Stonehenge

Pagans from dorset performed a closing ritual to mark the end of a major archaeological dig at Stonehenge. Members of the Weymouth-based Dolmen Grove order held the ceremony as 10 days of digging finished at the historic site. Tony Jameson, a member of the Grove, said: "It was very good. "The whole archaeological team took part and it was really nice." The grove was asked to the site to represent pagans and druids for an opening ritual at the end of March to bless the dig and placate the spirits. They returned for the closing ritual, part of which was filmed for a TV documentary about the dig to be screened inOctober.

Archaeologists held the first dig at the site in 40 years in a project sponsored by BBC Timewatch and Smithsonian Networks. Mr Jameson said that the archaeologists had found more in the dig than in any other probes. This included revelations about the nature of the site as a healing temple and that the foundations went deeper than previously thought. Mr Jameson said that there was a lack of bones discovered which indicated that the site was not used for sacrifice by druids. He added that tales of druid sacrifices at the site were born of Roman propaganda and that they wanted to clear the name of druids and pagans. Professors Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright led the dig. Their team uncovered sockets which onceheld bluestones which formed the site"s original structure. Mr Jameson said that it was important that the Grove attended the dig and were consulted about it just as church elders would be about anything similar in a church to ensure it was done in a respectful way. The last time an excavation was allowed inside the sarsen stone pillars was in 1964. A double bluestone circle was thought to be the first stone structure to be built at Stonehenge.

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Submitted by Waspie Dwarf: Archaeologists carrying out an excavation at Stonehenge say they have broken through to a layer that may finally explain why the site was built. The team has reached sockets that once held bluestones - smaller stones, most now missing or uprooted, which formed the site"s original structure. The researchers believe that the bluestones could reveal that Stonehenge was once a place of healing. The dig is the first to take place at Stonehenge for more than 40 years. The team now needs to extract organic material from these holes to date when the stones first arrived. Professor TimDarvill, of Bournemouth University, who is leading the work with Professor Geoff Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries, said: "The first week has gone really well.

We have broken through to these key features. "It is a slow process but at the moment everything is going exactly to plan." The two-week excavation is being funded by the BBC and filmed for a special Timewatch programme to be broadcast in the autumn. Professors Darvill and Wainwright say that finding out more about the history of the bluestones could be key to solving the mystery of why the 4,500-year-old landmark was erected. They believe that the bluestones, which were transported 250km (150 miles) from the Preseli Hills in Wales to the SalisburyPlain in Wiltshire, were brought to the site because the ancient people believed they had healing properties. Professor Geoffrey Wainwright said the site could have been a "Neolithic Lourdes". The giant sarsen "goal posts", which came from about 20km (12 miles) away, were thought to have arrived much later. As well as reaching the bluestone sockets, the archaeologists have also unearthed a whole host of other finds as they have peeled back the layers of the 2.5m-by-3.5m (8.2ft-by-11.5ft) trench.

View: Full Article | Source: BBC News

Archaeologists carrying out an excavation at Stonehenge say they have broken through to a layer that may finally explain why the site was built. The team has reached sockets that once held bluestones - smaller stones, most now missing or uprooted, which formed the site's original structure.The researchers believe that the bluestones could reveal that Stonehenge was once a place of healing. The dig is the first to take place at Stonehenge for more than 40 years.The team now needs to extract organic material from these holes to date when the stones firstarrived.

Professor Tim Darvill, of Bournemouth University, who is leading the work with Professor Geoff Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries, said: "The first week has gone really well. We have broken through to these key features. "It is a slow process but at the moment everything is going exactly to plan." The two-week excavation is being funded by the BBC and filmed for a special Timewatch programme to be broadcast in the autumn. Professors Darvill and Wainwright say that finding out more about the history of the bluestones could be key to solving the mystery of why the 4,500-year-old landmark was erected. They believe that the bluestones, which were transported 250km (150 miles) from the Preseli Hills inWales to the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, were brought to the site because the ancient people believed they had healing properties. Professor Geoffrey Wainwright said the site could have been a "Neolithic Lourdes". The giant sarsen "goal posts", which came from about 20km (12 miles) away, were thought to have arrived much later. As well as reaching the bluestone sockets, the archaeologists have also unearthed a whole host of other finds as they have peeled back the layers of the 2.5m-by-3.5m (8.2ft-by-11.5ft) trench. These include a beaker pottery fragment, Roman ceramics and ancient stone hammers.

Copyright: BBC News

Some of England's most sacred soil was disturbed for the first time in more than four decades as archaeologists worked to solve the enduring riddle of Stonehenge: When and why was the prehistoric monument built? The excavation project, which started Monday and is set to last until April 11, is designed to unearth materials that can be used to establish a firm date for when the first mysterious set of bluestones was put in place at Stonehenge, one of Britain's best known and least understood landmarks. The World Heritage site, a favorite with visitors the world over, has become popular with Druids, neo-Pagans and New Agers who attachmystical significance to the strangely shaped circle of stones, but there remains great debate about the actual purpose of the structure.

The dig will be led by Timothy Darvill, a leading Stonehenge scholar from Bournemouth University, and Geoffrey Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries. Both experts have worked to pinpoint the site in the Preseli Mountains in south Wales where the bluestones -- the earliest of the large rocks erected at the site -- came from. They will be able to compare the samples found in Wales to those at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain."The excavation will date the arrival of the bluestones following their 153-mile journey from Preseli to Salisbury Plain and contribute to our definition of thesociety which undertook such an ambitious project," Wainright said. "We will be able to say not only why, but when the first stone monument was built."Scientists believe the bluestones were first put in place about 2600 B.C., but they concede the date is only an approximation at best. The original bluestones were removed about 200 years later and scientists hope to find bits of them embedded in the earth.Darvill said the excavation marks the first opportunity to bring the power of modern scientific archaeology to bear on a problem that has taxed the minds of so many experts since medieval times: Why were the bluestones so important to have warranted bringing them from so far away?To view the rest of this article, please visitthe. ...