Stonehenge

- Stonehenge -

Stonehenge is a Neolithic site located near Amesbury in Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles northwest of Salisbury. It is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones, known as megaliths. There is some debate about the age of the Henge, but most archaelogists think that it was constructed between 2500 BC and 2000 BC. The older circular earth bank and ditch have been dated to about 3100 BC.

It should be noted that by the beginning of the 19th Century many of the stones had fallen, and were restored to their current positions by Victorian engineers. If nothing else, this means that Stonehenge is not quite as timeless as its tourist publicity would suggest.

The site was added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. It is similar to the circle of stones in northern Scotland known as the Ring of Brodgar. A comparable circular hill-top site in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, was the find-site of the bronze-and-gold Nebra skydisk, currently dated ca 1600 BCE.

The stones of Stonehenge are aligned with particular significance to the solstice and equinox points. As a result, some have claimed that Stonehenge represents an "ancient observatory," although the extent of its use for that purpose is in dispute. Some have theorized that it represents a big vagina. (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,992215,00.html)

Stonehenge is associated with Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth said that Merlin directed its removal from Ireland, where it had been constructed on Mount Killaraus by Giants who brought the stones from Africa. After it had been rebuilt near Amesbury, Geoffrey further narrates how first Uther Pendragon, then Constantine III, were buried inside the ring of stones. In many places in his Historia Regum Britanniae Geoffrey mixes British legend and his own imagination; it is intriguing that he connects Ambrosius Aurelianus with this prehistoric monument, seeing how there is placename evidence to connect Ambrosius with nearby Amesbury.

Stonehenge remains a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and those following pagan or neo-pagan beliefs, and was the site of a free music festival held between 1972 and 1984. However, in 1985 the festival was banned by the British government following a violent confrontation between the police and new age travellers that became known as the Battle of the Beanfield.

In more recent years, the setting of the henge on Salisbury Plain has been by affected by the proximity of the A303 road between Amesbury and Winterbourne Stoke, and the A344. In the past a number of projects, including cut-and-cover tunnels have been proposed for the site, and English Heritage and the National Trust have long campaigned to have the roads moved away from the site. In early 2003 the Department for Transport announced a number of major road widening projects, including the A303. On June 5 the Highways Agency published draft plans for 8 miles of road changes at Stonehenge, including a 1.3 mile bored tunnel taking the A303 under its current route. On September 4 2003 the Highways Agency announced a public inquiry, opening on September 17 which will look at whether the plans are adequate for the site. Many organisations are calling for a longer tunnel, which will protect more of the surrounding archeology and countryside. Plans for the site include a new heritage centre, which should be open in 2006. By 2008 the new road schemes should be completed, and the old roads closed.

Construction

The stones are as follows:

The Altar Stone: a 16 ft block of green sandstone The major stones are all made from an extremely hard silicaceous sandstone, naturally occurring about twenty miles away to the North on the Marlborough Downs. The internal structure known as the "Bluestone Horseshoe" is constructed of much smaller stones, averaging 4 tons in weight. These are the stones which have been sourced from the Preseli Mountains in SW Wales. Mostly they are of Dolorite but include examples of Rhyolite, Sandstone and volcanic and calcareous ash.
The Slaughter Stone
The Heel Stone once known as the Friar's Heel. A folk tale, which cannot be dated earlier than the seventeenth century, relates the origin of the name of this stone.

The Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up, and brought them to Salisbury plain. One of the stones fell into the Avon, the rest were carried to the plain. The Devil then cried out, "No-one will ever find out how these stones came here." A friar replied, "That's what you think!," whereupon the devil threw one of the stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground, and is still there.

File:Heelston.JPG

Some claim "Friar's Heel" is a corruption of "Freya's He-ol" or "Freya Sul", from the Germanic goddess Freya and (allegedly) the Welsh words for "way" and "sun day" respectively.

Station Stones

Other features:

The Aubrey Holes
Y and Z holes

Replicas

There is a full-size replica of Stonehenge as it would have been before decay at Maryhill in Washington State, built by Sam Hill as a war memorial. It's even aligned to the midsummer sun-rise, but to the true position of the sun at the virtual horizon, rather than the apparent position of the sun at the actual landscape horizon.

Another memorable replica of Stonehenge features in the movie This is Spinal Tap.

A car-Henge has been constructed exclusively of cars near Alliance, Nebraska by by the artist Jim Reynolds in 2000 AD.

External Links

Literature

Chr. Chippindale et al., Who owns Stonehenge? (London, Batsford 1990).