Stonehenge Stone Circle News and Information

WHO BUILT IT?

Stonehenge is the ultimate expression of the Spiritual, Artistic, Cultural and Technical understanding of the Peoples and Cultures that collaborated on its building.

Scholars can argue whether these were the ancient Hyperborean’s, the people later to become known as the Picts, the Welsh and indigenous ancient Britons, Pre Celtic Proto-Druids. Latter Bronze / Early Iron, Beaker Age people.

But to us they are simply the Ancestors. The very Giants (Metaphorically speaking) on whose shoulders we sit. The founders of our nation. Who by their exploits put the Might in this once green and pleasant land. The isle of the Mighty.

WHY DID THEY BUILD IT?

Based on what must have been, hundreds of years of observations, Stonehenge’s Primary function was that of a great Solar clock. A means to map out direction and seasonal cycles. A devise to tell with some certainty when to plant, when your very survival was dependent on getting it right.

Later alignments and refinements where incorporated over hundreds of years and it became a gathering point and a place of worship. A place to celebrate the full round of life and to honour the dead.

It was built to map out, and to stand the test, of time. Early mans compass and watch, interpreted by the ‘Priest Caste’, the Wise, from which we get the word Wizard.

A place of Magic to map out also the ‘turning of the wheel’ and the renewal of the Sun and the cycle of death and rebirth.

A Temple and Testament to our Ancestors ingenuity, Philosophy and enduring belief structure. A belief structure shared by many practicing Pagans and Druids to this very day…

WHEN WAS IT BUILT?

Carbon dating places the building of Stonehenge between four and a half and four thousand years ago, a time of a harsh climatic downturn.

A time of great change, a time when agriculture was in its infancy, a time necessitating the accurate marking and keeping of time ,made possible from the observations of the relationship between the sacred land, and Earth mother and the ‘Gods’ of the Heavens and the Sky.

It must be remembered that Stonehenge was not built overnight and was the culmination of hundreds (if not thousands) of years of observations.

The final ‘build’ of the final ‘Phase’ of Stonehenge could have been as long ago as four thousand years ago, but who is to say it was ever completed or what the future holds for this once proud and majestic Temple.

WHAT ELSE WAS GOING ON IN THE REGION?

People from North, South, East and West had been building special places, a great variety of which survive in Wiltshire to this day, marking this as a very significant place within an island littered with the special and the sacred.

Clearly the Ancestors were able to solve complex problems, create amazing designs and execute them in Stone with great precision using simple tools.

They could only achieve this by managing people and resources effectively and co-operating with others not only on a local level but sometimes between people hundreds of miles apart.

The simple logistics, (even with tacit support only) of the ‘tribes’ to bring the stone over such great distances would need an amount of co-operation between what would normally be seen as ‘warring factions’ and would be seem to show either a hierarchy hitherto unknown or lost in the mists of time, or a strength of purpose and unity the likes of which we may only imagine…..

WHAT IS THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR YOUR INTERPRETATION?

Our sources are more widely inclusive than that of any single scientific discipline. We follow developments in Archaeology, Anthropology, Climate Science etc, all of which contribute greatly to the evidence pool.

In addition to these sources we are accepting of the concept that some ideas from the period of the Stonehenge Ancestors may have survived the transition into the Iron-age and beyond. So we study the folk-lore and legends and the Legal systems of Britain and Ireland to gain greater insight into the values and beliefs, some of which may reflect earlier traditions…..

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SITE NOW?

To us Stonehenge is a living, working Temple. A place of pilgrimage for many people of many different faiths and belief structures from across the world. A place to this day to mark the seasons and celebrate the Longest, Shortest and the Equal days at Solstice and Equinox. A place of great reverence and a place of Worship

A Cathedral in fact. One bereft of the ‘Saints Bones’ it was founded on ‘The Guardians’ taken from Aubrey Hole Seven

When they are returned it will be like re-consecrating the cathedral, albeit a Cathedral in need of some repair but a Cathedral and living, working Temple nonetheless …….

WHO SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO IT?

Pilgrims, visitors, tourists, in short the General Public.

The people of Britain especially believe it is their ‘right’ to walk among the stones as they do at nearby Avebury – also in the World Heritage Site.

Free and Open access must be the goal.

You cannot wrap it in cotton wool in the name of preservation nor should you preserve it circa 1950’s. It is a living, working Temple and should be treated as such.

WHAT SHOULD THE FUTURE BE?

We support the Principle of Archaeology and further excavations taking place at Stonehenge and other similar sites and have no desire to stop this study. In fact, we have a good relationship with several of the Leading Archaeologists currently investigating Stonehenge and the surrounding Sacred Landscape and look forward to their discoveries

A serious clash of Cultures comes however with the retention of the Ancient Dead by the scientific community.

Currently we are campaigning for the return of the Ancient Human Remains, taken from Aubrey Hole Seven. The scientific community wishing to retain them for re-testing. We on the other hand wishing them to be re-buried. It is a matter of common decency, Let those we lay to rest, stay at rest as we see it.

One supported by members of all the major faiths and those who have no faith at all. The A-Z of religion signing our petition everyone from Anglican to Zoroastrian.

We don’t view Archaeologists as ‘Grave Robbers’ so long as they don’t behave like them ……

WHAT CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

Stonehenge should not be seen in isolation nor viewed as it is now. Likened to a snared animal with ropes, electric and barbed wire fences around it.

It should be accessed ‘on foot’ and viewed in context with the sacred landscape. Roads and visitors facilities should be at a discreet distance.

Long term I personally can see no better legacy to leave to our future generations yet to come that to rebuild it, to its one true and former glory.

Re-erect the stones (and put the roof on) and by that I mean replace the Lintels

A great visionary project for a once Great and Mighty Nation …..

The quicker they do something about the Stonehenge visitor experience the better – lives are put at danger every day at Stonehenge. At least put a zebra crossing there. Condolences to the womans family.
Sorry, I cant always post good news?

AN American woman on holiday in the UK has died after being hit by a car crossing the road near Stonehenge.

The woman, who has not been named, was crossing the A344 at Stonehenge at 7.12pm yesterday when she was hit by a green Toyota RAV4, which was travelling from Amesbury towards Shrewton.

She sustained multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at Salisbury District Hospital.

The road was closed for several hours while police carried out their investigation

Archaeologists have discovered Stonehenge’s little sister, dubbed Bluestonehenge, just 2.8km away on the west bank of the River Avon.

The site, once made up of 25 blue Preseli stones – hence it’s nickname – was constructed about 5,000 years ago. According to archaeologists from the Stonehenge Riverside Project, Bluestonehenge linked the ‘domain of the dead’ to that of the living at Durrington Walls further upstream, with the River Avon being the vital link between the two.

Archaeologists believe the stones represented the end of the Avenue that marked the funerary processional route from the River Avon to Stonehenge: no pottery, animal bones, food residues or flint tools associated with domestic life have been found at Bluestonehenge.

Director of the project, Professor Mike Parker Pearson from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, said: “It could be that Bluestonehenge was where the dead began their final journey to Stonehenge – Britain’s largest burial ground at that time. Maybe the bluestone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself.”

The stones at Bluestonehenge were dragged 150 miles from the Welsh mountains and set in a circle measuring 10m in diameter and surrounded by a ditch with an external bank – the henge. The outer henge was built c.2400 BC but arrowheads found in the stone circle suggest the stones were put up as much as 500 years earlier. It appears the stones were removed sometime during the Neolithic era, and some were then used up the road at Stonehenge when it underwent a major rebuild c.2500 BC. Archaeologists know that after this date Stonehenge consisted of about 80 Welsh stones and 83 local, sarsen stones so maybe some of the stones now standing at the centre of Stonehenge once stood on the banks of the River Avon. Tests to obtain radiocarbon dates from pickaxes made from deer antlers found at Bluestonehenge will give a more accurate picture of the sequence of events.
Dr Josh Pollard, co-director from the University of Bristol explained: “The newly discovered circle and henge should be considered an integral part of Stonehenge rather than a separate monument, and it offers tremendous insight into the history of its famous neighbour. Its landscape location demonstrates once again the importance of the River Avon in Neolithic funerary rites and ceremonies.”

Prof. Julian Thomas, co-director, added: “The implications of this discovery are immense. It is compelling evidence that this stretch of the River Avon was central to the religious lives of the people who built Stonehenge. Old theories about Stonehenge that do not explain the evident significance of the river will have to be re-thought.”

A clear out at Salisbury District Council’s Planning Office has uncovered a long lost Neolithic document, which experts say, ‘finally explains the purpose of Stonehenge’. After weeks of careful study by a team of Oxford University archaeologists – where the fragile deer hide document had be taken for radio carbon dating and translation – it was revealed today that the document is in fact a 5000-year-old failed planning application for the Stonehenge site.

Contrary to the widely accepted theory that Stonehenge was a place of pagan worship, which had been designed and built to act as some sort of giant celestial calendar – instead, the document details the henge’s intended use – that of a vast covered market place. Dr Amy Bogaard, lecturer in Neolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology at Oxford, explained, ‘Stonehenge was to be a place where local merchants and tradesmen could gather, in order to peddle their wares and services to the thousands of Bronze Age tribes people who occupied Salisbury Plain at the time’. The document includes a plan, which shows that originally 600 stalls were to be constructed over a 200 acre site that would have also boasted ample grazing for 3500 Oxen and cart. ‘Stonehenge was essentially going to be the world’s first out of town shopping centre,’ said Dr. Bogaard.

‘This is an amazing find that not only answers all of the questions we had regarding what Stonehenge was for and why it was built, but also gives us a fantastic insight into the day-to-day life of Bronze Age Britons, their beliefs, their values and their culture,’ Dr. Bogaard continued. ‘For example, we now know that Druidism is not a pagan religion at all. ‘Druids’ was actually the brand name of a chain of prehistoric pharmacists, the forerunner of their modern day counterpart ‘Boots’,’ she concluded.

The document also reveals that the developers of Stonehenge never actually completed construction of the market, as their planning application was turned down by the ‘Local Council of Elders’. The application was refused on the grounds that the planners had, ‘serious concerns over increased Oxen traffic’, ‘did not think that the developers use of imported Welsh stone was sympathetic to, or in keeping with, local architecture’ and felt that, ‘the construction of such a high rise building would detract from the natural beauty and innate flatness of the surrounding plain.’

Commenting on his department’s historically important discovery, the Chief Planning Officer for Salisbury District Council, Mr. Ken Dawson, said: ‘I’m just so thrilled that, although in a small way, my office has helped to solve the age old mystery of Stonehenge. In fact, I’m so proud that it almost feels a shame to have to bulldoze the site. UNESCO World Heritage Site or not, it’s still in breach of the planning laws.’

This short film shows the landscape around Stonehenge as recorded by LIDAR survey (airborne 3D scanning). Millions of measurements were taken across the landscape, and here they have been turned into a ‘solid’ computer model to show how well the archaeology is recorded by this method.

Prehistoric burial mounds (barrows), the great Cursus (a 2km Neolithic monument), the Bronze Age Avenue which links Stonehenge to the River Avon, and other henges such as Woodhenge and Durrington Walls are all clearly visible.

Click here

The discovery of a small prehistoric circle of stones near Stonehenge may confirm the theory that the mysterious monument in southwest England was part of a massive funeral complex built around a river, researchers said Tuesday.
The new find shows that the second stone circle — dubbed “Bluehenge” because it was built with bluestones — once stood next to the River Avon about 1.75 miles (2.8 kilometers) from Stonehenge, one of Britain’s best loved and least understood landmarks.
The find last month could help prove that the Avon linked a “domain of the dead” — made up of Stonehenge and Bluehenge — with an upstream “domain of the living” known as Durrington Wells, a monument where extensive signs of feasting and other human activity were found, said Professor Julian Thomas, co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project.
Project director Mike Parker Pearson said it is possible that Bluehenge was the starting point of a processional walk that began at the river and ended at Stonehenge, the site of a large prehistoric cemetery.
“Not many people know that Stonehenge was Britain’s largest burial ground at that time,” he said. “Maybe the bluestone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself.”
There were very few signs of human life found around Stonehenge and Bluehenge, researchers said, lending credence to the idea that it was used as a funeral site, especially since there were signs that many human beings were cremated there.

A five-university team has been excavating the greater Stonehenge site since 2003 in a bid to unravel its meaning and use.
“This find certainly confirms the idea we’ve put forward that the river is of fundamental importance and links everything,” Thomas said. “Everything is related to the river. That suggests that even before Neolithic time it may have had spiritual or religious significance. This find enhances the idea that all the monuments in this landscape are linked in various ways.”
Researchers did not find the actual stones used to mark the smaller circle found by the river, but they did find holes left behind when the stones were removed.
The scientists believe the massive stones used for Bluehenge were dragged from the Welsh mountains roughly 150 miles (240 kilometers) away. There were clear indications that the gigantic stones from the Bluehenge site were later removed whole for use in the construction of Stonehenge, Thomas said.
They hope to use radiocarbon dating techniques to better pinpoint construction dates.
Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a favorite with visitors from throughout the world and has become popular with Druids, neo-Pagans and New Agers who attach mystical significance to the strangely-shaped circle of stones, but there remains great debate about the actual purpose of the structure.
Rare excavation work at the actual Stonehenge site was begun last year in a coordinated effort to unearth materials that could be used to establish a firm date for when the first set of bluestones was put in place there.

Have a look at this link – has he got the answer on how neolithic man moved those huge megalithic stones ? Clever guy………………..

Click here –
Solution

THE origins and purpose of Stonehenge have always been shrouded in mystery and now the ancient monument has made it on to a list of things Britons find most confusing.
‘Why and how Stonehenge was built’ came 28th in a survey of what people think are the most confusing things – and it wasn’t the only one on the list for Wiltshire, with crop circles coming in at 35th and Swindon’s Magic Roundabout at number 48.
The survey, which polled 4,979 people between the ages of 16 and 65, placed foreign call centres, algebra, what women see in Russell Brand and why Cheryl Cole is still with her husband were named as the top four biggest confusions in Britain.
Birmingham’s Spaghetti Junction ended up 37th in the survey survey, conducted by Confused.com.