Editing Henge (section)

==Forms==
[[Image:Avebury Stone Circles.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Avebury]] henge contains several stone circles]]
Henges may be classified as follows:
* '''Class I''' henges, which have a single entrance created from a gap in the bank;
* '''Class II''' henges which have two entrances, diametrically opposite each other;
* '''Class III''' henges, which have four entrances, facing each other in pairs.

Sub groups exist for these when two or three internal ditches are present rather than one.<ref name="okneyjar">{{cite web|url=http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/henge.htm|title=The definition of a henge|last=Towrie|first=Sigurd|work=Orkneyjar: The Heritage of the Orkney Islands|publisher=Sigurd Towrie|access-date=4 September 2009}}</ref> Henges are usually associated with the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and especially with the pottery of this period: Grooved Ware, Impressed Wares (formerly known as Peterborough Ware), and Beakers. Sites such as [[Stonehenge]] also provide evidence of activity from the later [[Bronze Age]] [[Wessex culture]].

Henges often contain evidence of a variety of internal features, including timber or stone circles, pits, or [[burial]]s, which may pre- or post-date the henge enclosure. A henge should not be confused with a stone circle within it, as henges and stone circles can exist together or separately.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} At [[Arbor Low]] in [[Derbyshire]], all the stones except one are laid flat and do not seem to have been erected, as no stone holes have been found. Elsewhere, often only the stone holes remain to indicate a former circle.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Some of the best-known henges are at:
* [[Avebury]], about {{convert|20|mi|km}} north of [[Stonehenge]] on [[Salisbury Plain]], in [[Wiltshire]]
* [[Knowlton Circles]], henge complex in [[Dorset]]
* [[Maumbury Rings]] in [[Dorset]] (later reused as a Roman [[amphitheatre]]<ref name="vd">{{Cite web|url=http://visit-dorchester.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=40 |title=Maumbury Rings |publisher=Visit Dorchester |access-date=14 April 2015}}</ref> and then as a [[English Civil War|Civil War]] fort)<ref name="vd"/>
* [[Mayburgh Henge]] in [[Cumbria]]
* The [[Ring of Brodgar]] in [[Orkney]]
* [[Thornborough Henges]] complex in [[Yorkshire]]

Henges sometimes formed part of a [[ritual landscape]] or complex, with other [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] monuments inside and outside the henge. Earlier monuments associated with a later henge might include Neolithic monuments such as a [[cursus]] (e.g., at Thornborough Henges the central henge overlies the cursus), or a long barrow, such as the [[West Kennet Long Barrow]] at [[Avebury, Wiltshire]], or, as in the case of Stonehenge, [[Mesolithic]] post holes. A circle of large pits {{circa}} {{cvt|2|km|mi|frac=4|abbr=off}} across is centered on [[Durrington Walls]] henge.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue55/4/index.html |doi=10.11141/ia.55.4|title=A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge |date=21 June 2020 |journal=Internet Archaeology |doi-access=free|access-date=23 June 2020|last1=Gaffney|first1=Vincent|last2=Baldwin|first2=Eamonn|last3=Bates|first3=Martin|last4=Bates|first4=C. Richard|last5=Gaffney|first5=Christopher|last6=Hamilton|first6=Derek|last7=Kinnaird|first7=Tim|last8=Neubauer|first8=Wolfgang|last9=Yorston|first9=Ronald|last10=Allaby|first10=Robin|last11=Chapman|first11=Henry|last12=Garwood|first12=Paul|last13=Löcker|first13=Klaus|last14=Hinterleitner|first14=Alois|last15=Sparrow|first15=Tom|last16=Trinks|first16=Immo|last17=Wallner|first17=Mario|last18=Leivers|first18=Matthew|issue=55|hdl=10454/18007|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age [[cairn]]s as at [[Arbor Low]].

Examples of such ritual landscapes are:
* [[Balfarg]] in [[Fife]], [[Scotland]]
* Dunragit archaeological excavation site in [[Wigtownshire]]<ref>{{cite web|website=orgs.man.ac.uk|title=Dunragit|url=http://orgs.man.ac.uk/research/dunragit/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519201955/http://orgs.man.ac.uk/research/dunragit/|archive-date=2014-05-19}}</ref>
* [[Heart of Neolithic Orkney]], the UNESCO World Heritage Site on the [[Mainland]], one of the islands of [[Orkney]], [[Scotland]]
* [[Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites]], the UNESCO World Heritage Site located in [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
* already mentioned: [[Arbor Low]], [[Knowlton Circles]], [[Stanton Drew stone circles]], and [[Thornborough Henges]]

Burials have been recorded at a number of excavated henges, both pre-dating the henge and as a result of secondary reuse. For example:
*At Avebury, at least two very disturbed [[inhumation]]s were found in the central area{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} 
*[[Cairnpapple]] and [[North Mains]] both had some burials that pre-date the henges, as well others that post-date them<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/cairnpapple-hill/|title=Cairnpapple Hill}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/26006/north-mains-strathallan|title=North Mains, Strathallan &#124; Canmore}}</ref>
*At [[King Arthur's Round Table, Cumbria]], a cremation trench lay within the monument<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=11978&resourceID=19191|title = Heritage Gateway - Results}}</ref>  
*At [[Woodhenge]], a central burial of a child was interpreted by its excavators as a dedicatory offering <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/woodhenge-wessex.htm|title = Stonehenge. Woodhenge, the origins}}</ref>  
*At [[Maxey, Cambridgeshire|Maxey]], two cremation pit circles in the southern half of the henge, burials was also present within this monument<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1030942&resourceID=19191|title = Heritage Gateway - Results}}</ref>