Description

Summary: body sherd of snady red ware with low diagonals below a thickened rim and above a blank zone, from Amesbury G39, Wiltshire, excavated by Paul Ashbee, 1960.

Research results

A sherd of Late Neolithic grooved ware pottery, excavated by Paul Ashbee from barrow Amesbury G39 in 1960.

Botfield (2012) has discussed the designs and depositional contexts of grooved ware in the North Thames Valley as part of her PhD with the University of Birmingham. She found that sites producing grooved ware were concentrated on gravel terraces near to rivers or their confluences. She suggests that the decoration is arborial in nature and that evidence supports the interpretation of a transhumant population, perhaps depositing the vessels as part of celebrations of fertility or thanks giving, to ensure replenished resources upon thier return. Her study also highlights different regional patterns and well as potential differences between the associations of different styles of grooved ware. For instance, grooved ware is commonly associated with henge monuments in the Wessex region, but not at all in the North Thames Valley, whilst the Durrington decorative style appears to be preferencially deposited within or near to tree throws and can be tentatively linked to human remains.