Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset
Early Neolithic (3700–3400 BCE)·Early Neolithic·🇬🇧 England, Dorset, near Child Okeford, United Kingdom
About
About Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset
Dorset's flagship causewayed enclosure excavated by Mercer 1974–86, with human skull deposits and later Stepleton enclosure.
Why it mattersKey Early Neolithic earthwork with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Astronomical alignment
- 02Collapse cause
Theories
- 01Observatory
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3700 BCE central enclosure; 3650 BCE outer
- Period
- Early Neolithic (3700–3400 BCE)
- Culture
- Early Neolithic
- Purpose
- Hilltop causewayed enclosure complex with long barrow and later Iron Age hillfort
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1972
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 1200 CE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset
2005 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset
c. 3700 BCE central enclosure; 3650 BCE outer
Initial construction / first occupation at Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset
On the ground
Structures & features
50.9110° N · 2.2100° W · 192 m · 3 mapped features
Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — Principal Rampart
rampartrampart at Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — outlier feature
50.9100° N · 2.2090° WHambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — Northern Ditch
ditchditch at Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — hydraulic feature
50.9128° N · 2.2087° WHambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — Southern Entrance
entranceentrance at Hambledon Hill Causewayed Enclosure Dorset — subsidiary complex
50.9092° N · 2.2107° W