Hello, my name is Alan Endacott and I'm a 65 year old, self-funding, PhD Researcher with the Department of Archaeology at the University of Exeter. I need your help to fulfil a life-long quest to understand the ritual landscapes of Dartmoor - my birthplace and land of my ancestors - and to share the findings. This will be the culmination of decades of extensive fieldwork, during which I have been privileged to discover many previously unrecorded Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, including the well-publicised Sittaford stone circle in 2007, as well as unique prehistoric rock art and hill figures.
The midsummer sun rising over Sittaford Tor and stone circle (Alan Endacott 2015)
Self-funding and conducting fieldwork in my spare time while still working for a living has proved challenging but I have persevered through difficult personal circumstances and physical challenges in order to achieve results – which, so far, are proving very positive and ground-breaking in nature. Some are of potentially national significance will, undoubtedly, ‘re-write the history books’. I have already invested a great deal of time and money into the project and I would really appreciate your help to get it over the line.
One of many examples of possibly prehistoric rock art found during the study (copyright Alan Endacott 2020)
I have made a number of significant new finds during the course of my research to date that are yet to be published. I am just over half-way through the project now and have spent the last three years honing in on a number of case study areas, using a range of techniques to uncover more of their secrets. This has included geophysical surveys – resistivity and magnetometry – and trialling ground penetrating radar, as well as conventional ground surveys and microstudies. In return for your support, you will have the opportunity to follow the project as it unfolds and draws to its conclusion.
Alan Endacott conducting a gradiometer survey on Belstone Common (Jack Cranfield 2022)
I have spent the past two years conducting geophysical surveys on my principle case study sites - Scorhill stone circle; Whitehorse Hill; Clannaborough, Throwleigh; and various sites around Taw Marsh, Belstone - including two previously unrecorded stone circles, a possible Neolithic dolmen and some potentially exciting rock art. The next phase is to follow up the surveys with some targeted excavations and the collection and testing of environmental and dating samples in order to verify the geophysics and to establish the context of the finds, including their relative dates.
Example of the results of a geophysical survey on one of the possible new stone circle sites showing potential buried features, with visible surface stones overlaid (copyright Alan Endacott, 2022)
Alan Endacott excavating a Neolithic house on Orkney in 2012
As I am self-funding, I need help to cover the costs of this fieldwork, as well as fees and other expenses. Any contribution would be very gratefully received and duly acknowledged and you will be contributing directly to the better understanding of Dartmoor's wonderful prehistoric legacy.