Timber circle
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In archaeology, a timber circles are circular arrangements of wooden posts interpreted as being either complexes of freestanding totem poles or as the supports for large circular buildings
[edit] Timber circles in the British Isles
Timber circles in the British Isles date to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The posts themselves have long since disappeared and the sites are identified from the circles of postholes that they stood in. Aerial photography and geophysical survey have led to the discovery of increasing numbers of the features. Often a postpipe survives in the posthole fill aiding diagnosis.
They are usually more than 20m, and up to 60m, in diameter and the posts that constituted them were generally more than 0.5m wide. Technically, they always consist of at least two concentric circles or ovals of timbers although there are variations on the rule such as the monuments of Seahenge and Arminghall, both in East Anglia which are often described as being timber circles.
Wider gaps between the posts are thought to have served as entrance routes. The builders replaced the posts as they decomposed and in some cases stone circles were adopted instead during later phases.
They appear either alone or in the context of other monuments, namely henges, such as that at Woodhenge and henge enclosures such as those at Durrington Walls. The only excavated examples of timber circles that stood alone from other features are Seahenge in Norfolk and the early phases of The Sanctuary in Wiltshire.
They probably served ritual purposes. Animal bone and domestic waste found at many timber circle sites implies some form of temporary habitation and seasonal feasting. They were built on high ground and would have been very conspicuous. Isolated burials have been found at some sites but not enough to suggest a strong funerary purpose.
[edit] Timber circles in the United States
At Cahokia, a series of large, sequentially constructed timber circles have been identified during excavation. These have also been interpreted to serve ritual purposes, probably having to do with the control of calendrical information.
