interpreted as older than the cists and barrow. The Bayesian model for this again gives slightly different estimates but suggests that such putatively ancestral remains would not have been more than a decade or two older than the initiation of cists and barrow. Results are briefly discussed in relation to the overall sequence from occupation and midden to monument, the brevity of monument use and issues of remembrance.
DOI Link: 10.1017/s0959774307000157
Rights: The publisher does not allow this work to be made publicly available in this Repository. Please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study.
Licence URL(s): http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/under-embargo-all-rights-reserved

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
one_thing_after_another_the_date_of_the_ascottunderwychwood_long_barrow.pdfFulltext - Published Version3.57 MBAdobe PDFUnder Permanent Embargo    Request a copy

Note: If any of the files in this item are currently embargoed, you can request a copy directly from the author by clicking the padlock icon above. However, this facility is dependent on the depositor still being contactable at their original email address.



This item is protected by original copyright



Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.