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The Excavation of a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure on Offham Hill, East Sussex, 1976

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Peter Drewett ,
C. R. Cartwright ,
B. James ,
K. D. Thomas  and
T. P. O'Connor
Peter Drewett
Affiliation:
Sussex Archaeological Field Unit, Institute of Archaeology, University of London
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Summary

The small causewayed enclosure on Offham Hill, East Sussex, being one of the only five surviving Neolithic enclosures in Sussex, was excavated in 1976 prior to its final destruction by ploughing. The enclosure consisted of two incomplete circles of discontinuous banks and ditches. Molluscan analysis indicated that the structure was built in a woodland clearing and that the ditches were not contemporary. A few pot sherds and flint tools were found in the shallow ditches, together with a crouched burial and disarticulated human bones. No conclusively Neolithic features were found in the interior. The possibility that this enclosure, together with others of similar type, may have been areas defined for exposure burial is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 43 , December 1977 , pp. 201 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1977

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