The report comes from Current Archeology 421 [April of 2025[ – but see also https://archaeology.co.uk … Crickley Hill is located near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire and seems to have been a religious or celebratory, or even a submissive ceremonial complex that was established during the Neolithic period. It was rebuilt, or re-arranged, several times over 3000 years, according to author of the piece, Steve Vaughan. It is located on the edge of the Cotswold hills with spectacular views across the Severn River valley. It would have been an ideal location to look at the sky. Especially at night. Later, an Iron Age hill fort was built on the hill – completely surrounding the Neolithic remains. This has been dated at around 600BC.
There has been 25 years of actual excavation at the siteled by Philip Dixon of Nottingham University. Human occupation at the site began 3000 years prior to the building of the hill fort. In 3650BC a Causewayed Camp was constructed. They do not seem to have been settlements on a permanent basis but were built for ceremonial reasons as concentric rings of segmented ditches containing deposits of bone and human implements, very often charred. A century later the segmented ditch became a continuous ditch and presumably there was an unknown reason for that. Humans must have been living there – or taking refuge there. Another century passed and evidence of the Battle of Crickley Hill was found – as preserved in hundreds of flint arrowheads. These appear to be concentrated at the entrance ways – and along the line of what would have been a palisade [or weeden wall designed to stop people peering inwards].
Crickley Hill was excavated between 1969 and 1993. Since that post excavation analysis of the finds has taken place – and publication of the results. See https://www.crickleyhill.org …