What is recorded here

Thirty years of digging and mapping have failed to identify the true purpose of this quiet ditch. It cuts a perfect circle through the hill, yet contains no building, burial or even a single bone. The ditch was dug, abandoned, dug again and left to fill with shale and rainwater. Whatever happened inside that circle disappeared completely, leaving only the shape of the event behind.

Located on the plateau of a broad low hill and 17m N of the ring-ditch (ME038-071001-). This (208) is a subrectangular rounded area (int. dims c. 8m x c. 8m) defined by a funnel-shaped fosse (Wth of top 3.45m; max. D 1.56) creating a circular external edge (ext. diam. 15.3-15.8m). Two basal layers in the fosse had a large proportion of shale, but the ditch was re-cut on almost the same line, and the fills of this fosse had a similar make-up. A second re-cut had a V-shaped section and its lower fills indicate a slower infilling, after which there was a steady accumulation. There were no internal features and the only artefact recovered was a scraper from the upper fill of the fosse. No bone occurred anywhere in the deposits. (Rathbone 2009, 5-6) True location: ITM (695938, 754836) See the attached plans adapted from Rathbone (2009, figs 8, 11, 14) ME038-071_1 Location; ME038-071_2 Location; ME038-071002-_1 Plan; Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 21 April 2022

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