Sunday 6 January 2013

A History of Stonehenge Excavations

A comprehensive, though probably not complete, list of Stonehenge excavations - based on http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/9689/7/151-158_appendix_1.qxd.pdf, with the publications of their reports.


1620. Duke of Buckingham had an excavation made
within Stonehenge.

1633–52. Inigo Jones conducted the first ‘scientific’ surveys
of Stonehenge.
Jones, I, and Webb, J, 1655, The most notable antiquity of Great
Britain vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury plain.
London: J Flesher for D Pakeman and L Chapman

1666. John Aubrey surveyed Stonehenge and produced his
‘Review’ in 1666, where he described the prehistoric pits,
later known as the Aubrey Holes.
Aubrey, J, 1693 (edited by J Fowles 1982), Monumenta Britannica.
Sherborne, Dorset: Dorset Publishing Co

1721–4. William Stukeley surveyed and excavated
Stonehenge and its field monuments.

1721. William Stukeley discovered the Avenue extending
beyond Stonehenge Bottom to King Barrow Ridge.

1723. William Stukeley discovered the Cursus.
Stukeley, W, 1740, Stonehenge: a temple restor’d to the British
druids. London: W Innys and R Manby

1798. William Cunnington dug under the fallen stones
(numbers 56 and 57) at Stonehenge.

1805–10. William Cunnington dug at Stonehenge on
various occasions.
Cunnington, W, 1884, Guide to the stones of Stonehenge. Devizes:
Bull Printer

1839. Captain Beamish excavated within Stonehenge.

1874–7. Professor Flinders Petrie produced a plan of
Stonehenge and numbered the stones.
Petrie, W M F, 1880, Stonehenge: plans, description, and theories.
London: Edward Stanford


1901. Professor William Gowland meticulously recorded and
excavated around stone number 56 at Stonehenge.
Gowland, W, 1902, Recent excavations at Stonehenge.
Archaeologia, 58, 37–82

1919–26. Colonel William Hawley extensively excavated in
advance of restoration programmes at Stonehenge for the
Office of Works and later for the Society of Antiquaries.
Hawley excavated ditch sections of the Avenue, conducted
an investigation of the Slaughter Stone and other stones at
Stonehenge, and rediscovered a number of Aubrey Holes
through excavation.
Cleal, R M J, Walker, K E, and Montague, R, 1995, Stonehenge and
its landscape: twentieth-century excavations (English
Heritage Archaeological Report 10). London: English Heritage.
Hawley, W, 1921, Stonehenge: interim report on the
exploration. Antiquaries Journal, 1, 19–41
Hawley, W, 1922, Second report on the excavations at Stonehenge.
Antiquaries Journal, 2, 36–52
Hawley, W, 1923, Third report on the excavations at Stonehenge.
Antiquaries Journal, 3, 13–20
Hawley, W, 1924, Fourth report on the excavations at Stonehenge,
1922. Antiquaries Journal, 4, 30–9
Hawley, W, 1925, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during
the season of 1923. Antiquaries Journal, 5, 21–50
Hawley, W, 1926, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during
the season of 1924. Antiquaries Journal, 6, 1–25
Hawley, W, 1928, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during
1925 and 1926. Antiquaries Journal, 8, 149–76
Pitts, M, Bayliss, A, McKinley, J, Boylston, A, Budd, P, Evans,
J, Chenery, C, Reynolds, A, and Semple, S, 2002, An Anglo-
Saxon decapitation and burial at Stonehenge. Wiltshire
Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 95, 131–46

1929. Robert Newall excavated Stone 36.
Newall, R S, 1929, Stonehenge. Antiquity, 3, 75–88
Newall, R S, 1929, Stonehenge, the recent excavations. Wiltshire
Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 44, 348–59

1935. Young . Car Park area.

1950. Robert Newall excavated Stone 66.
Newall, R S, 1952, Stonehenge stone no. 66. Antiquaries Journal,
32, 65–7

1952. Robert Newall excavated Stones 71 and 72.

1950–64. A major campaign of excavations by Richard
Atkinson, Stuart Piggott, and Marcus Stone involving the
re-excavation of some of Hawley’s trenches as well as
previously undisturbed areas within Stonehenge.
Atkinson, R J C, Piggott, S, and Stone, J F S, 1952, The excavations
of two additional holes at Stonehenge, and new evidence for
the date of the monument. Antiquaries Journal, 32, 14–20
Atkinson, R J C, 1956, Stonehenge. London. Penguin Books in
association with Hamish Hamilton. (second revised edition
1979: Penguin Books)
Cleal, R M J, Walker, K E, and Montague, R, 1995, Stonehenge and
its landscape: twentieth-century excavations (English
Heritage Archaeological Report 10). London: English Heritage

1966. Faith and Lance Vatcher excavated within Stonehenge
car-park.
Vatcher, F de M and Vatcher, H L, 1973, Excavation of three
postholes in Stonehenge car park. Wiltshire Archaeological
and Natural History Magazine, 68, 57–63

1968. Faith and Lance Vatcher Geophone and floodlight cable trenches.

1978. John Evans re-excavated a 1954 cutting through the
Stonehenge ditch and bank to take samples for snail
analysis and radiocarbon dating. A well-preserved human
burial lay within the ditch fill. Three fine flint arrowheads
were found amongst the bones, with a fourth embedded in
the sternum.
Atkinson, R J C and Evans, J G, 1978. Recent excavations at
Stonehenge. Antiquity, 52, 235–6
Evans, J G, 1984, Stonehenge: the environment in the late Neolithic
and early Bronze Age, and a Beaker burial. Wiltshire
Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 78, 7–30

1978. Thom and Atkinson. NE side of Station Stone 94

1979–80. George Smith excavated in the Stonehenge carpark
on behalf of the Central Excavation Unit.
Smith, G, 1980, Excavations in Stonehenge car park. Wiltshire
Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 74/75
(1979–80), 181


1979–80. Mike Pitts excavated along the south side of A344
in advance of cable-laying and pipe-trenching. In 1979, he
discovered a pit belonging to a previously unknown stone
close to the Heel Stone. Geophysical survey identified pits
along the course of the Avenue. In 1980, Pitts excavated
beside the A344 where he discovered a stone floor and the
only complete prehistoric artefact assemblage retained from
the monument.
Pitts, M W, 1981, The discovery of a new stone at Stonehenge.
Archaeoastronomy, 4, 17–21
Pitts, M W, 1982, On the road to Stonehenge: Report on
investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979 and 1980.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 48, 75–132

1981. The Central Excavation Unit excavated in advance of
the construction of the footpath through Stonehenge.
Bond, D, 1983, An excavation at Stonehenge, 1981. Wiltshire
Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 77, 39–43

1994. Wessex Archaeology. Limited Auger Survey.

2008. Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright set out to date the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle at Stonehenge and to chart the subsequent history of the bluestones and their use at the monument.
The Antiquaries Journal / Volume 89 / September 2009, pp 1-19

5 comments:

  1. with all the excavations and reconstruction over the years; mainly those between 1922 to 1956 it is hardly an original heritage site, so what is all the fuss about hiding it from the A303.......?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Complete History of Stonehenge Excavations

    1611. King James I investigated Stonehenge "to see 'The stone which the builders refused.'"
    King James Version, 1611

    1620. George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, dug a large hole in the ground at the center of Stonehenge looking for buried treasure. (Diary)

    1633-52. Inigo Jones conducted the first 'scientific' surveys of Stonehenge.
    Jones, I, and Webb, J, 1655, The most notable antiquity of Great Britain vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury plain. London: J Flesher for D Pakeman and L Chapman

    1640. Sir Lawrence Washington, knight, owner of Stonehenge, fished around Bear's Stone (named after Washington's hound dog). Bear's Stone profile portrait a local 17th century attraction. (G-Diary)
    The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Volumes 15-16

    1652. Reverend Lawrence Washington, heir of Stonehenge, commissions Doctor Garry Denke to dig below Bear's Stone, reveals lion, calf (ox), face as a man, flying eagle, bear (dog), leopard, and hidden relics. Bear's Stone (96) renamed Hele 'to conceal, cover, hide'. (G-Diary)

    1653-56. Doctor Garry Denke auger cored below Hele Stone 'The stone which the builders rejected' on various occasions. Gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, bone, concrete discovered at 1-1/3 'yardsticks' (under flying eagle). Elizabeth Washington, heir of Stonehenge.
    Denke, G, 1699, G-Diary (German to English by Erodelphian Literary Society of Sigma Chi Fraternity), GDG, 1-666

    1666. John Aubrey surveyed Stonehenge and made a 'Review'. Described the Avenue's prehistoric pits. (the 'Aubrey Holes' discovered by Hawley, not Aubrey).
    Aubrey, J, 1693 (edited by J Fowles 1982), Monumenta Britannica. Sherborne, Dorset: Dorset Publishing Co

    1721-4. William Stukeley surveyed and excavated Stonehenge and its field monuments. Surveyed the Avenue in 1721 extending beyond Stonehenge Bottom to King Barrow Ridge. Surveyed the Cursus in 1723 and excavated.
    Stukeley, W, 1740, Stonehenge: a temple restor'd to the British druids. London: W Innys and R Manby

    1798. Sir Richard Hoare and William Cunnington dug at Stonehenge under the fallen Slaughter Stone 95 and under fallen Stones 56 and 57.
    The Ancient History of Wiltshire, Volume 1, 1812

    1805-10. William Cunnington dug at Stonehenge on various occasions.
    Cunnington, W, 1884, Guide to the stones of Stonehenge. Devizes: Bull Printer

    1839. Captain Beamish excavated within Stonehenge. (Diary)

    1874-7. Professor Flinders Petrie produced a plan of Stonehenge and numbered the stones.
    Petrie, W M F, 1880, Stonehenge: plans, description, and theories. London: Edward Stanford

    1901. Professor William Gowland meticulously recorded and excavated around stone number 56 at Stonehenge.
    Gowland, W, 1902, Recent excavations at Stonehenge. Archaeologia, 58, 37-82

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1919-26. Colonel William Hawley extensively excavated in advance of restoration programmes at Stonehenge for the Office of Works and later for the Society of Antiquaries. Hawley excavated ditch sections of the Avenue, conducted an investigation of the Slaughter Stone and other stones at Stonehenge, and discovered the 'Aubrey Holes' (misnamed) through excavation.
    Hawley, W, 1921, Stonehenge: interim report on the exploration.
    Antiquaries Journal, 1, 19-41
    Hawley, W, 1922, Second report on the excavations at Stonehenge.
    Antiquaries Journal, 2, 36-52
    Hawley, W, 1923, Third report on the excavations at Stonehenge.
    Antiquaries Journal, 3, 13-20
    Hawley, W, 1924, Fourth report on the excavations at Stonehenge, 1922.
    Antiquaries Journal, 4, 30-9
    Hawley, W, 1925, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during the season of 1923.
    Antiquaries Journal, 5, 21-50
    Hawley, W, 1926, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during the season of 1924.
    Antiquaries Journal, 6, 1-25
    Hawley, W, 1928, Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during 1925 and 1926.
    Antiquaries Journal, 8, 149-76
    (Diary)
    Pitts, M, Bayliss, A, McKinley, J, Boylston, A, Budd, P, Evans, J, Chenery, C, Reynolds, A, and Semple, S, 2002, An Anglo-Saxon decapitation and burial at Stonehenge, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 95, 131-46

    1929. Robert Newall excavated Stone 36.
    Newall, R S, 1929, Stonehenge. Antiquity, 3, 75-88
    Newall, R S, 1929, Stonehenge, the recent excavations.
    Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 44, 348-59

    1935. Young, W E V, The Stonehenge car park excavation. (Diary)

    1950. Robert Newall excavated Stone 66.
    Newall, R S, 1952, Stonehenge stone no. 66. Antiquaries Journal, 32, 65-7

    1952. Robert Newall excavated Stones 71 and 72. (Diary)

    1950-64. A major campaign of excavations by Richard Atkinson, Stuart Piggott, and Marcus Stone involving the re-excavation of some of Hawley’s trenches as well as previously undisturbed areas within Stonehenge.
    Atkinson, R J C, Piggott, S, and Stone, J F S, 1952, The excavations of two additional holes at Stonehenge, and new evidence for the date of the monument. Antiquaries Journal, 32, 14-20
    Atkinson, R J C, 1956, Stonehenge. London. Penguin Books in association with Hamish Hamilton. (second revised edition 1979: Penguin Books)

    1966. Faith and Lance Vatcher excavated 3 Mesolithic Stonehenge postholes.
    Vatcher, F de M and Vatcher, H L, 1973, Excavation of three postholes in Stonehenge car park. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 68, 57-63

    1968. Faith and Lance Vatcher dug geophone and floodlight cable trenches. (Diary)

    1974. Garry Denke and Ralph Ferdinand set out to confirm Sir Lawrence Washington, knight and Reverend Lawrence Washington's revelation (G-Diary). Auger cored 1.2m (4ft) below Heel Stone 96 (under face as a man). Gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, bone, concrete confirmed. No coal in cores. Stonehenge Free Festival.
    Denke, G W, 1974, Stonehenge Phase I: An Openpit Coalfield Model; The First Geologic Mining School. (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) GDG, 74, 1-56

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1978. John Evans re-excavated a 1954 cutting through the Stonehenge ditch and bank to take samples for snail analysis and radiocarbon dating. A well-preserved human burial lay within the ditch fill. Three fine flint arrowheads were found amongst the bones, with a fourth embedded in the sternum.
    Atkinson, R J C and Evans, J G, 1978. Recent excavations at Stonehenge. Antiquity, 52, 235-6
    Evans, J G, 1984, Stonehenge: the environment in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, and a Beaker burial. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 78, 7-30

    1978. Alexander Thorn and Richard Atkinson. NE side of Station Stone 94. (Diary)

    1979-80. George Smith excavated in the Stonehenge carpark on behalf of the Central Excavation Unit.
    Smith, G, 1980, Excavations in Stonehenge car park. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 74/75 (1979-80), 181

    1979-80. Mike Pitts excavated along south side of A344 in advance of cable-laying and pipe-trenching. In 1979, discovered the Heel Stone 97 original pit (96 original Altar Stone pit). Survey along the Avenue course identified more pits. In 1980, excavated beside the A344 and discovered a stone floor (a complete prehistoric artefact assemblage retained from the monument).
    Pitts, M W, 1982, On the road to Stonehenge: Report on investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979, and 1980. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 48, 75-132

    1981. The Central Excavation Unit excavated in advance of the construction of the footpath through Stonehenge.
    Bond, D, 1983, An excavation at Stonehenge, 1981. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 77, 39-43.

    1984. Garry Denke (and Hell's Angels) seismic survey. Auger cored 1.2m (4ft) below Heel Stone 96 (under lion head). Gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, bone, concrete reconfirmed. No coal in cores. Stonehenge Free Festival.
    Denke, G, 1984, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Surveys at Heelstone, Stonehenge, United Kingdom. (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) GDG, 84, 1-42

    1990-6. A series of assessments and field evaluations in advance of the Stonehenge Conservation and Management Programme.
    Darvill, T C, 1997, Stonehenge Conservation and Management Programme: a summary of archaeological assessments and field evaluations undertaken 1990-1996. London: English Heritage

    1994. Wessex Archaeology. Limited Auger Survey.
    Cleal, R M J, Walker, K E, and Montague, R, 1995, Stonehenge and its landscape: twentieth-century excavations (English Heritage Archaeological Report 10). London: English Heritage.

    2008. Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright set out to date the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle at Stonehenge and to chart the history of the Bluestones, and their use.
    The Antiquaries Journal, Volume 89, September 2009, 1-19
    Mike Parker Pearson, Julian Richards, and Mike Pitts further the excavation of 'Aubrey Hole' 7 discovered by William Hawley, 1920.

    2012-13. Stonehenge A344 road excavated and removed. (Diary)

    Complete History of Stonehenge Excavations

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dame Helen Ghosh (National Trust) and Kate Mavor (English Heritage) added these:

    1616. Doctor William Harvey, Gilbert North, and Inigo Jones find horns of stags and oxen, coals, charcoals, batter-dashers, heads of arrows, pieces of rusted armour, rotten bones, thuribulum (censer) pottery, and a large nail.
    Long, William, 1876, Stonehenge and its Barrows. The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, Volume 16

    1716. Thomas Hayward, owner of Stonehenge, dug heads of oxen and other beasts. (Diary)

    1757. Benjamin Franklin observes Bear's Stone (96) lion, calf (ox), face as a man, flying eagle, bear (dog), leopard, and Hele Stone 'hidden' relics below them. (Diary)

    1877. Charles Darwin digs at Stonehenge to study 'Sinking of great Stones through the Action of Worms'.
    Darwin, Charles,1881, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on Their Habits. London: John Murray

    2008. Willis, C, Marshall, P, McKinley, J, Pitts, M, Pollard, J, Richards, C, Richards, J, Thomas, J, Waldron, T, Welham, K, and Parker Pearson, M, 2016, The dead of Stonehenge. Antiquity, Volume 90, Issue 350, April 2016, 337-356

    https://archive.org/stream/wiltshirearchaeo16arch#page/n5/mode/2up
    http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1474049/1/Dead%20of%20Stonehenge%20Antiquity%20final%20version.pdf

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete