Editing Addington Long Barrow (section)

==Design and construction ==

[[File:Addington Long Barrow.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Plan of the monument.]]

Rectangular in shape,{{sfn|Jessup|1970|p=103}} Addington Long Barrow is on a northeast to southwest alignment.{{sfnm|1a1=Grinsell|1y=1953|1p=193|2a1=Jessup|2y=1970|2p=103|3a1=Killick|3y=2010|3p=342}} In 1950, Evans described the monument as having twenty-two sarsen stones, eight of which, at the northeast end, would have originally formed the burial chamber.{{sfn|Evans|1950|p=74}} In 1981, investigators from Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit expanded that number, identifying twenty-five sarsens in the monument.{{sfn|Philp|Dutto|2005|p=3}} Given the dimensions of the chambered tomb, they suggested that it probably once included about fifty stones.{{sfnm|1a1=Ashbee|1y=1993|1p=93|2a1=Philp|2a2=Dutto|2y=2005|2p=3}}

Upon construction, the barrow would have been about {{convert|60|m}} long.{{sfnm|1a1=Evans|1y=1950|1p=75|2a1=Grinsell|2y=1953|2p=193|3a1=Philp|3a2=Dutto|3y=2005|3p=3}} The sides would have been straight but the monument tapered in width from {{convert|14|m}} at its eastern end to {{convert|11|m}} at its western end.{{sfn|Philp|Dutto|2005|p=3}} It thus formed a "truncated wedge-shape".{{sfn|Philp|Dutto|2005|p=3}} The earthen tumulus currently stands at about {{convert|1|m}} in height,{{sfnm|1a1=Ashbee|1y=1993|1p=93|2a1=Philp|2a2=Dutto|2y=2005|2p=3}} although would have been much taller when first created.{{sfn|Philp|Dutto|2005|p=3}} Evans described the tumulus as having been "of immense size", believing that the long barrow would have been "a most imposing structure" when built.{{sfn|Evans|1950|p=75}} No evidence has been found of ditches formed by quarrying for the earth to form the mound.{{sfn|Holgate|1981|p=231}}

A stone chamber was set within the northeastern end of the long barrow,{{sfn|Grinsell|1953|p=193}} although it had been pulled down at some point in the monument's history, while much of the mound was left standing.{{sfn|Ashbee|1993|p=65}} Jessup suggested that this chamber had been a false portal, an architectural feature resembling a doorway but which does not allow entry to the tomb,{{sfn|Jessup|1930|p=70}} an idea supported by Daniel.{{sfn|Daniel|1950|p=233}}

===Meaning and purpose===

Britain's Early Neolithic communities placed greater emphasis on the ritual burial of the dead than their Mesolithic forebears.{{sfn|Malone|2001|p=103}} Archaeologists have suggested that this is because Early Neolithic Britons adhered to an [[Veneration of the dead|ancestor cult]] that venerated the spirits of the dead, believing that they could intercede with the forces of nature for the benefit of their living descendants.{{sfnm|1a1=Burl|1y=1981|1p=61|2a1=Malone|2y=2001|2p=103}} The archaeologist Robin Holgate stressed that rather than simply being tombs, the Medway Megaliths were "communal monuments fulfilling a social function for the communities who built and used them".{{sfn|Holgate|1981|p=223}} Thus, it has been suggested that Early Neolithic people entered the tombs—which doubled as [[temple]]s or [[shrine]]s—to perform rituals honouring the dead and requesting their assistance.{{sfnm|1a1=Burl|1y=1981|1p=61}} For this reason, the historian [[Ronald Hutton]] termed these monuments "tomb-shrines" to reflect their dual purpose.{{sfn|Hutton|2013|p=41}}

In Britain, these tombs were typically located on prominent hills and slopes overlooking the landscape, perhaps at the junction between different territories.{{sfn|Malone|2001|pp=106–107}} The archaeologist [[Caroline Malone]] noted that the tombs would have served as one of various landscape markers that conveyed information on "territory, political allegiance, ownership, and ancestors".{{sfn|Malone|2001|p=107}} Many archaeologists have subscribed to the idea that these tomb-shrines were territorial markers between different tribes; others have argued that such markers would be of little use to a nomadic herding society.{{sfn|Hutton|2013|pp=42–43}} Instead it has been suggested that they represent markers along herding pathways.{{sfn|Hutton|2013|p=43}} The archaeologist [[Richard Bradley (archaeologist)|Richard Bradley]] suggested that the construction of these monuments reflects an attempt to mark control and ownership over the land, thus reflecting a change in mindset brought about by the transition from the hunter-gatherer Mesolithic to the pastoralist Early Neolithic.{{sfn|Hutton|2013|p=39}} Others have suggested that these monuments were built on sites already deemed sacred by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.{{sfn|Hutton|2013|pp=39–40}}