Archaeology on Magog Down |
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| At the Magog Trust AGM on Oct
6 Adrian Scruby, an archaeologist until recently with Cambridgeshire County
Council, gave a talk on the ancient monuments found on Magog Down. Visible from aerial photographs from the 1950s and since is a causewayed enclosure dating from the Middle Neolithic (middle stone age) period, 3000 - 2400 BCE, encircling Little Trees Hill. In 1954 only 13 were known in the UK but with the advent of aerial photography many more have been identified. They are found in a variety of locations: on hilltops, slopes and valley bottoms, many being situated on areas of local raised ground. That on Little Trees Hill has the characteristic segmented ditch and is around 265m in diameter. Constructed with internal and external banks with a 4m deep ditch in mostly 10 to 15m segments. One longer ditch section of 30m has been identified. The tools used for this construction would have been fashioned from bone; for example, the shoulder blades of larger animals were used as shovels. The site is thought to have been used on a seasonal basis for corralling animals. Some sites suggest the presence of inner villages with stock areas and cemeteries. In addition to the ditches being used for the disposal of rubbish, animal sacrifices and human skulls have been found. Other items, such as pots of food, suggest ritual offerings to the ancient gods. During the Bronze Age, 2400 - 1500 BCE, a Bowl Barrow was built on the top of Little Trees Hill. Such funerary monuments were formed by the piling of soil over the tomb from a surrounding ditch. The almost pure chalk of the site would have ensured the monument was visible from many miles around. These are the most frequent form of barrow with 10,000 nationally and were used for the burial of important members of the community. The site is undergoing restoration and is not accessible to the public. LE - October 2007This article first appeared in the Stapleford Messenger |
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| © 2008
The Magog Trust Updated : 17 February 2008 |