Hethpool : Neolithic (c. 5000 BC – 2000 BC)

There are no recorded sites on the NSMR of confirmed Neolithic date within the Hethpool study area, although, on the basis of work undertaken close by, it seems likely that the area was at least semi-permanently settled by the end of the Neolithic (Waddington 1999).

Just outside the Hethpool study area, a stone circle believed to be late Neolithic in date (Topping 1981b) is situated on low lying land by the College Burn ([82] NT 892278). Hethpool Stone Circle, one of only such monuments in the Cheviots, commands a clear view along the college valley, and is likely to have been an important focal point for the Neolithic communities of the area. Some authorities consider that it may have acted as a ritual gateway to the Cheviot via the College Burn (Topping 1997, 115-20, Waddington 1999, 176), though this theory has not found widespread agreement (Oswald et al. 2000, 49).