The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 68 • Alasdair Whittle
Figure 4.3 The chambers of the West Kennet long barrow, Wiltshire.
Source: Piggott, S., 1962. The West Kennet long barrow excavations. London: HMSO.
characterizes the transepted monuments of the Cotswold–Severn group, some west Scottish
monuments, and the developed stalled cairns and Maes Howe round cairns of Orkney (Bradley
1993; Sharples in Sharples and Sheridan 1992; Thomas 1991).
Many individual monuments show a sequence of development, and architectural forms were
not static through time. Monuments that ended as long barrows or cairns could begin more
simply. At Street House, Cleveland, a high wooden facade concealed two small structures connected
with the disposal of human remains; only later, when the facade had been burnt down, was the
ensemble covered by a low cairn (Vyner 1984) (Figure 4.4). The first monument at Wayland’s
Smithy was a short, oval barrow, flanked by ditches. It contained, and may have been preceded by,
a banked, probably roofed structure with massive split posts at either end, housing a collective
deposit of human remains. Subsequently, this monument was completely incorporated within a
larger, trapezoidal mound, with terminal transepted stone chambers and facade (Whittle 1991).
The trend through time seems often to have been to greater structural complexity and size. West
Kennet long barrow, for example, with its very long mound and transepted chamber space, may
post-date less impressive and elaborate constructions in its area. On Orkney, the larger stalled
cairns and the Maes Howe cairns, with their passages and central and side chambers, and
connections to the largest Irish passage graves, seem to follow short stalled cairns and more
simple chambered types.
These architecturally varied monuments stood for ideas, associations and memories. Their
forms could encapsulate memories of earlier or contemporary structures: the great timber