When was hengistbury head formed

I have also researched the archaeology of Hengistbury and its environs a little over the years, especially during my visits to the excellent Red House Museum who kindly allowed me access to their archives some years ago, before my local studies took a backseat to my Stonehenge-related activities and other projects from December Hengistbury Head exists today due to the presence ironstone doggers rocks that have protected it from erosion by sea and wind.

They were formed approximately 41 million years ago in the deep muddy water of a river delta that covered this area. It is made of a mineral called siderite or iron carbonate FeCo3 mixed with sand and clay.

Siderite acts like a cement binding the sand and clay particles together to form an extremely hard rock. Siderite readily turns to iron oxides, giving the dogger a rusty appearance.

There are indications that some of the flints have Mousterian affinities and the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods are well represented. The Head was in use in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The Priory is clearly visible in the distance with Christchurch's clearly recognisable nautically themed housing and hundreds of masts of dinghies and yachts.

Email This Post. Dorset Life Magazine. All trademarks acknowledged. Website maintained by WD4D. Dorset Life. Advertising rates Other publications Dorset Business Directory. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. This was the beginning of a very unstable period. Temperatures and sea levels fluctuated widely. Tropical seas gave way to warm lagoons and then extreme cold as a series of ice ages gripped the land.

Boscombe SandsThe oldest visible part of the headland was laid down between 65 and The remains of tropical plants, trapped in the sand, give this layer its purplish-black colour.

These olive green, sandy clays were laid down between Trapped within them are the remains of plants that grew in sub-tropical river lagoons, similar to the Florida Everglades. Between These bands of yellow and white sand are evidence of a beach that was here 40 million years ago; and today - an important site for nesting sand martins.