Abstract
MR. ALEXANDER, KEILLEB has reported briefly in Antiquity of September on the results of an examina tion of the West Kennet Avenue, which leads from the Great Circle of Avebury to the Stone Circles on Overton Hill, undertaken recently with the view of determining its exact line. The Avenue has never been excavated scientifically; and in the spring of the present year operations were begun in a field about five hundred yards long near the middle of the course. Eight stones were still visible there, as well as one stone, which had never fallen, and one which had been re-erected by Mrs. Cunnington in 1912. The work began in April, and was planned to occupy three seasons. Fallen stones, or stones dis covered beneath the surface, are being re-erected in the original holes as the work proceeds. Up to the time of writing, one buried stone, of which the pre vious existence had been unsuspected, and one fallen stone had been re-erected. In all, eight stone-holes have been discovered on the eastern side of the Avenue and eleven on the western side. One stone hole, despite careful searching, remains undiscovered. It is thought that the stone for which it is sought may not have penetrated the sub-soil, as the soil at the point where this stone most probably stood is unusually deep. Four other buried stones have been found and on three of these are markings which may be inscribed ornament. Post holes for timber up rights of which traces remain may, it is thought,represent a habitation site. The associated pottery is of the type known as Neolithic B, that is, Peter borough, which in this region belongs to the secondary occupation of the neighbouring Windmill Hill. Two finds of foreign stone, broken polished axes, are of augite-granophyre from Graig Llwyd. This occurs only at Penmaenmawr, North Wales, and previously only three specimens had been recorded outside Wales, one being from Windmill Hill, and equating with Neolithic B pottery.
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Investigation of the West Kennet Avenue, Avebury. Nature 134, 566 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134566a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134566a0