Flagstones
Encyclopedia
Flagstones is a late Neolithic
interrupted ditch enclosure (similar to a causewayed enclosure
) in the English
county of Dorset
. The enclosure is formed by a ring of pits dug into the chalk
bedrock, with 'causeways' between the pits. Half of the enclosure was discovered beneath the site of the demolished Flagstones House in advance of the construction of the Dorchester by-pass road. The part of the enclosure in the grounds of Flagstones House was partially excavated archaeologically, by Wessex Archaeology
, and then the grounds were totally removed to make a deep cutting for the bypass at this point. The other half still exists under the grounds of Max Gate
, Thomas Hardy
's house.
The 100 m diameter enclosure itself contained a variety of human remains in its pits including those of a two or three year old child beneath a sandstone slab and a newborn baby crushed in the terminal of a pit. A young man had been buried in a later Early Bronze Age tumulus in the centre of the site beneath a sarsen
megalith. Carbon dating of the remains put the building of the enclosure at around 3486–2886 BC with the central burial dating to around a thousand years later. Neolithic carvings were found carved into the sides of three of the pits.
It may have been connected with other nearby Neolithic sites such as Maumbury Rings
and Mount Pleasant henge
.
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
interrupted ditch enclosure (similar to a causewayed enclosure
Causewayed enclosure
A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. More than 100 examples are recorded in France and 70 in England, while further sites are known in Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Slovakia.The term "causewayed enclosure" is...
) in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. The enclosure is formed by a ring of pits dug into the chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
bedrock, with 'causeways' between the pits. Half of the enclosure was discovered beneath the site of the demolished Flagstones House in advance of the construction of the Dorchester by-pass road. The part of the enclosure in the grounds of Flagstones House was partially excavated archaeologically, by Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology is one of the largest private archaeological organisations operating in the United Kingdom, based near Salisbury in Wiltshire.-Background:...
, and then the grounds were totally removed to make a deep cutting for the bypass at this point. The other half still exists under the grounds of Max Gate
Max Gate
Max Gate is the former home of Thomas Hardy and is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England.Hardy designed and lived in Max Gate from 1885 until his death in 1928. It was here that he wrote Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and The Mayor of Casterbridge, as well as much of his poetry.Max...
, Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's house.
The 100 m diameter enclosure itself contained a variety of human remains in its pits including those of a two or three year old child beneath a sandstone slab and a newborn baby crushed in the terminal of a pit. A young man had been buried in a later Early Bronze Age tumulus in the centre of the site beneath a sarsen
Sarsen
Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found in quantity in the United Kingdom on Salisbury Plain, the Marlborough Downs, in Kent, and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Hampshire...
megalith. Carbon dating of the remains put the building of the enclosure at around 3486–2886 BC with the central burial dating to around a thousand years later. Neolithic carvings were found carved into the sides of three of the pits.
It may have been connected with other nearby Neolithic sites such as Maumbury Rings
Maumbury Rings
Maumbury Rings is a Neolithic henge in the south of Dorchester town in Dorset, England. It is a large circular earthwork, 85 metres in diameter, with a single bank and internal ditch and an entrance to the north east. The ditch was created by digging a series of funnel-shaped shafts, each 10...
and Mount Pleasant henge
Mount Pleasant henge
Mount Pleasant henge is a Neolithic henge enclosure in the English county of Dorset.Rather like other 'superhenge' sites such as Durrington Walls much of the earthworks have been ploughed or weathered away and it was not rediscovered until Stuart Piggott and his wife Peggy Guido visited the area in...
.