Nora Figgis on Prehistoric Preseli: no link with Stonehenge

 

I have been looking again at Nora Figgis's book on "Prehistoric Preseli" (2001) which is after 25 years still the most comprehensive guide to the evidence on the ground.  It's full of fascinating detail, and generally takes the cautious approach of the Dyfed Archaeology field workers who have so painstakingly catalogued the main features of the uplands over the years.  It's much less fanciful than the big chapter by Darvill and Wainwright in the "Pembrokeshire County History" series.  This is what she says on page 48:

"There is nothing, either at Sonehenge or in the Preselis, to suggest any reason for a bonding of special places.  At home, in Preseli, bluestone is used sparsely in the monuments (although a comprehensive prolonged petrological survey has yet to be made). There is nothing to indicate that it was a preferred or special stone here. The tools and weapons made of bluestone are not numerous; indeed, it is among the less used resources, far outranked by the local stones used earlier in the Neolithic. The distribution of objects made of bluestone is wide, and loosely similar to that covered by the infinitely more numerous Craig Lwyd axes from North Wales. Although it was used for prestige objects – maces and battle axes - there are twice as many working tools, axeheads an axe-hammers (although individual axe-heads may have had both functional and prestige value). In fact, were it not for its architectural use of Stonehenge, bluestone would appear to have no more significance than many another suitable and attractive local stone."

I'm not sure that Figgis is cited in any of the articles by the Parker Pearson team. Not surprising really -- far too inconvenient........

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Nora Pamela Figgis was an Irish archaeologist who studied archaeology in Cambridge and at the Institute of Archaeology in London.  She was married to Dr John Evans and moved to Wales in 1967.  One of her publications was a catalogue of Welsh prehistory finds housed in museums and other collections.  She died in 2014.