Merlin's Mound of Neolithic Origin

Merlin's Mound,  located some 25 miles north of Stonehenge  and 5 miles east of Silbury, one of the biggest mysteries in the Wessex landscape and reputed burial site of Merlin the legendary wizard has been dated to the Neolithic period.

Following excavations, new evidence suggests the mound at Marlborough, Wiltshire, was constructed around 4,400 years ago, making it contemporary with the nearby Silbury Hill, [1] suggesting that both neolithic structures are likely to have been constructed over many generations.

Merlin’s Mount, Marlborough, engraving 1810

The Mound, also known as Merlin's Mount, located in the grounds of Marlborough College, has long been recognised as a landscape feature of considerable historical significance. It was the motte on which the keep of Marlborough Castle was built some fifty years after the Norman Conquest.

Samples of charcoal were retrieved during recent coring of the Mound, allowing radiocarbon dating for the first time. The samples, which came from different levels in the Mound, were taken from two bore holes through the height of the 19m (62') monument, showing that it was built in the years around 2400 BC. This is the first solid evidence to confirm that the castle motte is largely a re-used prehistoric structure. At two-thirds the height of Silbury, Marlborough Mound now becomes the second largest prehistoric mound in Britain.

It had previously been suggested the Mound dated back to about 600 AD, the Arthurian Age, legend claiming it as the elusive site of Merlin’s grave. Merlin, as Arthur's wizard, is largely the creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth. There is a tradition, tantalisingly close to the date of Geoffrey’s Vita Merlini, (Life of Merlin) c.1150AD, in which it was recorded in 1215AD that the town was named after 'Merlin's Tumulus', when Alexander Neckham wrote in a poem: "Merlin's tumulus gave your name, Merleburgia". [2] The town's motto 'Ubi nunc sapientis ossa Merlini' meaning ‘Where now are the bones of wise Merlin’ adds further speculation to the location of the wizard’s grave. It is possible of course that Merlin’s Mount was known by that name prior to the circulation of Geoffrey’s tales of Merlin, but the name ‘Merlin’ is not found recorded prior to Geoffrey, indeed in 1086AD it was recorded as ‘Merleberge’ (Maerla's Hill), a Saxon name.

The recent archaeological investigations, including the radiocarbon dating were led by Jim Leary for English Heritage, who said, “This is an astonishing discovery. The Marlborough Mound has been one of the biggest mysteries in the Wessex landscape. For centuries people have wondered whether it is Silbury’s little sister; and now we have an answer. This is a very exciting time for British prehistory”


Notes:
1. Michael Dames, The Silbury Treasue, Thames & Hudson, 1976, pp. 134-136. Dames suggests there is a clear relationship between Silbury, Merlin’s Mount and the Avebury complex. Both hills are situated on the River Kennet, one near its source, the other near its margin.
2. Geoffrey Ashe, The Traveller’s Guide to Arthurian Britain, Gothic Image Publications, 2nd Edition, 1997, p.170.

Sources:
1.The Guardian online - 31 May 2011
2. BBC News online - 31 May 2011

See Also:
The Story of Silbury Hill by Jim Leary and David Field
Silbury: Resolving the Enigma by Michael Dames

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