The Stonehenge Riverside Project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), has won the award for Archaeological Research Project of the Year.

Part of the prestigious Archaeology 2010 Festival held at the British Museum the award for research project of the year went to the Bluestonehenge excavations of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. This multi-university project is directed by Prof. Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University, with co-directors Dr Josh Pollard (Bristol University), Prof. Julian Thomas (Manchester University), Dr Kate Welham (Bournemouth University) and Dr Colin Richards (Manchester University) and over five years has contributed greatly to a better understanding of Stonehenge and the surrounding landscape.

Fieldwork during the summer of 2009 revealed a newly discovered stone circle at the end of the Stonehenge Avenue in Wiltshire. Originally comprising a setting of 20 Welsh bluestones created about 3000 BC, this is a major discovery.

The results of this excavation confirmed the hypothesis that Stonehenge was part of an integrated complex of monuments linked by the River Avon that were constructed to celebrate the ancestral dead of an important Stone Age lineage.

Further to winning the Research Project of the Year Award Professor Mike Parker Pearson was also presented with the award of 'Archaeologist of the Year' for 2010.

The awards were presented by Prof. Brian Fagan of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The awards ceremony was hosted by Current Archaeology magazine and sponsored by Andante Travels. The awards were made on the basis of voting by Current Archaeology's 28,000 readers. Runners-up for archaeologist of the year were previous AHRC award holders Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe of Oxford University and Professor Clive Gamble of Royal Holloway College.

In September 2009 the AHRC spent a day visiting the 2009 excavation near Stonehenge and interviewing the research team.  A short video podcast is now online that offers viewers an insight in to the scale of the fieldwork being undertaken.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For further information: AHRC Media Contact: Jake Gilmore, tel: 07970 994586

The Stonehenge Riverside Project is run by a consortium of university teams.  It is directed by Prof. Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University, with co-directors Dr Josh Pollard (Bristol University), Prof. Julian Thomas (Manchester University), Dr Kate Welham (Bournemouth University) and Dr Colin Richards (Manchester University).  The 2009 excavation was funded by the National Geographic Society, Google, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Society of Northern Antiquaries.  The overall project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Royal Archaeological Institute.

Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.