Older than Stonehenge, the Seven Sisters Round Barrow, Copt Hill, Houghton-le-Spring is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.  It was excavated by Canon William Greenwell and Mr Thomas William Usherwood Robinson, gentleman and local landowner, in September 1877.  They found several cremated bodies, probably Neolithic, some pots and a small number of flints, possibly Bronze Age, and evidence that the barrow was used for further burials in the Bronze Age.  An urn that they found is now in the British Museum. When the City of Sunderland acquired the site they commissioned a geophysical survey from GeoQuest Associates, the first in 2000 and the second the following year.  The Friends of Copt Hill (FoCH) was subsequently formed in 2001.

The FoCH approached Professor AF Harding of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Durham to explore the possibility of an archaeological dig on or near the burial mound.  The first of these took place in June 2003 and included members of staff and students from the University of Durham together with members of the FoCH and local people.

2003 Dig

The 2003 dig threw up some interesting finds: chips and flakes of flint; pits and postholes, in particular some in a line leading from the barrow to the east; a sherd of pottery, from a handmade, probably jug-shaped vessel and a sample of charcoal was taken from one of the pits which showed that it dated from the late Mesolithic period.  In some ways, this dig was disappointing in that there was not a great deal discovered to aid our understanding of the site.  On the other hand, we almost certainly had dated items from the site to the Mesolithic period (8500-4000 BC) - older than Stonhenge and very exciting!  Professor Harding recommended a new survey and a further dig at the site, if possible to include re-opening the Greenwell trenches on the barrow.

In addition to the archaeological finds, the group was thrilled to uncover a large section of limestone pavement (in fact, many of the trenches that were dug also showed the limestone fissures that occur in this part of Durham) which attracted interest from geologists at The University of Sunderland.  Usually only a cross-section of this geologic formation is seen, especially in quarrying, but in this case it was seen from the top, and very interesting it was too.  This area, with very little soil covering it originally, was left exposed and has since been sown with a wild flower mix, under the auspices of Magical Meadows, to encourage native limestone flowers to grow there.

2004 Dig

In July 2004, a second archaeological dig took place.  Primarily, the intention trenches were dug as well.  As before, the dig was lead by staff and students from the University of Durham, with members from the FoCH.  Findings suggested that Canon Greenwell had excavated vertically through the mound from the south to the centre.  The few articles recovered included some human bone and human teeth and a suggestion that these came from at least three individuals.