Stonehenge

By Steven A. Culbreath

More than nine hundred stone rings exist in the British Isles, and scholars estimate that twice that number may originally have been built. These megalithic structures should be referred to as rings rather than circles since only 2 percent of the structures are in the shape of true circles; the other 98 percent are constructed in a variety of elliptical shapes. Stonehenge, however, is roughly circular. It is nearly impossible to precisely date the stone rings because of the scarcity of datable remains associated with them, but it is known that they were constructed during the Neolithic period. In southern England, the Neolithic period dates from the development of the first farming communities around 4000 BC to the development of bronze technology around 2000 BC, when the construction of the megalithic monuments was mostly over. Because of the scantiness of the archaeological record at the stone rings, any attempts to explain the functions of the structures are interpretive. Most such attempts have tended to reflect the cultural biases of their times.

In the seventeenth century, well before the development of archaeological dating methods and accurate historical research, the antiquarian John Aubrey surmised that the Druids constructed Stonehenge and other megalithic structures. While this idea (and a whole collection of related fanciful notions) has become deeply ingrained in the uneducated minds of popular culture from the seventeenth century to the present age, it is a matter of certain knowledge that the Druids had nothing whatsoever to do with the construction of the stone rings. The Celtic society in which the Druid priesthood flourished came into existence in Britain only after 300 BC, more than 1500 years after the last stone rings were constructed. Furthermore, no evidence suggests that the Druids, upon finding the stone rings situated across the countryside, ever used them for ritual purposes; they are known to have conducted their ritual activities in sacred forest groves...

Archaeologists have discovered a second stone circle only a mile from Stonehenge, the prehistoric circle named "Bluehenge" would have consisted of 27 large blue stones which are nowmissing from the site."Archaeologists have discovered Stonehenge"s little sister - just a mile from the famous monument.

The prehistoric circle, unearthed in secret over the summer, is one of the most important prehistoric finds in decades."

View: Full Article | Source: Daily Mail

A record 36,500 people turned up at Stonehenge in Salisbury Plain to see the sun rise and celebrate the summer solstice yesterday, the turnout was so great that roads had to be closed and the field turned in to a giant car park."Druids began their incantations, Wiccan priestesses drew their cowls tight against the damp morning air and four half-naked Papuan dancers waved their hands in the air and went: “Woo, woo, woo”.

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View: Full Article | Source: Times Online

He was a giant of a man, a chieftain who ruled with a royal sceptre and a warrior's axe. When they laid him to rest they dressed him in his finest regalia and placed his weapons at his side. Then they turned his face towards the setting sun and sealed him in a burial mound that would keep him safe for the next 4,000 years. In his grave were some of the most exquisitely fashioned artefacts of the Bronze Age, intricately crafted to honour the status of a figure who bore them in life in death. For this may have been the last resting place of the King of Stonehenge - and the treasures that are effectively Britain's first Crown Jewels. Now the entire hoard, recovered from the richest and most important Bronze Age grave on Salisbury Plain, is set to go on permanent display. But 21st-century Britain has thrown up a problem that never troubled ancient man. The artefacts are so rare that they have been kept in a bank vault for the past three decades because they are too precious to put on show without extensive security. So today the Wiltshire Heritage Museum at Devizes is announcing a £500,000 appeal to fund a secure gallery. It will allow the treasures to be displayed alongside some of the many other wonders of Stonehenge, giving a fascinating glimpse of what life was like some 1,800 years BC. The remains of 'Tall Stout Man' were uncovered two centuries ago by archaeologists trying to unravel the ancient stone circle's enduring secrets. In 1808 their attention turned to Bush Barrow, a huge burial mound that boasts the most commanding view of Stonehenge from nearby Normanton Down. Clearly whoever lay here was important. Only when the chamber was excavated, however, did it become apparent just how important. Measurements taken from the skeleton showed that the man would have towered above contemporaries at over 6ft tall. Most of the articles buried with him in the 130ft-diameter, 10ft-high barrow were so fabulously rare that only someone of royal, military or religious power might possess them. To view the rest of this article, please visit the source