Materializing Stonehenge

Journal of Material Culture 11 (1-2), 2006

This article reviews recent interpretations of Stonehenge in terms of contrasting uses of stone and timber in the mid-3rd millennium BC. It explores the relationship of this enigmatic monument with circles of wood at nearby Durrington Walls and Woodhenge, establishing how these various

This article reviews recent interpretations of Stonehenge in terms of contrasting uses of stone and timber in the mid-3rd millennium BC. It explores the relationship of this enigmatic monument with circles of wood at nearby Durrington Walls and Woodhenge, establishing how these various

2015

Interpretation of Stonehenge as a burial tumulus

Stonehenge, one of, if not the most famous of the stone circles, has long fascinated humans. Our understanding of it is based on fragmentary knowledge, and so no complete and accurate account of its origins, purpose, construction, κτλ. exists. From the work of scholars and experts in the field, together with new knowledge, we can come to some conclusions on Stonehenge, such as its building method(s), sources, and function. The definition of a "henge" is: "A monument that seems not to have been primarily a sepulchre, but that incorporated conspicuous stone or timber uprights with as many other parts (such as ditches and banks) as were needed to make it self-sufficient as a potential delimiter of astronomically significant directions." 1 In this paradigm, Stonehenge, or henges in general, had astronomical aspects, yet other views are extant. One of the periods with which we are concerned is the Mesolithic era, when humans were first active in the vicinity near to Stonehenge. At this time, pits were dug some hundred metres north of the stones, possibly holding large upright pine posts. 2 Stonehenge had four main building phases, from 3200 BCE to 1600 BCE, according to Burl. 3 From what we can tell, it was always evolving. Perhaps this was due to various people-groups that lived in the vicinity of Salisbury Plain? Many questions arise when discussing stone circles. These questions include the source(s) of materials, the technologies involved in obtaining the stones, transportation, standing the stones, and so forth. With regard to these, we know that the ancient peoples were quite intellectual, utilizing surveying, geometry, and astronomy. Stonehenge's purpose, which is disputed, ranges from calendar, to cult center, to social center. A matter of particular importance is how it is unorthodox among stone circles; Stonehenge is not a proper "stone circle." The activities and technologies involved in constructing Stonehenge, its dating, its purpose, its builders, and its differences from other stone circles will, henceforth, be discussed in this paper.

Archaeology International

Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments, built 4,500–5,000 years ago during the Neolithic in a time long before written history. The recent dramatic discovery of a dismantled stone circle near the sources of some of Stonehenge’s stones in southwest Wales raises the fascinating possibility that an ancient story about Stonehenge’s origin, written down 900 years ago and subsequently dismissed as pure invention, might contain a grain of truth. This article explores the pros and cons of comparing the legend with the archaeological evidence.

Antiquity., 2007

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2017

Neolithic kings to the Staffordshire hoard. hoards and aristocratic graves in the european Neolithic: the birth of a 'Barbarian' europe? Christian Jeunesse Contents vi 13. Sudden time? Natural disasters as a stimulus to monument building, from Silbury hill (great Britain) to Antequera (Spain)

Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, 2009

Both ritual and religion share a common ontology, in that they are materialized through practice-they are technologies of the body and material worid as much as of the mind and immaterial. Acknowledging such offers considerable prospect for archaeology, inasmuch as it implies that the generation, reproduction, and transformation of religion will be worked through and given dimension by material forms that are recoverable. The latter might include the construction of shrines, temples, and other architectural foci for veneration and spirit communication, attendant practices of deposition, and ceremony itself as embodied within architectural forms. Working through details of a-chitectural form, cosmology, materiality, and the sequence of monument construction in the Stonehenge region of Wiltshire, this paper provides an interpretation of the history of reiigious practice during the later Neolithic {c.3000-2300 BC) of central southern England.

Proceedings of the British Academy, 1997

A partir des perspectives offertes par la sociologie et l'archéologie sociale, l'auteur explore l'évolution des significations et usages de Stonehenge et de ses environs immédiats, de 4000 à 1000 av. J.-C. Il fait une distinction entre espace et lieu afin de comprendre le ...