An archaeologist from Throwleigh has discovered two ‘new’ prehistoric stone circles on Dartmoor, a decade after his first circle discovery.

Alan Endacott found and excavated the 5,000-year-old monuments around Taw Marsh, near Belstone, as part of his PhD research with the University of Exeter earlier this year.

It’s thought that the stone circles were created by people in the late Neolithic period and were adapted by their Bronze Age successors.

Alan said: “Dartmoor has 18 stone circles so to add two more is quite significant. We’re hoping to get a lot more information from the dig to discover how they were built and how they developed over time.

“The stone circles are something I’ve always been passionate about, I grew up by the edge of the moor where there's a whole settlement of circles, so from an early age I was fascinated by them and always wanted to find out more.”

With the help from a group of volunteers, the dig, which took place in September and October this year, also revealed a long cairn and a doleman in the same area.

This discovery supports Alan’s theory that multi-period monuments once formed part of a ritual landscape in the valley surrounding Taw Marsh, to the south of Belstone.

Alan continued: “The excavations have exceeded my expectations, and brought new evidence to light that will help with our understanding of such monuments but, inevitably, they have also raised more questions about why they were built in the first place and then subsequently adapted by incoming populations. 

“But it was amazing to finally have all this work pay off, not just the digs but working with the people who came along to help. The process of discovering these circles was one of the highlights of my life.”

This is far from Alan’s only archeological triumph. In 2007 he rediscovered and recorded the collapsed Sittaford stone circle which made him the first person in a century to find a ‘new’ stone circle on Dartmoor.

This discovery was while he was working on the theory that the so called ‘Sacred Arc’ of stone circles on the north-eastern side of Dartmoor may have continued around the highest ground as a complete ring of stone circles.

Alan’s decade-long research into Dartmoor has been extensive, he’s lived on the moors his whole life and founded the Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton where he's keen to continue his work discovering even more about the moors.

He intends to publish a book about his discoveries in the future, but in the meantime, the results of the excavations will be published as part of Alan’s doctoral dissertation on the Prehistoric Ritual Landscapes of northeastern Dartmoor.  

The dig was supported by the landowner, the Duchy of Cornwall, the local commoners and the Dartmoor National Park Authority and received funding from the Dartmoor Society, the Dartmoor Preservation Association and a personal crowdfunding campaign which helped towards the costs and enabled a professional archaeologist to supervise the digs.

More information on the project and on the broader research can be found on Alan’s Facebook page: https://facebook.com/Dartmoor.archaeology1