Wayland's Smithy I

Plan of Wayland's Smithy, showing the two superimposed long barrows.
© English Heritage The first monument here, built between 3,590 and 3,555 BC, was a mortuary structure of stone and wood. On a pavement of sarsen stone slabs lay a narrow wooden box, into which people were successively placed. Two split tree-trunks were positioned upright at each end.

The remains of fourteen people, including eleven males, two females and a child, were discovered in the structure, when it was excavated in 1963. New radiocarbon dating has shown that the first burials were probably placed there in 3590-3555 BC, and the last in 3580-3550 BC. The barrow was therefore used for no more than 15 years, less than a single generation. It is also possible that the barrow was used for an even shorter period of time, perhaps just a year.

We don’t know what circumstances caused this group of people to be interred over such a short period. Perhaps the group suffered some illness or injury during conflict. There are potentially three or more people who suffered lethal arrowhead strikes, and two individuals whose remains were subject to scavenging by animals before burial.

After a period of between 40 and 100 years, the structure was covered by an oval mound of chalk and earth, derived from two flanking ditches. This act signalled the closure of the barrow, but its significance was not forgotten.