The Forteviot dagger-burial and Henge 1 modification

Abstract

• In the 22nd century cal BC (Figure 4.33 First Dig: Cist 2205–2130 cal BC (68% probability)) a dramatic alteration of the Henge 1 interior occurred. A large pit was dug into the partially filled henge ditch in the southern interior of the enclosure within a fewmetres of where the cremation cemetery had been established almost a millennium previously. Within this pit, large sandstone slabs were arranged to form a cist, in which was placed a rich burial with a rangeof grav e goods including a dagger in its sheath. The grave was then sealed beneath a massive capstone,and finally a cairn was raised over the cist. The uselife of Henge 1 did not end with the insertion of this burial; further activity is evident in the 1st millennium AD and modern period. However, the insertion of the cist appears to have marked the beginning of the end of the prehistoric phase of significance at Forteviot identifiable in the archaeological record.