Monuments and mysteries
During the neolithic period, the first monuments began to appear
in the landscape. Stonehenge in Wiltshire is world famous,
but few people know that similar monuments were built in the
Peterborough area. They were usually circular areas enclosed
by ditches and earth banks, and used settings of timber posts
rather than large stones. Henges have been discovered at Maxey, and
very recently at Whittlesey. Cursus monuments, long
rectangular enclosures formed by two parallel banks and ditches,
which may extend many kilometres across the landscape, have been
revealed at Maxey and at Barnack.
The area also has an exceptionally high concentration of
'causewayed enclosures' or 'causewayed camps', large oval
enclosures defined by segments of ditches and banks. The methodical
archaeological excavation of one causewayed enclosure between Etton
and Maxey produced fascinating insights into neolithic life and
religion in the area. Deposits of stone tools, pottery,
animal remains, quern-stones, and even human bones had been placed
in the ground as offerings.
The Bronze Age timber alignment and platform at Flag Fen may
also have served a ritual purpose. Watery places were often
ascribed mystical properties by later prehistoric peoples; valuable
items such as weaponry and jewellery were offered to the gods
through these conduits to the spiritual world. The significance and
use of many of the early monuments is not fully understood, but
they do show that prehistoric communities in the area became
increasingly settled, and that for thousands of years parts of the
landscape were reserved for spiritual purposes.