Cattle teeth found in a prehistoric landfill site at Durrington Walls – a circular earthworks three kilometres from Stonehenge – indicate that the area attracted people in droves from all across the UK as far back as Neolithic times.

Today, Stonehenge attracts some 750,000 visitors every year, half of whom originate from within the UK. But according to ongoing research, the area has been drawing crowds from far and wide for centuries.

‘Both old and new excavations at Durrington Walls have unearthed a huge amount of animal bones, which would indicate that the area was subject to intense human activity, possibly linked to feasting,’ said Dr Umberto Albarella of the University of Sheffield. ‘By analysing these bones, we can build a picture of where the cows came from.’

Unlike those of humans, bovine teeth grow continuously throughout a cow’s life, collecting information about their surroundings through their grazing. By measuring the levels of two isotopes of the element strontium in the teeth, Albarella and colleagues were able to build a profile of the type of environment from which these animals (and hence their owners) had come.

‘The ratio of strontium isotopes varies clearly between different types of geology – different ratios in different parts of the country,’ said Albarella. ‘Most of the bones, if not all, originate from outside of the Wiltshire chalk soils, and two specimens had characteristics similar to the geology found in Wales and parts of Scotland.’

The absence of bones from newborn calves led the scientists to believe that they assumulated during temporary gatherings – possibly feasts – rather than in established settlements.

December 2008