Henge enclosure

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A henge enclosure is the name given by archaeologists to a British prehistoric monument type of late Neolithic date. They consist of a large, circular or oval area of ground, measuring from 17m. to over 300m in diameter, enclosed by an earthwork consisting of bank with an internal ditch. Two or four evenly spaced entrances lead through the earthwork to the centre. Henge enclosures often contain or lie close to one or more ordinary henge monuments.

They differ from normal henges in that excavation has shown evidence for a wider variety of human activity beyond the ritual purposes associated with henges. They are interpreted as being settlements as well as ceremonial sites. Sites often interpreted as simply large henges are now classified as henge enclosures, examples being Durrington Walls in Wiltshire and Mount Pleasant Henge in Dorset.

Finds of animal bone, Grooved ware pottery and evidence of dwellings have been found and coupled with the time and energy needed to build them, it is considered that they must have been important social centres analogous to tribal capitals.