Definition: Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic period megalithic tomb located in southern England, quite near the White Horse of Uffington, with clear evidence of staged construction. The original structure was an oval barrow, built ca 3520-3470 BC, was a wooden mortuary house with 14 to 17 human burials.
After the building decayed it was covered with an oval mound. About a century or so later (ca 3460-3400 BC), the oval mound was incorporated into the elongate mound and passage tomb that is intact today. The passage tomb has four large stones marking the entrance, and probably had six at one time. Some say these are astronomically aligned, but that has not been definitively proven. The name Wayland's Smithy is derived from a legendary Viking figure, but the site is not by any stretch of the imagination Norse.
After the building decayed it was covered with an oval mound. About a century or so later (ca 3460-3400 BC), the oval mound was incorporated into the elongate mound and passage tomb that is intact today. The passage tomb has four large stones marking the entrance, and probably had six at one time. Some say these are astronomically aligned, but that has not been definitively proven. The name Wayland's Smithy is derived from a legendary Viking figure, but the site is not by any stretch of the imagination Norse.
Wayland's Smithy Archaeology
Although John Aubrey among other early antiquarians visited the site, the first excavations at Wayland's Smithy were in the early 20th century. Excavations were conducted in the 1960s by Stuart Piggott and Richard Atkinson who identified the earlier structures.Source
Whittle, Alasdair, Alex Bayliss, and Michael Wysocki 2007 Once in a Lifetime: the Date of the Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 17:103-121.
Current Archaeology ran a story on the redating of Wayland's Smithy in volume 209, called "The new radiocarbon dating revolution."
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
