'Living Among the Monuments' is a community archaeology project supported by the Local Heritage Initiative* (Heritage Lottery Fund) and the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. Our aim is to increase awareness of the Neolithic and Bronze Age heritage of the Vale of Eden. There is also an opportunity to take part in an archaeological fieldwalking survey.
The prehistoric archaeology of Eden
The market town of Penrith is situated at the heart of the extraordinary prehistoric heritage of the Vale of Eden. Around four to six thousand years ago this region was a major focus for the construction of monuments by the people of the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
These include one of the largest stone circles in Britain, Long Meg and Her Daughters, while the henges of Mayburgh and King Arthur's Round Table are to be found amidst the outskirts of Penrith itself. Elsewhere in the Vale there are numerous megalithic sites, burial cairns and rock art sites, and hundreds of stone artefacts have been found.
'Living Among the Monuments' will highlight archaeological discoveries in the region, as well as conducting its own programme of research.
Fieldwalking the Vale of Eden
While the Vale of Eden has a wealth of stone circles and other monuments, we actually know very little about the people who built them. Did they live among their monuments, just as people do today?
Fieldwalking is one way to answer this question. This is an archaeological method that is used to map prehistoric settlement by collecting stone tools and other artefacts from the surface of ploughed fields. When farmers plough the land, buried objects are brought to the surface, enabling much larger areas of the landscape to be considered than would be possible through excavation.
Fieldwalking does not damage the fields, the main requirements being permission from farmers and land owners and the assistance of volunteers.
