Cursus Barrows

Amesbury 43 (grid reference SU12024278) comprises a circular central mound 3.4 metres high and 25 metres wide which sits on a plinth and is surrounded by a concentric ring ditch.[4] The overall diameter of the monument is around 60 metres.[4] The barrow was excavated by William Stukeley in 1723 with little result.[4] The north and eastern parts of the barrow mound were damaged by the construction of a turnpike road in the 18th century.[4]

Amesbury 44 (grid reference SU11974278) comprises two barrow mounds which are completely surrounded by a single ring ditch.[5] The eastern mound is 1.6 metres high with a diameter of 15 metres, and the western mound is 2.3 metres high with a diameter of 17 metres.[3][5] The outer ditch is 5 metres wide and 1 metre deep.[3] Both mounds were dug into by Stukeley in 1723, and the western mound was re-excavated by William Cunnington in 1803.[5] The eastern mound yielded a cremation in an urn accompanied by bronze, amber and shale objects, and the western mound yielded a burial and a cremation in a cist.[3]

Amesbury 45 (grid reference SU11864278) is a large ditched bell barrow which still stands 3.5 metres high.[6][7] The monument has an overall diameter of around 56 metres with a central mound which has a diameter of 26 metres.[6] The mound was excavated by Colt Hoare in the early 19th century, who found a cremation close to a cist of black ashes with a few pieces of burnt bone.[6]

Amesbury 46 and 47 (grid reference SU11804277 and SU11774277)[8][9] are a pair of bell barrows with overall diameters of 38 metres and 36 metres.[7] The central mounds are each 20 metres in diameter and just under 2 metres high.[7] The barrows are on an east–west alignment, and the ring ditches of the two mounds join with each other.[9] Amesbury 46 was excavated by Colt Hoare who recovered burned bones with a small spear head.[8] His excavations of Amesbury 47 revealed a simple burial of burned bones.[9]

Amesbury 48 is a bowl barrow which also survives as an earthwork (grid reference SU11704279) although it is now only 0.3 metres high.[10] It includes an outer bank which survives as a slight earthwork 4 metres wide and 0.2 metres high.[7] Excavations by Colt Hoare uncovered a cremation with beads of stone, amber and faience.[10]

Amesbury 49 is a round barrow (or a bowl barrow) which survives as slight earthworks (grid reference SU11524278).[11][12] It has a diameter of around 26 metres.[11] It was excavated by Colt Hoare in the early 19th century without result.[11] The barrow was considered in good condition in 1913 but was severely damaged by ploughing in the mid-20th century.[11] To the south-east is a flattened feature which may be another barrow (Amesbury 114; grid reference SU11544277).[12][13]

Amesbury 50 is a bowl barrow which survives as slight earthworks (grid reference SU11474267).[14][15] The barrow comprises a central oval mound flanked by two asymmetric side ditches which have opposing entrances to the south-west and north-east.[14] The barrow mound stands around 0.5-metre high and measures around 20 metres in diameter.[14] It was excavated by Colt Hoare without result.[14] The barrow was considered in good condition in 1913 but was damaged by ploughing in the mid-20th-century.[14]

In 2010 the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes project,[16] which was engaged in mapping 14 km² of the Stonehenge landscape, announced they had discovered a "henge-like" monument at this location.[17] The discovery, found using ground-penetrating radar and magnetometers, suggested that the large circular ditch had been dug out in scoops (i.e. a causewayed ring ditch). There was also evidence for a ring of 24 one-metre wide pits around the inside edge of the ditch which may have supported a freestanding wooden structure. The two opposing entrances across the ditch, in the south-west and north-east, suggest a similar alignment as Stonehenge. The central burial mound, in this interpretation, may have been built at a later date.[17][18] These discoveries were reported by the mass media in 2010 as a "second henge" at Stonehenge,[19] and it was even stated that Stonehenge's "twin" had been found.[18][20] However, other archaeologists suggested that this hengiform monument may be "just a peculiar Bronze Age barrow".[20][21]

Amesbury 51 is a reconstructed bell or bowl barrow with an overall diameter of approximately 36 metres (grid reference SU11434272).[22][23] Excavations by Colt Hoare revealed a primary burial with a beaker and two secondary inhumations.[23] It was excavated again in 1960 and finds included decayed leather, and a burial lying beneath a tapered board and accompanied by a long-necked beaker and various implements.[23] It was interpreted as a possible mortuary house.[2] The surrounding ditch was shown to be a causewayed ring ditch.[22] Fragments of bluestone were found in the ditch silt.[23] The barrow was considered in good condition in 1913 but was severely damaged by ploughing in the mid-20th century.[22] However, following the 1960 excavations, the mound was reconstructed from the spoil to its current 1.5-metre height.[22]