Lesson plan
Pit alignments
Pit alignments are a type of prehistoric monument found throughout the British Isles, the function of which is at present poorly understood. They consist of a series of evenly spaced and often relatively shallow pits arranged in lines. These monuments are most frequently discovered through aerial photography, being morphologically well suited to identification by this method. Some alignments run for large distances, in straight or curving lines, and clearly represent massive undertakings by large numbers of people or by smaller numbers over long periods of time. Some examples appear to have been left open for some time rather than being immediately backfilled and do not appear to have held timber posts; they can sometimes be seen to interact with other pre-existing monuments. Such features would not have formed a significant impediment to travel even if the soil removed from them were used to create a bank running parallel and it seems likely that they would have been used more as markers. In some cases a bank has survived and these monuments are referred to as embanked pit alignments. They may also occur as a series of segments following the same line, and are then referred to as segmented pit alignments.
Article summary
Pit alignments are a type of prehistoric monument found throughout the British Isles, the function of which is at present poorly understood. They consist of a series of evenly spaced and often relatively shallow pits arranged in lines. These monuments are most frequently discovered through aerial photography, being morphologically well suited to identification by this method. Some alignments run for large distances, in straight or curving lines, and clearly represent massive undertakings by large numbers of people or by smaller numbers over long periods of time. Some examples appear to have been left open for some time rather than being immediately backfilled and do not appear to have held timber posts; they can sometimes be seen to interact with other pre-existing monuments. Such features would not have formed a significant impediment to travel even if the soil removed from them were used to create a bank running parallel and it seems likely that they would have been used more as markers. In some cases a bank has survived and these monuments are referred to as embanked pit alignments. They may also occur as a series of segments following the same line, and are then referred to as segmented pit alignments.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.