The secrets of the cliffs at Seven Sisters are set to be uncovered by archaeologists who believe the site could be on the of UK’s most important prehistoric monuments.
The hilltop enclosure at Belle Tout is an ‘archaeological mystery’ – according to the National Trust, whose archaeologists will be starting a dig next month (September) to uncover the secrets before the cliffs erode into the sea.
They hope to find evidence of an early Bronze Age settlement. It is already known that there is a huge outer earthwork, 1.2km long, but archaeologists have yet to arrive at a date for when the hilltop enclosure was built. Previous finds are from different eras including prehistoric flintwork and early Bronze Age Beaker pottery.
What sets this project apart from previous excavations is the application of new scientific techniques such as LiDAR laser scanning, environmental sampling, Optical Stimulated Luminescence (which measures the last time an object was exposed to light) and even analysing microscopic snails, which only exist in certain habitats and give clues as to the ancient landscape. Read more.
Interesting dig, may shed some light on the early Britons, who according to some, had roads long before the Romans arrived and repaved the system.
