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Wednesday 11 February 2015

Every Stonehenge Stone





This is great news -- to be welcomed by all!  A new site which will provide photos and info about every stone at Stonehenge.   Thanks to Stonehenge News for passing on the alert.  Take a look at it -- it's work in progress, but there are already many splendid photos on the site.  No doubt text will follow.  I'm not sure who is behind this enterprise, but the new site will certainly be an invaluable tool when we want to refer to one stone or another in the course of our discussions.......

The Stones of Stonehenge. A new web site with a page devoted to each stone at Stonehenge.

by stonehengenews
http://blog.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/2015/02/11/the-stones-of-stonehenge-a-new-web-site-with-a-page-devoted-to-each-stone-at-stonehenge/

Strange as it may seem, there isn't a useful reference work that shows photographs of every stone at Stonehenge from all (easily) available angles, until now.  The website is a work in progress toward that end. Not all stones currently have pages, but eventually they will have.

Stone Numbering System
The numbering system for the stones is that devised by W.M. Flinders Petrie in the late 19th century and which is still in use by researchers and archaeologists to this day.

Petrie carried out one of the first highly (and dependably) accurate surveys of Stonehenge and decided that all previous systems of numbering the stones were inadequate in one way or another.
He resolved to number the stones in ascending order clockwise from the main axis of the monument and beginning with the sarsen immediately to the east of the axis in the outer circle as seen from the centre. This is Stone 1. All the actual and supposed positions of sarsen stones are numbered, whether or not there is a stone (or fragment of stone) at or near the position.
The horizontal lintels of the outer sarsen circle are numbered by adding 100 to the number for the higher of the two uprights that support each one. So the lintel supported by Stones 4 and 5 is numbered 105, and that supported by Stones 21 and 22 is numbered 122.
There is a single exception to this rule for the lintel spanning Stones 30 and 1 across the main entrance into the monument which is numbered 101 rather than 130. This is because the number 130 is already in use for the neighbouring lintel that is supported by Stones 29 and 30.
The bluestones of the circle within the sarsen circle are similarly numbered clockwise from the main axis beginning with Stone 31. In the case of the bluestones, Petrie did not assign numbers to the supposed positions of any that are missing.
The sarsens in the horseshoe of massive trilithons are numbered clockwise starting from Stone 51 round to Stone 60. Their respective five lintels (or "imposts" as Petrie called these huge lintels) are numbered 152, 154, 156, 158 and 160.
The bluestones of the innermost horseshoe arrangement are numbered clockwise from Stone 61.
The Altar Stone is Stone 80. The two remaining Station Stones outside the circle are numbered 91 (eastern stone) and 93 (western stone). Station Stones 92 and 94 are missing. The Slaughter Stone is Stone 95 and the Heel Stone is Stone 96.
Fragments of stones which are clearly associated with each other are given alphabetical indices, for example Stones 55a and 55b are the two parts of the broken fallen sarsen upright of the Great Trilithon.
http://www.stonesofstonehenge.org.uk/

5 comments:

ND Wiseman said...

It's Simon Banton's brainchild - and a good one too. Taking almost a year do do, every stone is photographed from a minimum of 4-points, with many from 6 or 8.

No lintels yet, but I'm sure they're on the way.

There is commentary on a few peculiarities as well as an explanation (in layman's terms) of the shifted sun at Solstice.

It's a good bookmark for the cache!

Neil

Jon Morris said...

Didn't know it was Simon's brainchild Neil: Sounds a good idea if so. Sometimes difficult to know whether or not to trust anonymous sites (could be any number of people)

Unknown said...

Brian
Keep up the good work!

Finally taking into account the portion of it that disappears below ground and 55a; I now see that Stone 67 is getting longer and longer. And it's about time too. When I sent my book Stonehengeology to MPP some years ago, I suggested that he ought to investigate 67's true length and exact posthole position. Because when standing, this stone completely shut off the winter solstice and prevented it from entering the centre of Stonehenge.
My book Stonehengeology was published and passed to the main libraries purely to protect my copyright. It never was a commercial proposition and none were sold.
Being restricted to three pages, my website is less complete, but up-to-date
www.TheRealStonenge.com

Unknown said...

Brian
Sorry but I see that I have misspelt Stonehenge in my website address. It should be www.TheRealStonehenge.com

ND Wiseman said...

Nice try, Tom.

The stonehole for BS-67 does Not interfere with either solstice sunline, and is inside the plane of S-56.

Its true length has been known since Newall measured it in 1953 when they excavated BS-66, whose position is under the rear south corner of S-55b.

That entire section ─ including the Altar Stone ─ has been thoroughly investigated, and while Gowland makes no mention, it's probable that he also saw it in 1901.

Neil