Stonehenge Essays (983 words) - Henges, Durrington Walls, Stonehenge

Stonehenge Whalon Herbert Anthropology 108 17 November 2000 Dr. Ringle, Professor Stonehenge is without a doubt the most interesting monument in Europe. The ring of stones standing in the open vastness of Salisbury Plain is an evocative image of wonder and mystery. (Scarre, 130) Stonehenge is both traditional and unique in Britain colorful history. It is traditional in that it falls within a whole class of monuments characterized by circular banks and ditches, or by rings of standing stones. Its uniqueness is engulfed within the size of the stones, the complexity of their arrangement, and the balancing of the lintels atop the uprights. There are three other major monuments in Britain, and while they dont receive the same consideration as Stonehenge, they too entice much scrutiny. While the unique characteristics of Stonehenge only help to intensify its marvel, the ambiguities of its intention pose questions that today are still not answered. This essay will discuss monumentality as it compares to the four major henge enclosures in Britain. The monuments, namely St onehenge, Avebury, Marden, and Durrington Walls, will be used in conjunction with discussing what purposes monuments can serve, as well as what the remains of a site can tell us about the culture of a society. Avebury The best-known neighbor of Stonehenge, the Great Circles at Avebury, was built between c. 2,500 and 2,200 BC. Together the two sites illustrate two important general characteristics of the culture of the Bronze Age: the large scale and self-confident view of mans relationship with nature and the almost manic tenacity of a people gripped by an obsession. (Castleden, 93) The Avebury site consists of 2 huge stone circles within the frame of a larger circle spanning twenty-eight and a half acres. The stones of Avebury are remarkable in two ways. They seem to have been shaped naturally with no tooled dressing, such as distinguished the later Stonehenge stones, and they seem to have been placed alternately in two basic shapes-tall with vertical sides, and broad, diamonded shaped. (Hawkins, 83) It is thought that these two shapes symbolized the male and female principles and that their careful selection and alternation show that the builders honored some fertility cult. It has also been rea soned that Avebury was the most important temple meeting place in the area and probably in the whole British Isles, until Stonehenge surpassed it. The source of the huge stone sarsens was site 17 miles south of Avebury. Although they were already formed for the most part, they were half buried in soil, so the first task was to lever them out onto sledges using timber beams. Ingenuity of this caliber indicates the efficiency of the thought processes involved with the construction of Avebury. Even factors like friction were taken into account. Durrington Walls The large circular earthwork situated north of the town of Amesbury in south Wiltshire, England has been one of the more neglected prehistoric monuments, overshadowed by the visual impact of Stonehenge. A prehistoric ceremonial circle, Durrington Walls was probably formed during the last glacial episode, between about 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. The bank that Durrington Walls is built on tells us much about the land in that part of Britain. On the top of the soil and penetrating for a distance of about 7 cm is a rich but localized deposit of refuse which produced pottery of earlier Neolithic type, flints, bones, and charcoal. (Wainwright, 54) These items produced a radiocarbon date of 2450 BC. The environmental evidence, based on an investigation of the soil profile preserved beneath the bank of the enclosure and on an analysis of land snails and pollen from the soils, demonstrates a distinct phase of prehistoric woodland clearance and possible cultivation prior to the construction of the enclosure. (Wainwright, 54) The discovery of more pottery, stone tools, bone, and antler provides much insight as to what resources were available to farmers and builders of this period. Their abundance and distribution, especially in the ditches surrounding the Walls demonstrates how tools were commonly used and discarded. The varying amount of artifacts found at different locations denotes that supplies were not always in such abundance that they could always be discarded at will. It is clear that the effort represented in the construction of Avebury