Stonehenge -- progress or aberration?

This is a fun cartoon about Stonehenge -- but it got me thinking about whether Stonehenge really was "progress" in the sense that it was a development from something else that was inferior, and the forerunner of something that came later that was even more sophisticated.  Actually there was nothing much before it that you can say was clearly related -- Woodhenge?  Pentre Ifan and the other dolmens?  Stone circles and henges?   Hmm  -- not very convincing.

And what came after?  Nothing.  Stonehenge does not seem to have led to anything very much.  So was it really just a dead end or an aberration?  Back once again to the thought that it was in fact nothing more than a wild flight of fancy on the part of some clan or family, and that it was simply  a very early folly, designed to demonstrate status or an ability to do something BIG.

I know that many will be outraged by this thought, and will claim that it was a very sophisticated observatory, a set of alignments tied to astronomical observations with great mathematical precision etc etc.  In other words, it was a sort of high point in civilization, after which things went backwards. 

But I don't like the idea of "lost knowledge" and "lost wisdom" -- so that brings me back to the idea that the whole thing probably had no great significance at all.

The Stones in Weston Big Wood

 Many thanks to Pete G for this excellent photo of some of the stones in the wood.  According to the map there are (or were) at least six stones lying on the surface -- waiting to be identified......

They are in Weston Big Wood, not far from a fairly wide trackway that runs NW - SE.

Brent Knoll, Steepholm and Flatholm

I have just had a very entertaining letter from a gentleman of advanced years (well, he's a bit older then me!) who was heavily involved in a jolly jape in 1973.  Apparently a well-known geologist got all excited because he had just come across an article by another well-known geologist which said that a bluestone had been found on Brent Knoll in Somerset.  (I assume he must mean the 1971 article by Geoff Kellaway.)  Anyway, that led to great discussions about Steepholm and Flatholm in the Bristol Channel, on the basis that if ice had carried one or more bluestones as far as Brent Knoll, then the ice must also have crossed the Bristol Channel islands and must -- presumably -- have left some bluestones there as well.

In the midst of all the excitement, a top BBC producer was getting ready to film a great expedition to check out these localities; and plans were made for a party of four to spend 4 days camping on Steepholm, ferried in by RAF helicopter (from St Athan?) and collected again afterwards.  The whole thing was set up, with the RAF and the BBC ready to roll, when the geologist fell out of his loft, broke his arm, and went bankrupt, while owing my correspondent some money and a tin of coffee.  (I kid you not! You couldn't make this up.........)

So the trip was never made, and the BBC film failed to materialise.

Wonderful stuff.  We have touched on the two islands before, and Rob and Richard have scotched the idea that there is any bluestone present on either of them (as far as I am concerned, I would prefer never to say never....) -- but what about Brent Knoll?  Does anybody have any info on what may or may not be lying about there?

Memo to the RAF and the BBC -- if you would like to fly me out to the islands to check out the presence or absence of bluestones, I'm up for it.

Mammoth evidence for Devensian climate change

 

This new study provides yet more evidence for the climatic oscillations that occurred during the last glacial episode -- called the Devensian.  Gradually we are getting a more reliable picture of how the climate cooled and warmed, and when, and what ground conditions might have been like in Southern England -- including Salisbury Plain.  This all feeds into our ponderings on periglacial stripes and solutional rills.........

DNA study suggests hunting did not kill off mammoth

By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24034954

Researchers have found evidence to suggest that climate change, rather than humans, was the main factor that drove the woolly mammoth to extinction.

A DNA analysis shows that the number of creatures began to decrease much earlier than previously thought as the world's climate changed.

It also shows that there was a distinct population of mammoth in Europe that died out around 30,000 years ago.

The results have published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The view many researchers had about woolly mammoths is that they were a hardy, abundant species that thrived during their time on the planet.

But according to the scientist who led the research, Dr Love Dalen of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the study shifts that view.

"The picture that seems to be emerging is that they were a fairly dynamic species that went through local extinctions, expansions and migrations. It is quite exciting that so much was going on," he told BBC News.

Dr Dalen worked with researchers in London to analyse DNA samples from 300 specimens from woolly mammoths collected by themselves and other groups in earlier studies

The scientists were able to work out how many mammoths existed at any given time from the samples as well as tracing their migration patterns. They looked at the genetic diversity in their samples - the less diverse the lower the population

They found that the species nearly went extinct 120,000 years ago when the world warmed up for a while. Numbers are thought to have dropped from several million to tens of thousands but numbers recovered as the planet entered another ice age.

The researchers also found that the decline that led to their eventual extinction began 20,000 years ago when the Ice Age was at its height, rather than 14,000 years ago when the world began to warm again as previously thought.

They speculate that it was so cold that the grass on which they fed became scarce. The decline was spurred on as the Ice Age ended, possibly because the grassland on which the creatures thrived was replaced by forests in the south and tundra in the north.

The reason they died out has been a matter of considerable scientific debate. Some have argued that humans hunted them to extinction while others have said that changes in the climate was the main factor.

A criticism of the climate extinction argument is that the world warmed well before the creatures became extinct and so that could not have been the cause.

The new results show that mammoths did indeed nearly go extinct between Ice Ages and so backs the view that climate change was the principal cause for their demise.

These results back a computer simulation of conditions at the time carried out by researchers at Durham University in 2010.

And of course other animals, including humans, became more active after the Ice Age and so competition with other species and hunting may also have been a factor in their extinction, though not the principle cause, argues Prof Adrian Lister of the NHM.

"During the last ice age, between about 50,000 and 20,000 years ago, there were substantial movements of mammoth populations - European populations being replaced by waves of migration from the east, for example," he said.

"But from about 20,000 years ago onwards, the population started the dramatic decline that led to its extinction, first on the mainland about 10,000 years ago, and finally on some outlying Arctic islands. The pattern seems to fit forcing by natural climate change: any role of humans in the process has yet to be demonstrated".'

EH ticks off MPP and the Guardian

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/summer-discoveries-stonehenge

10 September 2013

Thanks to Jon for pointing this one out to us.  It's the EH riposte to that nonsensical Guardian article of the other day --  and if you look at the note at the end, you will see there is a serious rebuke to MPP and the Guardian to get real and to stop fantasising and assuming their fantasies are facts.  That having been said,  EH is almost as bad -- they too have to justify all that expense of digging up the road and checking out what was beneath it -- and they too have come up with a non-story.  They too refer to the "Missing Piece of the Jigsaw"  -- and when we check what this might be, they reveal that the Avenue was once linked to Stonehenge.  Hmmm -- I am distinctly underwhelmed........

So now we await with bated breath to see that the "new" EH interpretation of Stonehenge may be, when it is revealed in all its glory on the opening day of the new Visitor Centre in December.

Summer Discoveries at Stonehenge

Two ditches belonging to the Stonehenge Avenue buried beneath the modern roadbed of the A344 have been uncovered during works to decommission the road as part of English Heritage's project to transform the setting and visitor experience of Stonehenge.

The Avenue, severed by the A344, will be reconnected to Stonehenge soon

The two ditches represent either side of The Avenue, a long linear feature to the north-east of Stonehenge linking it with the River Avon. It has long been considered as the formal processional approach to the monument and is aligned with the solstice axis of Stonehenge. But its connection with Stonehenge had been severed by the A344 for centuries as the road cut through the delicate earthwork at an almost perpendicular angle.
The two ditches were found in excavations undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in their expected positions near to the Heel Stone, about 24 metres from the entrance to monument.

Missing Piece in the Jigsaw

Heather Sebire, properties curator and archaeologist at English Heritage, said: "The part of the Avenue that was cut through by the road has obviously been destroyed forever, but we were hopeful that archaeology below the road would survive.  And here we have it - the missing piece in the jigsaw.  It is very exciting to find a piece of physical evidence that officially makes the connection which we were hoping for."
Dr Nick Snashall, National Trust Archaeologist for the World Heritage Site, said "This is a once in several life time's opportunity to investigate the Avenue beneath the old road surface.  It has enabled us to confirm with total certainty for the first time that Stonehenge and its Avenue were once linked and will be so again shortly."
The Avenue is difficult to identify on the ground but is clearly visible on aerial photographs. Once the A344 has been restored to grass in the summer of 2014, interpretation features will be put in place to clearly mark out the solstice alignment to enable visitors to appreciate the position of the Avenue and its intimate connection with and significance to Stonehenge.

Parchmarks at the Stone Circle

The recent prolonged spell of dry weather has also led to some exciting discoveries within the stone circle. Two eagle-eyed members of staff spotted some dry areas of grass, or parchmarks, amongst the stone circle in July. After investigation by English Heritage experts they seem to be positions of three holes where stones 17, 18 and 19 might have stood on the south-west side of the outer sarsen circle.
Susan Greaney, senior properties historian at English Heritage, said: "There is still debate among archaeologists whether Stonehenge was a full or incomplete circle, and the discovery of these holes for missing stones has strengthened the case for it being a full circle, albeit uneven and less perfectly formed in the south-west quadrant."

===============

NOTE:

This story as reported in the Guardian on 9 September contains a number of inaccuracies. The article, including the headline, failed to distinguish between fact and interpretation, and presented one expert’s view as established fact. It also gives the impression that the expert’s view has been adopted by English Heritage. This is very confusing. English Heritage is firmly of the view that Stonehenge was built as a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun, contrary to what was implied in the article.

Professor Mike Parker Pearson’s theory about the naturally formed ridges is interesting, but is by no means established. English Heritage’s role was to record any archaeology that survived under the A344 and present the results of the recent discoveries clearly to the public. English Heritage’s interpretation of Stonehenge in general will be presented at the new visitor centre due to open in December 2013.

Breaking news -- Stonehenge and the summer solstice!

The latest exciting revelations about Stonehenge -- thanks to Pete G for drawing our attention to the article in the Guardian.  Really, one despairs for British journalism -- there is nothing remotely new or interesting here -- same old stuff, recycled and even regurgitated without any questioning or attempt to assess the info fed to them by the MPP team and/or EH.  So now the periglacial alignments have been cut by "Ice Age meltwater" --  well, fancy that!!  Evidence please, somebody?

EH says it has discovered the "missing piece of the jigsaw"  ---- er, excuse me, but would somebody like to tell me what this is, and where it fits in to everything else?

Stonehenge was built on solstice axis, dig confirms

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/08/stonehenge-ice-age-solstice-axis

English Heritage excavations show site has nothing to do with sun worshipping, and find evidence cir

Archeologists found ridges, formed by Ice Age meltwater, that align Stonehenge with the solstice axis.

English Heritage says it has discovered a "missing piece in the jigsaw" in our understanding of Stonehenge, England's greatest prehistoric site. Excavations along the ancient processional route to the monument have confirmed the theory that it was built along an ice age landform that happened to be on the solstice axis.
The Avenue was an earthwork route that extended 1.5 miles from the north-eastern entrance to Wiltshire's standing stones to the River Avon at West Amesbury. Following the closure of the A344 road, which cut across the route, archaeologists have been able to excavate there for the first time.
Just below the tarmac, they have found naturally occurring fissures that once lay between ridges against which prehistoric builders dug ditches to create the Avenue. The ridges were created by Ice Age meltwater that happen to point directly at the mid-winter sunset in one direction and the mid-summer sunrise in the other.
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, a leading expert on Stonehenge, said: "It's hugely significant because it tells us a lot about why Stonehenge was located where it is and why they [prehistoric people] were so interested in the solstices. It's not to do with worshipping the sun, some kind of calendar or astronomical observatory; it's about how this place was special to prehistoric people.
"This natural landform happens to be on the solstice axis, which brings heaven and earth into one. So the reason that Stonehenge is all about the solstices, we think, is because they actually saw this in the land."
The findings back theories that emerged in 2008 following exploration of a narrow trench across the Avenue. Parker Pearson said: "This is the confirmation. It's being able to see the big picture."
Dr Heather Sebire, English Heritage's Stonehenge curator, said: "The part of the Avenue that was cut through by the road has obviously been destroyed forever, but we were hopeful that archaeology below the road would survive. And here we have it: the missing piece in the jigsaw. It is very exciting to find a piece of physical evidence that officially makes the connection which we were hoping for."
The excavation was conducted by Wessex Archaeology for English Heritage.
The A344 will be grassed over next year as part of English Heritage's £27m transformation of the World Heritage Site, which receives more than 1m visitors annually. There will be a new visitor centre, 1.5 miles away out of sight, to allow Stonehenge to reconnect with the surrounding landscape.
Sebire, who likens the Avenue to The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, said that the latest findings should prompt vigorous academic debate.
The excavations have also uncovered three holes where missing stones would have stood on the outer sarsen circle, evidence, it is believed, that the circle was indeed once complete. Surprisingly, even the most sophisticated surveys failed to spot them. Two members of staff noticed dry areas of grass, or parchmarks.
Susan Greaney, an English Heritage historian, said: "The discovery … has certainly strengthened the case for it being a full circle."
Asked why no one noticed them until now, Parker Pearson said: "The problem is we've not had a decent dry summer in many years. Stonehenge is always regularly watered, and the only reason these have shown up is because – for some reason this year – their hose was too short … So we're very lucky."

MPP to talk at Moylegrove 18 Sept

This year's excavation report / talk for the enlightenment of the locals is at Moylegrove on 18th Sept.  That will probably mark the end of the 2013 dig.  Apparently they are still "in search of the quarries and sites that may be the start of the longest journey for megaliths anywhere in prehistoric Europe."  Do I read into all of that a slight admission that they haven't yet found them.....?  If they had, I suspect that we would long since have had lots of radiocarbon dates in the public domain, as well as a series of spectacular press revelations.

 

Activity details

Venue: Moylegrove Old School Hall, Moylegrove
Activity: Mike Parker Pearson: Rhosyfelin and the Stonehenge bluestones
When: One-off event 19:30 - 22:00 on 18th Sept 2013
Details
How did the bluestone megaliths of Stonehenge get to Salisbury Plain? Were they moved from the Preseli Hills by human agency or by a glacier? 
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist from University College London, is leading a collaborative project involving universities from across the UK in looking at the connection between Preseli and Stonehenge. Their work brings them back this year in search of the quarries and sites that may be the start of the longest journey for megaliths anywhere in prehistoric Europe.