By Professor Colin Richards
We can now confirm that the Spurnes site has a fascinating and unexpected history. Remember, we began excavating here due to it being considered to be an Early Bronze Age ‘double-house’. These were constructed directly after the large late Neolithic villages were abandoned between 2800-2400 BC.
At this time, settlement seems to have dispersed into a number of these large double-houses (which appear as two houses facing one another). At first they seem to have been built in close proximity to the abandoned villages – which were still returned to for rituals and burial.
At Spurness it is now clear that we were correct in thinking the site is an Early Bronze Age double house, with the abandoned late Neolithic village at Stove, situated just across the lovely Bay of Stove, in full view.
But to our surprise the double house was built within a massive Early Neolithic house structure nearly 20 metres in, length which was originally inhabited c.1500 years earlier. Today we continued investigating one of the structures forming the ‘double-house’ and found it is probably standing over a metre in height!
We also examined part of what we thought was the front of the huge Early Neolithic house (c.3400 BC). To our surprise it is uncertain whether there is actually an entrance at the end and possible access was through a doorway in the side. What was apparent was beautiful flush masonry which is so typical of Neolithic buildings,
Finds came fast today, including an unusual unfinished macehead which should date to the late Neolithic. This has made us wonder if the date of the double house is earlier than we thought in being late in the third millennium BC – just after the large village at Bay of Stove was abandoned – which would be a truly great discovery!
