Stonehenge: A group of standing stones on Salisbury Plain in southern England. Dating to c. 2000–1800 B.C., the megaliths are enclosed by a circular ditch and embankment that may date to c. 2800. The arrangement of the stones suggests that Stonehenge was used as a religious center and also as an astronomical observatory. since Stonehenge does contain some stones which are not local, though they come from Wales, not Ireland. Even so, the story need not have been passed on orally for millennia; the difference between the local sarcen stones and the intrusive ‘bluestones’ is obvious, so an observer at any period could have deduced that the latter were brought from elsewhere. According to some people these stones were brought from Africa by giants. its stones had healing powers, as water poured over them cured anyone who bathed in it. It is possible that the Druids inherited an oral tradition of the significance of Stonehenge and used it for sacred rituals involving sun worship. Others, like 20th century British astronomer, Sir Norman Lockyer, also saw Stonehenge as a temple, but a temple to the Sun. For him, its significance lay in ancient Celtic festivals.
Previous research by Professor Wainwright and Professor
Darvill, two of the country's most knowledgeable
Stonehenge experts, has shown the Preseli Hills were a
centre for ceremonial and burial in prehistoric times.
They now believe that Stonehenge was initially built as
a major healing centre, the prehistoric equivalent of
Lourdes or Santiago de Compostela.
In their re-evaluation of Stonehenge's original purpose,
they believe it is far more associated with water
sources which traditionally were imbued with healing
properties, than has been previously thought. In
ancient, medieval and even later times, all over Britain
and throughout continental Europe springs were
identified with healing. Yet until now, the only water
link to Stonehenge was that the monument was connected
to the River Avon by a two-mile processional avenue.
Stonehenge may also have doubled as an important oracle,
thus attracting even more pilgrims. The archaeologists
believe that the great stone monument may have been a
temple to the sun god, described by the BC classical
historian Diodorus Siculus citing the fourth century BC
Greek geographer, Hecataeus of Abdera, in a key 1st
century classical source.
A classical legend associated with the Greek Oracle of
Delphi may also be relevant to Stonehenge's past. The
legend states that the oracle at Delphi functioned for
only part of the year because, for three months around
the winter solstice, the site's oracular deity (the sun
god Apollo) went to the "land of the hyperboreans"
(literally "the land of the people beyond the north
wind!"), which is generally believed to be Britain.
Significantly, Stonehenge is aligned with the winter as
well as the summer solstice.
The bluestones are natural columns of white-spotted
dolerite, found only in the Carn Menyn region of the
Preseli Hills, in north Pembrokeshire, and it was from
there, about 4,500 years ago, that Stonehenge's
neolithic builders brought 80 of the stones the 160-mile
journey from south-west Wales to Salisbury Plain. The
reasons why they did so, archaeologists argue, hold the
key to Stonehenge's existence.
Last year, BBC's Timewatch did a programme on Stonehenge
showing evidence the stone circle was an ancient site
for healing. Now Channel 4 is doing a Time Team Special
called The Secrets of Stonehenge, which has a different
theory - that Britain's most famous Neolithic monument
was actually a ceremonial site for the remains of the
dead, helping the departed pass into the afterlife
|