Of nearly two thousand stone rings that are believed to have been built in the British Isles the most significant and the most famous is probably Stonehenge, where construction began built somewhere in the region of five thousand years ago on what is now known as Salisbury Plain. There are many myths surrounding the site and the stones, unfortunately, it is the presence of many of these that has been responsible for the present day ignorance concerning it's origins. The major of these being the 17th century theory that suggested that Stonehenge (and other megalithic structures) was constructed by the Druids, although even the latest stages of construction predate the Druids by 1500 years. Other seventeenth-and eighteenth-century visitors to the stone rings have been responsible for their own particular theories as to who it was that was responsible for the construction. The most common theory during this period was that the Romans were responsible, an idea that lacks credibility for two major reasons, the first of these being that the last stage of construction was completed more than a millenium before the Romans set foot in Britain.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prehistorians suggested that Stonehenge, and other stone rings, were built by Egyptian and Mycenean travellers who were thought to have introduced the Bronze Age culture into Britain. This seems very unlikely though as it is now realised (thanks to Carbon dating) that Stonehenge pre-dates these cultures.
As long ago as the end of the 18th century the number of visitors was damaging the site to the extent that two stones actually fell in 1900, the result being that two stones actually fell in this year. This led to the owner of the site, Sir Edward Antrobus fencing it in and charging an entry fee, which was disputed by the Druids in the courts as they believed that they had a right to enter the site unhindered, the high court found in favour of the owner in 1905 but it is known that despite the entry fee the ceremonies that year were still well attended.
The newly formed English Heritage took control of Stonehenge (and many other ancient sites) in 1984 and since this it has been possible to visit the inner circle only with written permission from EH and even then there are limitations on the number of people and the dates at which they are allowed to visit with the banning of everybody from the site during what had been the times of ceremonies, that is the Summer and Winter Solstices and the Spring and Winter equinoxes.
The first construction at the site has been calculated by means of radio-carbon dating to have been over five millennia ago (3100 BC) and this saw the formation of a circular ditch of 320 feet (97.5 metres) diameter with an internal bank, a single entrance, a wooden construction in the centre and 56 holes around the perimeter (fig.1).
During the 1950's and 1960's they conducted precise surveys at various stone rings and other megalithic structures where they discovered what they considered to be many significant astronomical alignments among the stones which they suggested was evidence that the stone rings were used as astronomical observatories. In 1964 Hawkins stated that there were twenty-four solar and lunar alignments at Stonehenge, and went on to propose the theory that the holes at the site could be used as a calculator to predict eclipses….
To predict eclipses, knowledge of not only the solar year is required but also the determination of two other cycles is required, the length of the lunar month and the cycle of rotation of two invisible points in space known as the lunar nodes, the points at which the Moon’s orbit intersects the plane of the Earth’s orbit.
The alignments that apply to the solar year are well known and the lunar cycle can be determined by the use of two rings of 29 and 30 holes respectively, (averaging out at 29 ˝). The third alignment suggests that the builders, or at least the planners, of Stonehenge must have somehow discovered this cycle and then used it, in conjunction with the others, to make the necessary predictions.
It has been suggested that it would have taken many decades of watching countless risings and settings of the Moon with the information being passed on from generation to generation so that the massive stones that are used for the alignment could be erected. It is possible that this was done at the site with marks being placed on the ditch, or in the Aubrey holes, although this is of course conjecture, but why would they want to do this.
Many of the worlds cultures have, throughout history, perceived the eclipses of the Sun and/or moon as some sort of Omen, in this light is it possible that by being able to foretell these events the rulers of the circle could use this information to their advantage. This could have been done in two ways, either by warning the people that such an event was on its way, thus showing that they were not random acts of a God, the darker side is the possibility that those tat were able to predict the events could then demonstrate their "power" and closeness to the Gods by making the sky darken at their will, or last least make it seem that way, there are after all an average of one solar or lunar eclipse each year.
While it is known then that it is possible to use the site to predict eclipses there is some debate concerning the number of solar and lunar alignments involved. It has been suggested that the truth is that Hawkins overestimated this number and tended to find the alignments of which he was previously aware. It may be interesting at this point to note that Christian Churches are built west to east a fact that could, in the future lead people to conclude that our culture is one that is involved in sun worship although we know this not to be true and the alignment of the building is not directly related to it use.
The other major theory about Stonehenge refers to the religious and magical beliefs that the people of the time may have been involved in and a lot of groups and individuals have come up with their own ideas concerning these.
Obviously the most famous of these is the Druids, although it should also be noted that this is also the least accurate for reasons that will be detailed later. Other theories have suggested that it was a site for rituals that may have arranged from a local meeting place or sort of community centre to a place of human sacrifice, devil worship and satanic rites.
The significance of the site as a meeting place was raised by Benjamin Ray (1987), who, as one of the main critics of the work of Thom and Hawkins, states that while there are obviously some alignments at Stonehenge there were not as many as had previously been claimed and that rather than considering the site as an astronomical observatory it's actual purpose was more likely to be discovered by looking at the magical religious uses.
With this theory the alignments are more likely to be intended as a type of calendar with the astronomical alignments setting the dates for certain ritual gatherings or ceremonies. Ray's main argument against the observatory theory is that:
"… Had the ancient builders been interested primarily in making precise astronomical observations, they would not have chosen Stonehenge's circular form with tall stones. That form contains far more stones than are needed, has too many imprecise sight-lines, and prevents observations over the tall stones."
He suggests that it is more likely that, as the architectural form and function tend to replicate the kind of wooden sanctuary that was prevalent in Neolithic times (such as Woodhenge, a few miles to the North West), it was merely meant to be a lasting monument to these earlier structures, especially from the second stage onwards.
This still though does not tell us of it's use or significance, after all while it may be nice to have a lasting structure to these older henges this surely could not have been its only reason for being, or indeed for it being placed in its position. It was erected at a site which was known by the peoples of the region as a site of terrestrial energetic power and as such could be considered as a temple in which the festivals of renewal were performed.
Other evidence which leads toward the idea that it's main purpose was the focussing of power comes from the materials with which the site was constructed, for it to have been merely an astronomical observatory any rock could have been used whilst if the purpose was to harness the natural energies then a particular material would be required. The evidence that the circle had to be made of a particular material actually comes from the fact that it seems unlikely that any body would consider moving stones of 4 tons the 240 miles from their site of origin, especially as there were 80 of them involved (total load 320 tons, or ten lorry loads).
Dr. William Stukeley was the first to record the summer solstice alignment at Stonehenge and went on to propose that the monument was built by Druids as a serpent temple in "Stonehenge, a Temple restor'd to the British Druids"(1740), although to be fair he was not the first to make this claim with the first known link between the Druids and Stonehenge coming from the Romans.
It is highly unlikely that the Druids had ever used the site as their religious ceremonies are typically conducted in wooded surroundings and near a water source, neither of which are available at the circle. Apparently though this didn't stop the Romans from attacking the site as it appears (from the dating of some of the fallen stones) that it was they that were responsible for some of the damage during their purge of the Druids in 61 AD.
It is more likely that, if the site were used for any religious ceremonies then it was by the people whose religious beliefs are known as Wicca or witchcraft. This is not to be confused with Satanism as the art of Wicca is basically a style of life rather than what is now known as a religion and those that follow it celebrate life in all it's forms. To do this they obviously have to be aware of themselves and their environment as well as the powers that are available from these. The ritualism is a very important part of the religion and it would therefore make more sense that they would meet at a significant site which they would always approach from the same direction. Another thing that is important is symbolism and this, when looking into their belief systems, may help to explain why the stones are set out as they are, in position and number.
The astrological alignments are also significant to the Wiccan religion as they not only allow the practitioners to determine the time of year but other important dates and significant astrological alignments the times of which are significant to certain rituals.
The modern Druids do not actually have a lot in common with either the Wiccans or even to their predecessors but their attendance at the Henge has always been witnessed by a large number of spectators, even when the admission charge was introduced at the beginning of the 18th century the number of people who merely wanted to view the ceremony was not any lower.
In 1975 the "Stonehenge Festival" was founded, a free rock/pop festival that attracted many people, the majority of whom were the New Age travellers that were basically that decades version of the 60's hippies. There was however a lot of trouble during the festivals of the early 1980's which lead to a large number of arrests for a wide range of offences, ranging from drug related issues to public order offences.
Not only were the festivals stopped in 1984 when English Heritage took charge of the site but there was an exclusion zone, manned by the police, introduced to stop people from getting to the site and the Druids were also banned from conducting their ceremonies. In the last couple of years English Heritage have relaxed this ban and a small number of individuals representing groups such as the Druids and other British pagan groups have been allowed access to the inner circle.
We may never know the truth about Stonehenge, concerning exactly how it was built, who by or what exactly it was used for. It would seem that from its conception it was built as some sort of astronomical observatory (due to it's alignment) but it is also possible that its uses may have changed over the years.
Although very little is known about the people of the times that the circles were created it is likely that they had an advanced social structure, with the estimated thirty million man hours that were needed for the three stages of construction there would have needed to be a method by which the workers were fed and clothed, it would seem very unlikely that those involved in the construction process would have had either the time or energy to have done their own hunting/gathering or been able to have maintained any sort homestead or smallholdings.
It is likely that without rebuilding the site as it was during its various stages that we will never truly understand it, and even if we were able to do so then it is likely that our preconceived ideas would result in our perception differing so much from that of those who were originally involved that we would still have no idea of its original purpose.
To sum up it could be said that we are asking the wrong questions of Stonehenge, should we not, instead of trying to solve the mystery of the stones try to work out what actually happened to the people that built it.
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