Stonehenge & Avebury

Stonehenge

This is the postcard .....

... and this is the reality, raining in max.

  

  

 

   

  

Stonehenge is a massive stone monument located 

on a chalky plain north of the modern-day city of 

Salisbury, England. Research shows that the site 

has continuously evolved over a period of about 

10,000 years. The structure that we call “Stonehenge” 

was built between roughly 5,000 and 4,000 years ago 

and that forms just one part of larger, and

highly complex, sacred landscape. The biggest 

of Stonehenge’s stones, known as sarsens, 

are up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall and 

weigh 25 tons (22.6 metric tons) on average. 

It is widely believed that they were brought 

from Marlborough Downs, a distance of 

20 miles (32 kilometers) to the north. 

Smaller stones, referred to as “bluestones” 

(they have a bluish tinge when wet or freshly broken), 

weigh up to 4 tons and come from several different

sites in western Wales, having been 

transported as far as 140 miles (225 km). 

It’s unknown how people in antiquity moved 

them that far. Scientists have raised the possibility 

that during the last ice age glaciers carried

these bluestones closer to the Stonehenge area 

and the monument’s makers didn't have 

to move them all the way from Wales. 

Water transport through raft is another idea 

that has been proposed but researchers now 

question whether this method was viable.  

Salisbury Plain was considered to be a sacred area

 long before Stonehenge itself was constructed.

 As early as 10,500 years ago, three large pine posts, 

which were totem poles of sorts, were erected at the site. 

Hunting played an important role in the area.

Recently researchers uncovered roughly 350 animal

bones and 12,500 flint tools or fragments, just a mile away 

from Stonehenge, the finds dating from 7500 B.C. 

to 4700 B.C. The presence of abundant game may 

have led people to consider the area sacred. 

Recently researchers have also discovered a massive

wooden building, which may have been used for 

burial rituals. Also, dozens of burial mounds have 

been discovered near Stonehenge indicating that 

hundreds, if not thousands, of people were buried there 

in ancient times. At least 17 shrines, some in the 

shape of a circle, have also been discovered near Stonehenge.

As time went on the landscape continued to change. 

Around 5,500 years ago, two earthworks known as 

Cursus monuments were erected, the longest 

of which ran for 1.8 miles (3 km). 

More construction occurred around 5,000 years ago 

with postholes indicating that either bluestones or 

upright timber posts were propped up on the site. 

Then, around 4,600 years ago, a double circle made 

using dozens of bluestones was created at the site.  

By 4,400 years ago, Stonehenge had changed again, 

having a series of sarsen stones erected in the 

shape of a horseshoe, with every pair of these huge 

stones having a stone lintel connecting them. 

In turn, a ring of sarsens surrounded this 

horseshoe, their tops connecting to each other, 

giving the appearance of a giant interconnected 

stone circle surrounding the horseshoe.

By 4,300 years ago, Stonehenge had been expanded to 

include the addition of two bluestone rings, 

one inside the horseshoe and another between 

the horseshoe and the outer layer of interconnected 

sarsen stones.Construction at Stonehenge slowed 

down around 4,000 years ago. As time went on 

the monument fell into neglect and disuse, some of its 

stones fell over while others were taken away. 

Suddenly, you've got a link between 

[the long Cursus pit] and Stonehenge through two massive pits, 

which appear to be aligned on the sunrise and 

sunset on the mid-summer solstice," said University 

of Birmingham archaeologist Vincent Gaffney, 

who is leading the project to map Stonehenge and 

its environs. Recently, archaeologists found an 

interesting connection between the earlier Cursus 

monuments and the later Stonehenge. They found 

that the longest Cursus monument had two pits, one on the 

east and one on the west. These pits, in turn, align with 

Stonehenge’s heel stone and a processional avenue. 

3000 BC

2500 BC

2200 BC

Avebury

Silbury Hill

Of all the historical landmarks spread throughout the British Isles 

Silbury Hill is one of the most remarkable. Accepted as the largest 

man-made mound in pre-industrial Europe it has a symmetry that 

makes it seem almost modern....on seeing it for the first-time the 

uninformed visitor can get quite a surprise on learning of its antiquity.

At 130 feet high and covering an area in excess of 5 acres the 

enormous contours of the hill still challenge us with the mystery of 

why it was built and what for, but the solution to the mystery of 

how it has survived for 4,500 years without eroding away has 

been known from some early excavations.

As the diagram shows, the uppermost part was built as a series 

of drums each getting progressively smaller in diameter with 

increasing height. Each drum is about 17 feet in height with 

the outer wall leaning in at an angle for added stability. The 

inside of each drum consists of a series of radial walls similar 

to a spider's web which divide the drums into 

compartments each of which are filled with chalk the walls 

themselves having been built with chalk blocks. 

A recent survey of the hill now indicates that the drums 

are more in the form of polyhedra than circular 

and may have been built in such a way as to allow the "steps" 

to form a spiral trackway leading to its summit. The construction 

of Silbury demonstrates a high level of sophistication. This 

produces a further mystery...... How did the knowledge of 

building in this way arrive at Avebury?

Surrounding the base of the hill is an extensive ditch which is 

elongated on the western flank. It is believed that it may have 

been deliberately filled with water when Silbury was first constructed. 

number of tunnels have been dug into the hill commencing 

in 1776 when the Duke of Northumberland employed Cornish 

tin miners to sink a shaft from the top of the hill. This particular 

shaft seems to have contributed to a disaster for the hill when on 

May 29th. 2000 a large hole nearly 20m deep appeared on the 

summit. Although the various tunnels and excavations over 

the years have failed to produce any solution as to the purpose 

of Silbury they have revealed that the hill was built in three 

stages starting with a primary mound about 16 feet high and 

120 feet in diameter. Accurate dating for the construction has 

proved difficult to achieve but carbon dating of some 

antler-pick remains recently found at the summit of the 

hill indicate that its construction was completed about 2500 BC 

which pre-dates the building of the avenues 

by about a century. The year of its birth may never be known 

with any certainty but evidence obtained from remnants of insects 

which were found in the hill's base layer indicate that the building 

of Silbury probably commenced during the month of August*. 

There is evidence that a substantial Roman building once existed 

adjacent to the base of the hill on its southern side and recent 

surveys have now revealed that an extensive Roman settlement 

surrounded the road adjacent to the hill.  Quite what the 

Romans thought about Silbury poses an interesting question...... 

they certainly used it as a marker when constructing the 

adjacent A4 road though it is hard to imagine that it didn't play 

a more substantial role in their lives at some time.

During 2007 a massive project to stabilise the hill has been undertaken. 

This is a result of the damage caused by the various tunnels that 

have left substantial voids over the years. The work has allowed 

archaeologists access to the hill's interior and much fresh information 

has been obtained as a result. Hopefully a more precise understanding 

of the construction and chronology will be the outcome*. A very 

interesting development has been the discovery of sarsens within 

the hill which suggests that it conceals a megalithic structure of 

some sort. It is considered that the remains of a stone 

circle might be one possibility.

Whatever motivated its builders Silbury hill remains one of the 

most astonishing achievements of that period. The amount 

of labour it required reveals that the population of the Avebury 

region at that time was large and able to form a cohesive 

work-force. If the purpose of Silbury could be understood 

perhaps the meaning of Avebury as a whole would be much clearer.

West Kennett Long Barrow

  

  

The West Kennett Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow. 

The site was recorded by John Aubrey in the 17th century 

and by William Stukeley in the 18th century.

Archeologists classify it as a chambered long barrow and 

one of the Severn-Cotswold tombs. It has two pairs 

of  opposing transept chambers and a single terminal 

chamber used for burial. The stone burial chambers 

are located at one end of one of the longest barrows 

in Britain at 100 m: in total it is estimated that 15,700 

man-hours were expended in its construction. The entrance 

consists of a concave forecourt with a facade made from 

large slabs of sarsen stones which were placed to seal entry.

The construction of the West Kennett Long Barrow 

commenced about 3600 BC, which is some 400 years 

before the first stage of Stonehenge, and it was in use 

until around 2500 BC. The mound has been damaged 

by indiscriminate digging, but archaeological excavations in 

1859 and 1955-56 found at least 46 burials, ranging from 

babies to elderly persons. The bones were disarticulated 

with some of the skulls and long bones missing. It has been 

suggested that the bones were removed periodically for 

display or transported elsewhere with the blocking facade being 

removed and replaced each time. Recent re-analysis of the 

dating evidence suggests that the 46 people all died within 20 - 30 

years of each other, and that the tomb was open for 1,000 years.

The rest of the barrow is blocked down from public

Back to to the main road and to Stone Avenue

(B4003) which goes to the Avebury Stone Circle

Avebury Stone Avenue

Avebury Stone Circle

Heart Chakra

Above and beneath there are some reconstructions 
of the stone circle. How it could be ...

North

South

Northern small circle

From East

Southern entrance

The Obelisk marks the place for the original 
center stone of the Southern Inner Circle

Sanctuary

View to West Kennett Long Barrow and Silbury Hill

The opposite side of the road

Here, just next to the barrows, starts the Ridgeway National Trail

Tumuli. Many barrows in a line just 
opposite the Sanctuary

East Kennett Long Barrow

Just South from the Sanctuary a still not excavated 
Barrow covered with bushes and trees. It is longer 
and taller than West Kennett Long Barrow. 

From East