Introduction

A few centuries ago, ancient inhabitants of the British Isles moved massive blocks of stone and created a large number of stone structures. Many years later, these ancient sites all over the British Isles, of which Stonehenge and Avebury are probably two of the most well-known ones, have been attracting the attention of thousands of visitors.

There are not many people who would deny the mysteriousness and charm that these sites radiate. Visitors come to these structures every year to look at the megaliths and wonder: Who built them? Why are they here? What was the reason for erecting them? What significance did they have for their creators and what significance do they have for today’s society? Is there anything these sites can teach us today? These are the questions to which I hope to find the answers to in my thesis.

My intention is to examine three different time periods: the Neolithic and

Bronze Age, the Romantic period, and the twentieth century era. I am going to take these three periods of time, determine what cultural significance the ancient stone structures had for the society of that time and compare them.

There are hundreds, even thousands of sites all over the British Isles where ancient stone structures can be found. There are also many different types of them and the time of their construction varies considerably. In the first chapter, therefore, there is a brief description of the historical overview and of basic types of ancient stone structures which are located in Britain. The chapter is rather descriptive, but nevertheless, it provides the reader of this paper with valuable information regarding the definition, purpose and possible uses of the individual types of stone monuments.

Selected monuments are accompanied by pictures which are enclosed in the appendix.

1 For years, archaeologists and other researchers have been trying to find out and determine what role ancient stone structures played in the lives of their creators and what purpose they served. The second chapter, therefore, is focused on the cultural significance of ancient stone monuments in the Neolithic and Bronze period. It deals with three main issues: astronomy, economic and socio-political aspect, and religious significance. It is quite important to point out that all three of these aspects are very closely related and mutually interconnected, so it is probable that each of the three sub- chapters contain references related to the remaining two. There are several examples of stone monuments by which I hope to prove that the Neolithic society was indeed aware of the astronomical alignments of their structures with solar and lunar events.

Furthermore, I hope to prove that ancient stone monuments were an inseparable part of

Neolithic and Bronze cultures, as they were important places of gathering where people exchanged their goods, as well as places of social interaction. Finally, I deal with the religious significance of the structures focusing on burial customs and ceremonies, and rituals connected to astronomical events.

Years later, the Neolithic and Bronze cultures that created the stone monuments were replaced with a culture recognizing a completely different set of values. People no longer regarded stone as the most valuable material, but rather as an everyday commodity. The sacred and spiritual connection between people and megalithic monuments has been lost for centuries. In the Romantic period, however, this lost connection experienced a notable revival, and megalithic monuments sparked a growing interest among writers, poets and other artists, bringing their existence to the attention of the general population. The third chapter, for that reason, is devoted to some of the famous works of art and literature of the Romantic period that feature one particular megalithic monument – Stonehenge. I will examine and analyze the work of

2 various writers and painters and pinpoint the important symbolic aspects of the famous stone circle.

A considerable number of individuals and researchers from Britain and all over the world have been drawn to the ancient stone structures because they sense and feel some sort of connection to these places. It stirs their emotions and they believe that by visiting such sites they will find some link to the builders and users of these sites, giving them some idea about their roots. Whereas some feel such spiritual connection, many others may view ancient stone monuments as a good place to spend a day out with their families, and some regard them purely as a good source of income and the spiritual or emotional connection plays little or no role for them. Such views and attitudes towards the ancient sites, Stonehenge chiefly, will be discussed in the last chapter. In particular, the last chapter focuses on the beliefs and points of view of the members of the dominant culture and compares these views with the attitudes of the sub-cultural groups.

3 1. Historical Overview and Types of Ancient Stone Structures

Although this chapter is rather descriptive, it gives us an important overview of the types of stone structures which can be found in the British Isles, which might be quite helpful when reading the other three chapters of this thesis. It already suggests some ideas regarding the astronomical significance, but this topic will be dealt with in more detail in chapter two.

1.1 Long Barrows and Chambered Tombs

These types of structures are the oldest. Most of them were constructed between

4,000 – 2,500 BC. As for the term ‘barrow’, it refers to an earthen or stone mound usually built over the remains of human burials or cremation. There is a wide variety of barrows. The most common being the long barrows which have an elongated structure and are usually wider and higher at one end.

The Chambered type long barrows have stones, usually local sarsens, included in their construction, which form a chamber at the burial end. Large stones form both the vertical walls as well as the roof of the chamber. As the stones weigh many tons, it is clear that building such structure was an arduous and long process. It is quite usual with chambered long barrows that the earthen cover that forms the major part of the mound eroded away over the centuries, leaving only the bare stones. It is believed that the erosion was caused either by the British climate or farming. The perfect example of such an eroded chambered tomb is the Dorset’s Hellstone (Pic. 1). Such structures can be also found in Cornwall, Devon and other parts of Britain. There is a suggestion, however, that many chamber tombs have never had the earthen covering at all. As Peter

Knight points out in his work, “Why did the wind erode some and not others? There appear to be few semi-denuded ones! Food for thought.” (6).

4 There are examples where a chambered long barrow with both the large entrance stones and the long earthen mound has been preserved. Two excellent examples of such structures are the Dorset’s Grey Mare and Her Colts near Portesham

(Pic. 2) and West Kennet (Pic. 3) near Sillbury Hill in Wiltshire. In the former, the earthen mound extends 25 metres from the huge entrance stones; in the latter, the mound is even longer. The actual chamber, curiously, takes up only a small part of the total length.

Another aspect of the chambered long barrows lies in the position in which they were built. A study carried out by Peter Knight illustrates some interesting facts. Out of

47 long barrows found in Dorset, eighteen point to Winter Solstice sunrise, fourteen of them point towards the spring and autumn Equinox sunrises, and some of the other directions mark other astronomical events. It is also clear from the study, that some structures have double orientations. The large chambered end points towards the

Winter Solstice sunrise, whereas the pointed end gives us a Summer Solstice sunset.

Such practice can be seen very well at the already mentioned Grey Mare and Her Colts long barrow. Equally, while the chambered end points towards the Equinox sunrises, the other end gives us Equinox sunsets. Studies of astronomical alignments at other sites, Stonehenge in particular, prove to us that People of the Neolithic Period had a profound knowledge of both astronomy and geometry.

To sum up, it should be repeated that the position and location of long barrows were the principal aspect to their creators. Many are situated in a way to enable astronomical observations; many others lie on ley lines 1, while others are placed in close proximity to other ancient structures such as other barrows, standing stones and

1 hypothetical alignments of a number of places of geographical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths.

5 the like. All in all, they prove that there was a close relationship between the ancient

British population and the landscape that surrounded them.

1.2 Henges

The way to define a henge is that it is a roughly circular area, but more importantly, this area is surrounded by a ditch which has a bank of earth on the outer side of the ditch. Having the bank of earth on the outside and not the inside of the ditch, it strongly suggests that henges were built for the ceremonial purposes, making them places of worship and not defensive structures. Henges date from around mid-Neolithic to mid-Bronze period and they are characteristic to the British Isles and Ireland. The number of henges found in Britain and Ireland is roughly a hundred. As for the word itself, it derives from the ancient name for the most famous one – Stonehenge (Pic. 4).

The word ‘stanhenge’ originates from the Old English, meaning ‘hanging stones’. It is not the huge megaliths that make Stonehenge and the like a henge, it is the bank of earth and the ditch that surrounds them.

Stonehenge is probably the first henge that comes to people’s minds, but more mysterious and astonishing is the gigantic henge at Avebury (Pic. 5). Building this huge structure with primitive methods of engineering was an amazing achievement for prehistoric society. It definitely shows the high level of social organization and structure. The studies have shown that there were up to 180 standing stones enclosed by the ditch, with the additional 400 that formed the two avenues.

Like many other ancient sites, henges too were changed to serve other purposes than their original one. Maumbury Rings henge at Dorchester (Pic. 6), for example, was re-built by the Romans into an amphitheatre. Knowlton henge (Pic. 7) surrounds the

6 ruined church instead of the standing stones that once stood there, and the Mount

Pleasant henge (Pic. 8) is now an arable field.

1.3 Standing Stones and Ley Mark Stones

Standing stones, or megaliths, which have remained erect until present, demonstrate an extensive variety of shapes and sizes, as well as chemical structure. The shape and material of stones often depend on the rock type found in the particular area, but it is also clear that some stones were intentionally carved into specific shapes or have a different chemical structure which is not typical for their location.

As for the origin of the term ‘megalith’, it comes from two Greek words

‘megas’ and ‘lithos’, meaning ‘a great stone’. There is another term that describes a standing stones – ‘menhir’. This term comes from the ancient Celtic language, meaning

‘a long stone’. There is yet another term that derives from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘sar’ and ‘stan’, meaning ‘a troublesome stone’ – ‘sarsen’. It is believed that this term refers to the difficulties that farmers had when re-moving the stones from their fields. Sarsens are the eroded remnants of a very hard deposit of sandstone that once covered the areas of southern England.

Standing stones have many different functions. Some definitely mark burial sites, whereas others make up avenues and posts for astronomical observations from stone circles. Some, however, are only remains of bigger structures. The Two Gates

Stones, for example, are the remains of a long barrow, while the sarsen stones at Little

Mayne (Pic. 9) are the remains of a stone circle.

As for the ley mark stones, they are usually hard to distinguish from the other standing stones. As Peter Knight describes in his work,

Stones used as ley markers are often difficult to differentiate from odd stones used to protect the corners of buildings and others left lying around after

7 roadworks, etc. However, these ley markers help define alignments of ancient sites, joining sites together in STRAIGHT LINES, often over tens of miles. This topic is a quite controversial one with the majority of archaeologists generally still in denial (I wonder what would be the case if an archaeologist with lots of letters after his name had been first to uncover the ley network, instead of Alfred Watkins, an amateur photographer from rural Hertfordshire!). Many academics still dismiss the fact that leys have been statistically proven! (10).

1.4 Stone Circles

Out of all ancient stone structures, stone circles are definitely the most enigmatic and fascinating places of Britain’s prehistoric tradition. When people visit one out of the many hundreds stone circles that can be found in Britain, be it

Stonehenge, Avebury or the Nine Stones (Pic. 10), usually a strange, indescribable feeling of mystique strikes their minds. Aubrey Burl describes this feeling very aptly in the preface of his book A Brief History of Stonehenge:

“Every day people come to Stonehenge, sometimes in hundreds, frequently in thousands. Outside the rope barrier they look at the stones, wonder, listen attentively to their audio-guides, and still leave asking the same question as Byron did 200 years earlier: ‘What the devil is it?’” (Burl, 1995)

Stone circles were constructed during a long span of time, dating between 3,500

– 1,000 BC. The fact that hundreds of stone circles were built shows the crucial importance of these structures to civilizations of Neolithic and Bronze period. The question ‘For what purpose were they built?’ has caused raging discussions for many years. Some studies say that they served the purpose of astronomical observations, as many of the stones in stone circles are positioned in a way to allow such observations.

Other researchers claim that they were used as agricultural calendars, marking important sunrises announcing particular seasons of the year. It is also believed by some that stone circles can store energies which are released by ancient rituals. It is quite understandable that all these theories make the stone circles as magical and awe- striking places as they appear to be. More importantly, they were built by people who

8 lived in harmony with the earth and believed in spiritual power. Their creators used complicated mathematical calculations to build them, as many of the circles are not circles at all, but they are elliptical, eggshaped or flattened.

1.5 Round Barrows

Most round barrows were constructed in the Bronze Age, but many are

Neolithic in age. There are over 40,000 round barrows all over Britain, but has been estimated that this figure is only a fraction of the original number as many of them did not survive until the present day. Some of them are chambered, but the majority are not and they very often stand out on the skyline, forming alignments with other barrows and other ancient structures, making them an important part of the ley system.

Round barrows are very often found in groups close to other structures, such as stone circles which are usually of the same age, and long barrows that are much older in age. Same as long barrows, round barrows as well usually contain burial remains and various relics such as jewellery and other ornaments. There is, however, a theory that round barrows may have also served some other purpose, as some of them lack such artefacts. Some, but not many of the round barrows, also have megaliths incorporated in their structures and play an important role in folklore.

1.6 Stone Crosses

I have decided to include Christian stone crosses because I think that they fulfil the condition of the ancient stone structures. The majority of crosses found in the

British Isles are more than 500 years old and some are even from the Anglo-Saxon times. But more significantly, many of them are modifications of the much older

9 standing stones. Another very important fact is that many of them are alterations of ley stones, bringing the theory of ley lines even more alive.

The cross is, however, not only a symbol of Christianity. Many ancient societies, such as the Celts, used crosses in their carvings and drawings long before

Britain was Christianised.

There is evidence that shows ancient stones were changed in shape or had a cross carved in them to become a symbol of Christianity. It was much easier to do such alterations rather than pull the massive megaliths down and replace them with crosses.

10 2. The Cultural Significance of Ancient Stone Structures for the Neolithic and

Bronze Age People

This chapter is focused on what cultural significance ancient stone structures had for the society of Stone and Bronze Age era. It is concerned with three problems.

The first problem is concerned with astronomy and astronomical observations. The second sub-chapter will focus on the socio-political significance of the prehistoric stone monuments. Finally, the third sub-chapter is devoted to the religious significance of these sites. Before we start dealing with the individual sub-chapters, it should be mentioned that all three topics are very closely related. It is therefore possible some references to different topics will be made in sub-chapters which are not primarily focused on these topics.

2.1 Prehistoric Astronomy

There are many intriguing questions when it comes to the prehistoric astronomy in the British Isles. One of them is whether it ever existed. Did people of the Neolithic and Bronze age built the stone monuments in such a way that they aligned with the movement of the sun and moon, or is it just an illusion created by wrong conclusions of researchers? Another question is: If the builders used astronomical calculations during the construction of the sites, what was the cultural significance for the society? These are two questions to which I am hoping to find the answer in this sub-chapter.

As far as the first question is concerned, a long time will pass before a conclusive solution can be made. However, at present time it is already apparent that a lot of research carried out at many different sites speak in favour of the theory that prehistoric people were indeed aware of astronomical alignments of their stone structures.

11 One of those sites is “the famous ‘observatory’ at Ballochroy (Pic. 11)”

(Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual 7). The structure consists of no more than three stones. They are tall slabs with broad faces set in a row. Their position has caught the attention of astronomers because it aligns with not one, but two major astronomical events: the midwinter and midsummer sunsets. As Aubrey Burl 2 points out in his work

Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual, “That such a combination should occur by chance seems unlikely and Ballochroy has been acclaimed as an ideal observatory for astronomer-priests” (7).

Another example is a passage-tomb Newgrange (Pic. 12) in County Meath,

Ireland. At this relatively ‘new’ structure, dated to about 3 200 BC, the astronomical alignment can be defined much more nicely. Just after nine o’clock on the morning of the Winter Solstice, the sun shines through the roofbox above the entrance and illuminates the central chamber. Burl describes Newgrange and this astronomical event in his work as follows:

Above the lintelled entrance of Newgrange is a narrow, stone-slabbed aperture like a giant-sized letterbox. Such a superfluous feature seemed inexplicable. Legend, however, had it that sunlight somehow penetrated the blocked-up passage and illuminated a triple spiral carved in the dark chamber at the heart of the cairn. Ex-rising sun shone through the gap of the ‘roofbox’, its rays reaching down the passage to the three chambers where the bones of the dead had rested. So well planed was this alignment and so ideal was the roofbox that this almost certainly was its intended purpose but had the alignment been for a living observer the aperture would have been unnecessary because the passage would not have been blocked. It should be noticed, though, that the roofbox was usually closed with two quartz stones that were pushed aside at midwinter. Somebody outside the cairn had to know when this time came and, in that sense, he or she was an astronomical observer (26).

2 A British archaeologist most well known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Prior to retirement he was Principal Lecturer in Archaeology, Hull College of Higher Education, East Riding of Yorkshire (Wikipedia).

12 In Neolithic and Bronze age, people not only paid attention to the daily movement of the sun and moon, but also how the sun and moon moved day by day along the horizon. People were familiar to the countryside they lived in and they saw that the place of sunrise and sunset slowly changed during the course of the year. We know what a prehistoric person could see, because the position of the sun and moon has remained unchanged for the last five millenniums. As Burl points out,

They would have noticed that the sun never rose farther up the skyline than the north-east and that when it was there the daylight lasted longer, the weather was warmer and the trees were in leaf. For three or four days the sun appeared at the same spot, its ‘standstill’ or solstice, and then day after day it rose a little southwards until after six darkening months it reached its extreme winter solstice position at the south-east on 21 st December. Man would soon associate the mid-summer solstice with light and warmth and the south-east solstice with darkness and cold (Prehistoric Astronomy and Ritual 17).

It is quite clear from this passage that the movement of the sun in the landscape provided prehistoric people with some sort of a calendar. The problem was that they did not have any physical form of this calendar. Thus, they decided to build a structure which would provide them with a place where they could gather, observe the movement of astral bodies, and perform religious rituals connected to particular seasons of the year. It is, therefore, highly probable that astronomy and astronomical observations played the crucial role in the construction of many ancient stone structures. More importantly, as the article Theories about Stonehenge argues,

“astronomy was a key factor in the transition from the hunter-gatherer culture to an agricultural one”. Thanks to these astronomical observations, people were able to determine when the suitable time for planting crops was and when was the time to harvest them. It seems, for that reason, that astronomy played an important role in the cultural development of the prehistoric society.

13 Stone structures, however, were not solely created for astronomical reasons.

They also had considerable economic, socio-political, and religious significance for the

Neolithic and Bronze Age people.

2.2 Economic and Socio-Political Significance

In terms of economic significance of the ancient stone structures, it is mainly trade that played the crucial role. In the prehistory of the British Isles, and European prehistory as a whole, there is one tool that was essential to an agrarian society – the stone axe. As Alex Gibson 3 points out,

[It was] a tool which must have been fundamental to an agrarian society within a largely forested landscape yet often made of exotic materials, involving intensive craftsmanship, and frequently buried, in pristine condition, in non- domestic contexts. Complex trade networks appear to have been built around the exchange of axes, a trade in which stone circles appear to have played no small part, and it is therefore not surprising that it is as axe ingots that the new copper and copper alloys were initially traded. (Prehistoric Ritual and Religion, xi)

Remains of stone axes, and axes in almost perfect condition, were found in abundance near the ancient stone structures, which makes Gibson’s theory even more plausible. His argument is further supported by Roy Loveday 4, whose conjecture is expressed in his essay Double Entrance Henges – Routes to the Past?:

Since Houlder’s discovery of a mint condition group VI axe and a group XVIII polishing stone in henge A at Llandegai (1978), it has been a commonplace that henges were intimately associated with the movement of axes. Complexes like Penrith are at nodal points on historically long-established routeways (Toppping 1992) and, like Llandegai, adjacent to stone source areas […] complexes like Thornborough appear ideally suited as ‘staging points’ on the axes’ journey. (Prehistoric Ritual and Religion, 27).

3 Currently projects manager with the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. He has excavated and published widely on Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. 4 Lecturer at the University of Liecester. Completed his doctoral thesis on Cursus and Related Monuments of the British Neolithic and has written a number of articles on aspects of ritual monuments.

14 Archaeological excavations near the ancient stone sites suggest that people of the Neolithic and Bronze period did trade with other prestigious items, such as stone arrowheads, copper daggers, clay pots, or golden ornaments, and “as the trade moved into top near in the later Neolithic it was accompanied by the manufacture” (Loveday,

27).

The ancient stone sites also had a considerable socio-political importance, for common people, as well as for the leaders of the Neolithic society. The greatest socio- political aspect, as many archaeologists and cultural historians suggest, was the construction itself. One of those archaeologists is professor Mike Parker Pearson 5 whose Stonehenge Riverside Project brought many groundbreaking revelations.

Excavations at Durrington Walls 6 revealed a village that consisted of about a thousand houses. This “lost city of the builders of Stonehenge” (Stonehenge Decoded) is the largest settlement in northern Europe. Pearson believes that thousands of people from various tribes gathered for the project of building Stonehenge which suggests an advanced social organization. As no sign of farming activity was discovered, it is probable that people were attracted by Stonehenge and its construction, and by ceremonies, the midsummer solstice in particular. Furthermore, trenches revealed a house which was set higher than the other houses, proposing the idea that this was the house of the tribal chief. More importantly, the fact that the construction of Stonehenge took probably hundreds of hours 7 and that thousands of people participated 8 in this project proves that this dominant culture was very well socially organized. In addition,

5 A professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield in England. He has carried out excavations in South Uist, Madagascar and at Durrington Walls as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. (Wikipedia) 6 The site of a Neolithic village and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. It is 2 miles north east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury. At 500m in diameter it is the largest henge in Britain, and recent evidence suggests that it was a complementary monument to Stonehenge. (Wikipedia) 7 Bringing one stone took months or even years. Stonehenge is the only circle whose stones are shaped and joined together – shaping also took months, as there were no tools. 8 There were no animals to haul the stones, only manpower.

15 it was run by chiefs to whom the construction of such stone monument brought a high social status and a considerable political power. As the narrator of Stonehenge Decoded documentary says, “Stonehenge brings power and prestige to the leaders of the society”. This thought is further developed by professor Mike Parker Pearson:

Stonehenge was for the ancestors. It was also for the living in a sense that it gave power to some over the many. We have shadowy figures, who were almost the puppeteers of their society, saying we can do the most extraordinary feats of moving and lifting. It is a monument of brute force, it is really naked power at its rawest (Stonehenge Decoded).

There is, however, a darker side as well. Even at this time, we can already detect some clashes within the society. It seems that the dominant culture had zero tolerance to any kind of rebellion and any act of disobedience was punished without compromise.

This argument is inspired by another of Pearson’s finds. This time it is a skeleton of a man who had arrowhead marks on his bones. Since the marks prove that arrows were coming from all directions, it is very much possible that the person was a victim of a public execution which “may have been held as a favourite spectacle” (Stonehenge

Decoded).

As time had passed by and new people kept arriving to Great Britain, bringing new technologies and new ways of life with them, the cultural diversity had become more and more apparent. The cultural diversity is further discussed in the last chapter, but now it is time to discuss the religious aspects of the ancient monuments.

2.3 Religious Significance

There are two fundamental aspects of ancient stone monuments which can be related to the religious beliefs of the Neolithic and Bronze Age societies: burials and rituals connected to astronomical events.

16 The ceremonial disposal of the dead is one of the typical marks of the human species which separates them from other living creatures. The burial practice appeared in Europe about 80,000 years ago and differed considerably compared to the Christian burial practice. As Ronald Hutton points out,

it is not in itself a guarantee of the existence of religion, in the strict sense of a belief in divine beings. But it does indicate either a belief in a journey to an afterlife or in the power of ancestral spirits to haunt the living. Distinguishing between these beliefs from a burial record is difficult. Gravegoods are not a guarantee of faith in a world after death” (Pagan Religions, 2).

Stone tombs and earthen long barrows are the types of stone structures that are connected primarily to the burials in Neolithic Britain. The difference in numbers of deceased placed in both stone tombs and long barrows varies immensely, from five to six, to about fifty or sixty. The majority, however, contains an average of six bodies each, which suggests that “the monumental function was generally more important than the mortuary one” (Pagan Religions, 33).

As for the burial ceremonies and rituals, they varied as well. Archaeological researches showed that at some sites “individuals were deposited whole”, whereas at some other sites, “bodies had been stripped of flesh before deposition [and] had gone through differing processes”, while yet at other sites, “some [bodies] were cremated”

(Pagan Religions, 34). It is obvious, therefore, that it had mattered to the living how the remains of the dead should be laid to rest. It also suggests a substantial cultural diversity, as Hutton argues: “Both in architecture and in burial custom, the tombs varied so much that one can only assume either that these matters were considered unimportant or that people held strongly contrasting ideas” (Pagan Religions, 34).

As for the astronomy related rituals, it is mostly stone circles that offer some interesting theories and ideas regarding the religious significance. For years, it was believed that stone circles served the purposes of the living. Recently, the popular idea

17 has been that they were built to honour the dead and that the construction itself, therefore, was an important religious ritual. As Mike Parker Pearson argues,

Stonehenge was “a city for the dead, a domain for the dead, a place that was set aside for them […] bringing the stones was itself a religious ritual, imbued in meaning, soul and spirit” (Stonehenge Decoded). According to Pearson, the mid-summer and mid- winter solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, for example, “were rituals marking the cycle of life and death”. As people took their dead to join their ancestors at Stonehenge, they received the gift of life and fertility in return.

Another example where a solar event is connected with the celebration of the dead is at Newgrange during the winter solstice. As Hutton points out,

What gives particular pause for thought is that the rectangular aperture should have been necessary at all. Why was the entrance not simply made high enough to catch the sunlight itself? The only conceivable answer is that the small opening was necessary if the sun was to get into the chamber while the entrance was blocked to exclude humans. The beautiful appearance of the rising solstice sun was not intended for the rituals of the living. It was for the dead (Pagan Religions, 59).

Religious aspect most probably had a considerable influence on social organization. As already mentioned in the previous chapter, constructing stone monuments had a considerable political significance for the leaders of the society who probably were the religious leaders as well. Thus, performing these religious rituals and ceremonies further strengthened their position and gave them power to control the general population.

To sum up, this chapter certainly proves that ancient stone structures played a crucial role in the lives and development of Neolithic and Bronze Age societies. Firstly, the fact that people were willing to have undergone such long and arduous process of constructing the monuments is itself a sufficient proof that they were of great importance to people. Secondly, the astronomical observations conducted at the sites

18 helped the culture to transform themselves from hunter-gatherers to an agrarian society.

Finally, stone monuments were places where the social events took place. People gathered in order to exchange goods, to join forces during the construction, and performed religious rituals and ceremonies to celebrate the cycle of life and honour the memory of their ancestors. All in all, stone monuments were an everyday and inseparable part of their lives. It was something that defined their existence.

19 3. Ancient Stone Structures and the Romantic Period

The Neolithic and Bronze culture that created the stone monuments has long gone by now and was replaced with a culture recognizing a completely different set of values. People no longer regarded stone as the most valuable material, but rather as an everyday commodity. The sacred and spiritual connection between people and megalithic monuments has been lost for centuries. In the Romantic period, however, this lost connection experienced a notable revival, and megalithic monuments sparked a growing interest among writers, poets and other artists, bringing their existence to the attention of the general population. In this chapter, I focus on the cultural depictions of the prehistoric stone monuments, Stonehenge in particular, during the Romantic period.

I am going to examine various works of literature, such as Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles , William Wordsworth’s poem Salisbury Plain , or Edmund Burke’s On the Sublime and Beautiful . Furthermore, I look into the world of painting where the central focus will be on the work of John Constable and J. M. W. Turner.

3.1 Romanticism: Definition and Some Basic Facts

During the Romantic period, ancient megalithic monuments, of which

Stonehenge tends to be the most distinctive one, have attracted a considerable amount of interest among writers, as well as among other artists. This is probably mainly because of the imaginative, emotional, mysterious, naturalistic and spiritual nature of these sites. To understand the views of the Romantic representatives in a better way, here is the definition of Romanticism as it is described by the Encyclopædia Britannica

Online:

[Romanticism is an] attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony,

20 balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular. It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental. Among the characteristic attitudes of Romanticism were the following: a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason and of the senses over intellect; a turning in upon the self and a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities; a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles; a new view of the artist as a supremely individual creator, whose creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures; an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth; an obsessive interest in folk culture, national and ethnic cultural origins, and the medieval era; and a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic.

3.2 Depictions of Ancient Megalithic Structures in Literature

In literature, be it novels, philosophical tracts, prose or poetry, it is again mainly

Stonehenge that is mentioned and presented.

3.2.1 Prose

One of the most famous Romantic works which features Stonehenge, is undoubtedly Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles . In this novel, as Ralph

Harrington 9 points out in his work, the most famous stone circle symbolizes

a dark thread of paganism which reaches its climax in the dramatic scene of Tess’s flight to Stonehenge and her arrest at daybreak as she lies upon the altar stone of the monument. This pagan presence in the novel is not merely a superficial element but is deeply interwoven with the story’s themes of destiny, fate, and the struggles of the forces of nature against the constraining influences of society. Stonehenge plays a crucial role in drawing these threads together and dramatizing them at the climactic, and in many ways most tragic, point of the story… The stones of Stonehenge represent both the unyielding nature of the fate that, for Hardy, determines human destinies, but also the redemption through sacrifice that offers the potential for meaning in a universe that can seem to be devoid of anything meaningful. (Shadow of Stonehenge).

9 An independent scholar and freelance writer and researcher. Worked as an academic historian and a lecturer in history at the University of York. Currently a tutor with the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Hull. (greycat.org)

21 Stonehenge, which can be found in the heart of the county of Wessex, provided a notably fertile source for Hardy’ symbolism. In addition to that, it provided a dramatic setting for the final scene of Tess of the d’Urbervilles . Since the creation of

Stonehenge remained unclear in the nineteenth century, being connected to historical and legendary figures, such as Merlin, or the Romans, Hardy uses Stonehenge

[as] a place of memory, a location where the shared memory of a community (both the particular communities about which Hardy is writing, and the wider community of those who read his works) could be created and recreated and upon which cultural ideas could be projected; and Hardy uses it as a symbol of great power around which he can weave the life, character, and fate of his heroine, and express her place in the wider universal order of things. Fundamentally, Stonehenge for Hardy stands for ‘the natural’, and – as Hardy himself made clear – Tess Durbeyfield, described in the subtitle of Tess as ‘a pure woman’, is pure in the sense of being natural, in her femininity, her beauty, and her motivations. [6] It is therefore fitting that it is at Stonehenge that the climax of the story, the arrest of Tess, takes place. (Harrington).

Another symbolic aspect of Stonehenge that Harrington mentions in his work is the “rough primitiveness” of the stones. According to him, it symbolizes one of the important aspects of Hardy’s novel, which is the contrast between ‘nature’ and

‘society’.

Apart from Stonehenge, Tess of d’Urbervilles features another ancient stone monument: a stone pillar called ‘Cross-in-Hand, described as a “strange rude monolith, from a stratum unknown in any local quarry, on which was roughly carved a human hand.” ( Tess , 310). This is “another, highly significant, example of this pagan symbolism and foreshadowing of fate”(Harrington), as “the stone of the monument foreshadows the stones of Stonehenge, among which her journeying and her tragedy will come to an end” (ibid). The significance of the stone pillar, as well as of

Stonehenge lies in the origin of the stones, which come from southern Wales, 200 miles from both sites, “emphasizing its significance as a messenger from beyond the boundaries of Tess’s ordinary life” (Harrington).

22 The most powerful symbolic aspect of Stonehenge, as Harrington suggests, remains its significance as a place of ending, “where fate can no longer be evaded”

(Shadow of Stonehenge). Tess’s arrival at Stonehenge is almost like coming back home where she feels safe and warm. This can be nicely observed in the following passage from Tess, when she reaches the monument and lays herself on the Altar Stone:

Tess, really tired by this time, flung herself upon on oblong slab that lay close at hand, and was sheltered from the wind by a pillar. Owing to the action of the sun during the preceding day the stone was warm and dry, in comforting contrast to the rough and chill grass around, which had damped her skirts and shoes (393).

Resting on the Altar Stone suggests “the ominous associations of a final resting place,

‘so solemn and lonely’.[31] … It is a place of sacrifice, symbolizing a transcendent martyrdom, a willing surrender to fate” (Harrington).

From these examples, it is clear that Stonehenge plays an extremely important role in Hardy’s novel, symbolizing the end of Tess’s journey. Furthermore, it symbolizes “the natural, wild world in Tess”(Shadow of Stonehenge), and origin of

Tess whose roots, like Stonehenge’s, are “in the soil of Wessex” (ibid).

3.2.2 Poetry

As far as poetry is concerned, I am going to examine the work of one of the most prominent romantic poets, William Wordsworth. His Lyrical Ballads which he wrote together with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 spread the Romantic ideas across

England. More importantly, some of Wordsworth’s poems show interest in ancient stones. Charles J. Rzepka 10 describes Wordsworth’s fascination as follows:

At some point between 1793, the year of his first encounter with Stonehenge, and 1800, the publication date of the second, two-volume edition of Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth became interested in stones. They seem to litter Lyrical Ballads like glacial erratics: the stones comprising the mossy “Seat” in a yew

10 Professor of English at Boston University

23 tree, where the poet leaves his “Lines” (“Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree,” 9); the “old gray stone” on which the poet sits in “Expostulation and Reply,” while dreaming his time away (1); the three “rough hewn stone” pillars marking a stag’s prodigious leap to its death (“Hart-Leap Well,” 67); stones rolling in “diurnal course” with rocks and trees and human remains (“A slumber did my spirit seal,” 7-8); “A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags” and the pile of stones comprising an uncompleted sheep-fold—a more recent, miniature Stonehenge, perhaps, with an old shepherd named Michael in the role of patriarchal arch-druid (“Michael,” 471-81).[1] (From Relics to Remains).

Wordsworth’s interest in ancient stones, however, was not primarily sparked by his visit of Stonehenge. The main person responsible was another important figure in history, archaeologist William Stukeley. His excavation works at Stonehenge and

Avebury were a great inspiration for Wordsworth. Nobody can say with confidence when Wordsworth became familiar with Stukeley’s research, but as Rzepka points out,

A. L. Owen 11 was among the first to observe that Wordsworth apparently knew the work of the early-eighteenth-century archaeologist of Stonehenge, William Stukeley, who believed the Druids built the stone circle as a temple of worship for their proto-Christian religion. While there is no evidence as to when Wordsworth first read Stukeley, or that Wordsworth himself subscribed to Stukeley’s fatuous theories, we know from poems like “Salisbury Plain” that he was fascinated by Druid lore, and in the 1805 version of The Prelude he even characterized himself, during his studies at Cambridge (Stukeley’s alma mater), as a youthful initiate into the Druid class of Bards (Owen 163).

The passage above from Rzepka’s work brings up another of Wordsworth’s poems, Salisbury Plain . It is a poem that Wordsworth wrote as a reflection on his travels from the Isle of Wight to “the banks of the Wye, where I took again to travelling on foot” (Salisbury Plain, Preface). The reasons for writing Salisbury Plain and his feelings of despair are noted down by Wordsworth himself:

During the latter part of the summer of 1793, having passed a month in the Isle of Wight, in view of the fleet which was then preparing for sea off Portsmouth at the commencement of the war, I left the place with melancholy forebodings. The American war was still fresh in memory. The struggle which was beginning, and which many thought would be brought to a speedy close by the irresistible arms of Great Britain being added to those of the allies, I was assured in my own mind would be of long continuance, and productive of distress and misery beyond all possible calculation. This conviction was pressed

11 The author of The Famous Druids: A Survey of Three Centuries of English Literature on the Druids . Oxford: Clarendon, 1962.

24 upon me by having been a witness, during a long residence in revolutionary France, of the spirit which prevailed in that country (Salisbury Plain, Preface).

It is now time to analyze what the ancient stones symbolize in Wordsworth’s work. Once again, it is Stonehenge that is the central focus, but this time, unlike

Hardy’s symbolism of end and final resting place, Wordsworth’s perception is slightly different. Here are the two stanzas where Stonehenge is talked about:

XIII

All, all was cheerless to the horizon's bound; The weary eye--which, wheresoe'er it strays, Marks nothing but the red sun's setting round, Or on the earth strange lines, in former days Left by gigantic arms--at length surveys What seems an antique castle spreading wide; Hoary and naked are its walls, and raise Their brow sublime: in shelter there to bide He turned, while rain poured down smoking on every side.

XIV

Pile of Stone-henge! so proud to hint yet keep Thy secrets, thou that lov'st to stand and hear The Plain resounding to the whirlwind's sweep, Inmate of lonesome Nature's endless year; Even if thou saw'st the giant wicker rear For sacrifice its throngs of living men, Before thy face did ever wretch appear, Who in his heart had groaned with deadlier pain Than he who, tempest-driven, thy shelter now would gain.

It is immediately apparent from these two stanzas that Salisbury Plain is a work of a Romantic poet. Set in the countryside “all cheerless to the horizon bound”, in stormy weather there stands “an antique castle spreading wide”. For Wordsworth,

Stonehenge represents a place of mystery, “so proud to hint yet keep Thy secrets”, that poses as a silent witness of the ancient times when people were burning people inside a giant wicker man, and now, after long years, it provides the poor, “tempest-driven” pilgrim a shelter to hide. Rzepka describes Wordsworth’s attitude towards Stonehenge

25 as follows: “Viewed from this perspective, remains in Wordsworth’s poetry offer themselves primarily as sites of past habitation open to re-inhabitation or re-traversal by present bodies”. Stonehenge, in Wordsworth’s poetry, represents a home, a place where one can always find a shelter.

3.2.3 Philosophical Works

As for the philosophical works of the Romantic period, I am going to mention A

Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful written by Edmund Burke in 1757, which, once again, features Stonehenge. This work is

an examination of how sensation, imagination, and judgment are interrelated in the experience of art. Burke explains how sensation, imagination, and judgment determine the experience of pleasure and pain, and how pleasure and pain are represented by the aesthetic concepts of beauty and sublimity (Scott).

The relevant passage which serves the purpose of my thesis can be found in

Section XII called Difficulty, where Burke tends to be rather critical of Stonehenge.

According to him, it is not the stone circle itself that is the object of admiration, but the long and arduous process of construction. Burke himself wrote:

When any work seems to have required immense force and labor to effect it, the idea is grand. Stonehenge, neither for disposition nor ornament, has anything admirable; but those huge rude masses of stone, set on end, and piled each on other, turn the mind on the immense force necessary for such a work. Nay, the rudeness of the work increases this cause of grandeur, as it excludes the idea of art and contrivance; for dexterity produces another sort of effect, which is different enough from this.

A conclusion which derives from Burke’s theory is that the works of art are a source of inspiration not only for their beauty, but also for their sublimity. While “the beauty of a work of art may inspire love or admiration, the sublimity of a work of art may inspire awe or astonishment at its mystery and power” (Scott).

26 3.3 Depictions of Ancient Megalithic Structures in Art

I am going to devote the last few paragraphs of this chapter to the work of two painters whose paintings feature an ancient megalithic site. In the art of painting, it is once more Stonehenge, that has become the subject of interest. It is the paintings of

John Constable and J. M. W. Turner that helped the ancient stone structures to become an important part of the popular imagination and perception of the Britain’s past.

Constable made a sketch of Stonehenge in 1820. Later on, he transformed the sketch into what is said to be his largest and most finished watercolour which he presented at the Royal Academy in 1836. Gloomy weather and the double rainbow motifs are characteristic marks in Constable’s later works. Sometimes he used symbols in his work, describing his person or his mood. It is believed that the fallen stones of

Stonehenge represent him after the death of his wife, and so does the grey sky.

Constable himself called it “a beautiful drawing”, the finished work displayed at

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum was captioned “the mysterious monument… standing remote on a bare and boundless heath, as much unconnected with the events of the past as it is with the uses of the present”, and Greg Harris describes it as follows:

John Constable’s poetic vision of Stonehenge, with its emphasis on the distressed and fallen stones, the ominous storm cloud, the arching rainbows and the shadow cast on stone by the seated visitor, suggests a sense of human transience in the face of a timeless but fragile monument. For Constable, Stonehenge ‘carries you back beyond all historical record into the obscurity of a totally unknown period.’ (Antiquaries in Britain, 21).

J. M. W. Turner’s watercolour Stonehenge, which he finished in 1825 and can be seen at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, has got similarly dramatic and mysterious features and interpretations. Apart from the stormy sky, there is a dead shepherd in the foreground with his nearly dead flock of sheep. One of the popular interpretations suggests that the dead bodies symbolize the death of Druidic religion that has been overpowered by Christianity.

27 Both Constable’s and Turner’s work, Turner’s in particular, show some discrepancies regarding the position, size and actual state of the monoliths. In Turner’s painting, “the stones themselves are not shown in faithful representation, but appear almost as a half-remembered image” (Stonehenge in Art). Some extra stones are added by Turner and the correct ones are incorrect in their size. The watercolours, however, were created in accordance with the Romantic ideas popular at that time.

This chapter shows that the ancient stone structures experienced a dramatic rise of interest in many different ways during the Romantic period. As for the artists, the general attitude towards the stone monuments was very much positive, as naturalistic, mysterious, irrational, imaginative and spiritual nature of the monuments fulfils all the requirements of the romantic approach. As for the society of that time, the general awareness regarding the existence of the ancient megalithic monuments and British history arose considerably, mainly owing to the works of art and literature that was presented to them by artists like Hardy or Constable. The ancient stone monuments,

Stonehenge in particular, were slowly becoming important iconic symbols of the

British culture.

28 4. The Current Cultural Significance of the Ancient Stone Structures

Ancient stone structures have been catching people’s attention for centuries. For hundreds of years until the present day, they have remain places of mystery. And this strange mystique is the reason why people are attracted to them, because they like using their imagination to mould stone circles, or any other stone structures, into various shapes, depending on the momentary state of their minds. According to Aubrey Burl, in today’s modern society there are four distinct groups of visitors, “three of them earnest in their enquiries, the fourth a cheerful though perhaps perplexed company of tourists”

(Great Stone Circles 1).

The first group consists of objective researchers, the Scientific-Investigative.

These include demographers and mathematicians who are carefully and with precision assessing the weight of megaliths,

[in order] to determine the size of theoretical work-forces, computing the tumbled, half-buried, broken stones for evidence of numeracy and counting- systems, measuring and planning the ring for proof of its Pythagorean geometrical design (Great Stone Circles 1).

To the same group belong astronomers, who carefully observe every stone and look for any alignments to the astral bodies.

The next group are the archaeologists, who are purely pragmatic. Burl describes them as follows:

They excavate, tabulate, conservate but, sadly, often refuse to speculate. Pusillanimously reluctant to think about prehistoric people they dehumanise the circle, metaphorically finding megaliths rather than men, wood rather than women (1).

The third kind of researcher is the Subjective-Emotional. These include members of various counter-culture groups, such as modern-day Druids, Hippies, New

Age travellers, neo-pagan groups, or dowsers. Such researchers “touch stones for electro-magnetic tingles. A sub-group dowse with rods for quivers of subterranean

29 undercurrents and aquastats. Companions dangle pendulums over stones with the weight swinging clockwise for good, anti-clockwise for evil – or the other way round depending on one’s sex” (1).

The last type of visitors and most probably the most numerous are the average tourists. Some distance apart from the earnest observers there are companies of them, taking pictures of the stones and their friends.

Each group, no matter what their point of interest, is trying to discover who erected these stones and how they used them. They want to find the answers to their questions. However, each group has a different view. In terms of cultural distinction, we can divide these groups in two basic camps: the dominant culture, and the counter- culture.

An on-line HighBeam Encyclopedia states that Gordon Marslall in A Dictionary of Sociology defines the dominant culture as

one that is able, through economic or political power, to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving on a subordinate culture or cultures. This may be achieved through legal or political suppression of other sets of values and patterns of behaviour, or by monopolizing the media of communication.

As far as stone structures, and Stonehenge in particular, are concerned, it seems that the contemporary British dominant culture regards them mainly as “archaeological site, tourist attraction, or marketing tool” (Theories about Stonehenge), and the spiritual connection has been long forgotten.

As for the counter-culture definition, it is a situation

where sub-cultures specifically stand in direct opposition to the dominant culture of the society in which they are located, rejecting its most important values and norms and endorsing their opposites (HighBeam Encyclopedia).

This definition makes it clear that the point of interest of the counter-cultural groups is, logically, completely different. Sub-cultures tend to view ancient stone structures as sacred places of worship where various rituals should be performed. They

30 are more concerned with the spiritual aspect of stone monuments, they feel connected to nature, and their aim is to follow in their ancestors’ footsteps. Such difference in views is the obvious reason why the dominant culture and the counter-culture have been clashing for many years.

4.1 The Dominant Culture’s Views

One of the most prominent aspects of the ancient stone structures, and again

Stonehenge in particular, which have been widely presented by the media, is the socio- cultural aspect. Many Britons regard Stonehenge as a symbol of Britishness, as something that connects them with their past. It is not easy to determine why this is so.

One plausible explanation is something “what Christopher Chippindale describes as

“the physical sensation of the place”, something that transcends the rational, scientific view of the monument (Theories about Stonehenge). Another explanation is that members of the dominant culture are influenced by the media. There is no doubt that many of them come to visit the site in order to find their roots, or to find out some interesting facts and theories about the site. On the other hand, many of the visitors probably come for no apparent reason, or only because the society expects them to, or because visiting one of the most famous icons of the British cultural heritage seems a good way how to spend a weekend out with a family; as Cornelius Holtorf points out in his article The Visibility of Ancient Monuments in the Landscape, “Perhaps the aura of megaliths made later generations honour the memory of these sites and regularly clear the grass and scrub around them, as Raymond Williams 12 has suggested (1990: 311)”.

12 One of Britain's greatest post-war cultural historians, theorists and polemicists. He was a distinguished literary and social thinker in the Left-Leavisite tradition. He was concerned to understand literature and related cultural forms not as the outcome of an isolated aesthetic adventure, but as the manifestation of a deeply social process that involved a series of complex relationships between authorial ideology, institutional process, and generic/aesthetic form. (www.museum.tv)

31 In the twentieth century, Stonehenge was used as the subject for British symbolism quite frequently. Edward McKnight Kauffer’s 13 depiction of Stonehenge as one of possible tourist destinations is only one example. The poster from 1934 (Pic. 13) was designed for the Shell company to “encourage tourism by car owners” (Wiki). The name of Stonehenge also played a notable role during the Second World War when the

Royal Navy named one of their S Class submarines after it. In February 1944, HMS

Stonehenge (Pic. 14) sank a Japanese merchant vessel and an auxiliary minelayer. She was lost with 48 men on board in March of 1944. In the sixties, Stonehenge appeared in the 1965 movie Help! when it could be seen in the background during the Beatles performance at the site.

At present, however, it seems that Stonehenge has been presented by the media in a rather negative way. The article on “King of Stonehenge” published by Ann Talbot on the World Socialist Web Site in 2003, for example, suggests that “Stonehenge was a part of a much wider socio-cultural network that that reached from modern-day

Budapest through the Western Mediterranean to North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula,

France, Holland, Denmark and the British Isles” (Talbot, 2003). This argument comes from the research carried out in 2002 by Wessex Archaeology which was led by

Andrew Fitzpatrick. It has been proved by tests on the oxygen isotopes in the body’s teeth enamel that he grew up somewhere in the Alps, most probably in Switzerland,

Austria or Germany. Such theory means that Stonehenge has somehow lost its unique

Britishness.

13 One of the most prolific and influential graphic designers of the 20th century. Cubism, Futurism and Surrealism found expression in his posters, which translated the complicated language of the avant-garde into accessible commercial design. At the outbreak of the First World War, Kauffer moved from Paris to London where he gained his first commissions from the Underground. During the next 25 years Kauffer also worked for Shell, the Great Western Railway, the Empire Marketing Board and the Post Office. His designs ranged from book jackets and illustrations to stage sets and textiles, but it is for his London Transport posters that he will always be remembered. (London Transport Museum Website)

32 In November 2006, an article Troubled Stonehenge ‘lacks magic’ by Cahal

Milmo published in The Independent stated:

Thomas Hardy was so moved by Stonehenge’s bleak beauty he called it “a very Temple of the Winds”. Modern admirers are more likely to describe it as “a mess” and be moved only by a tide of tourists. The Neolithic stones on Salisbury Plain were criticised yesterday as “over-loved” and “lacking magic” in a survey of conditions at 94 leading World Heritage Sites. The study by 400 conservation and tourism experts for National Geographic ranked Stonehenge 75 th in the list of destinations and declared it to be “in moderate trouble” […] “Massive numbers of tourists cycle through the site on a daily basis, making for a crowded, noisy environment. Condition of the site is protected by fencing… but the visual sightlines are disrupted.

It is rather absurd that people criticize fences and roads they themselves built, but many will probably agree, and not only those who can be for their views identified as counter-culture members, that the fencing and two busy roads somewhat spoil the experience from visiting the site.

The article, consequently, brings up the issue of a socio-economic aspect.

Stonehenge is visited by roughly a million visitors every year, but many of them are leave the site disappointed. It is apparent that making Stonehenge a part of the commercial sphere was an unfortunate step. It is probable that people would enjoy the monument much more if they could wander among the stones and touch them the same way they can do at Avebury, Nine Stones, or any other non-commercialized monument, instead of having to pay an entrance fee and pass through numerous souvenir and gift shops. This way, perhaps, people would appreciate the monument’s natural beauty and not as a place where one should go because it is old and famous, and the tourist guide recommends it as a must-see site. The dominant culture has made Stonehenge an iconic symbol of British nation, but they have damaged its magic and forgotten its original purpose.

33 4.2 The Counter-Cultures’ Views

As far as counter-cultural views are concerned, ancient stone monuments have been primarily regarded as places of healing, spiritual and ceremonial sites, and places for various gatherings and festivals. It is generally believed by the counter-cultural groups that megalithic monuments have been built on energy spots from which the healing power is released through the stones. Geoffrey of Monmouth, for example, who believed that Stonehenge was built by giants, wrote: “[The giants] used to pour water over [the stones] and to run this water into baths in which their sick were cured” (Rival

Claims). Many modern-day healers and alternative medicine enthusiasts still believe in healing powers of the stones. William Lee Rand organizes his Reiki meditation exercises right among the stones of Stonehenge. He says: “I don’t direct the process.

I’m simply a channel for the attunement energy flowing from the Higher Power” (Rival

Claims).

As far as sub-cultural groups and stone monuments are concerned, probably the most familiar one connected to them is the community of the Druids.

The Druids have again been most often connected with Stonehenge. John

Aubrey, the 17 th century writer and antiquary, was the first to suggest that Stonehenge was built and used by the Druids. In the 18 th century, Aubrey’s theories were adopted by archaeologist William Stukeley whose investigations at Stonehenge and Avebury were the first in the field. Stukeley came up with a conclusion that the Druids celebrated the summer solstice at Stonehenge. The late 18 th century recorded a notable resurrection of a Druid movement, notably because of a Welshman who called himself

Iolo Morganwg. Among his followers were famous Britons, such as William Blake,

Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, or Winston Churchill. Morganwg was a poet,

[who] invented a whole set of Druid ceremonies, costumes and regalia, and held his first Gorsedd (Assembly of Bards) during the autumn equinox of 1792. It

34 was held on Primrose Hill in London, where Morganwg and a group of London Welshmen stood inside a small circle made of stones, which he had brought in his pocket (Rival Claims).

Even though researchers, with the help of the radio-carbon analysis, proved that the Druids could not possibly built Stonehenge, there have been annual summer solstice gatherings at Stonehenge that have become a part of the Druid’s tradition since the beginning of the 20 th century up until today. At present, there is a variety of groups, the most well-known being the Ancient Druid Order, that has been holding annual summer solstice ceremonies at Stonehenge since 1909.

It has been gatherings such as these, however, that were the principal reason of clashes between the dominant culture and the sub-cultural groups.

The first signs of disagreement came in the first decade of the 20 th century when the Ancient Druid Order was denied access to Stonehenge for refusing to pay a fee that would be used for carrying out a restoration work on the stone circle.

There was an angry confrontation, with George MacGregor Reid, the Chief Druid, calling down “the curse of Almighty God and of his Spirit Messengers” on Sir Edward Antrobus 14 […] When he died of natural causes, the druids claimed that it was the direct result of their curses (Rival Claims).

When the new owner donated Stonehenge to the state, it seemed that both sides would reach an agreement. The conflict, unfortunately, took an even worse course during the 1960s and during the Conservative rule of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

As the 1960s experienced a notable rise of various counter-cultural groups, such as Wiccans 15 and hippies in particular, the government too imposed more oppressive measures. After the first Stonehenge Free Festival which took place during the 1974 summer solstice, a small group of people 16 decided to remain present at Stonehenge in

14 The owner of Stonehenge at that time. 15 Wicca is the largest of the neo-pagan religions. Wiccans have great reverence for the Earth and for their Goddess and her consort, the horned God. Their main rule of behaviour is the Wiccan Rede which forbids them from harming people, including themselves. (www.religioustolerance.org) 16 A group called „Wallies of Wessex“, led by Wally Hope.

35 order to “let the mysteries of Stonehenge work through them” (Rival Claims). The court ruled that they have to leave the site. The group, however, did not move and stayed until winter, camping on a common land next to the monument. The following passage by S. J. Stone expresses how the group viewed themselves, Stonehenge, and their cause:

[…]We won, because we hold Stonehenge in our hearts. We are not squatters, we are men of God. We want to plant a Garden of Eden with apricots and cherries, where there will be guitars instead of guns and the Sun will be our nuclear bomb” (Times, 13/8/74). The press loved it. The Wallies returned to Stonehenge, hopped over a fence, and the whole procedure had to begin again. Later they all trooped off to the fourth Windsor Free festival, which was attacked by truncheon-wielding Metropolitan Police (Fierce Dancing).

The Free Festival at Stonehenge was gaining more popularity every year. In 1984, there were about 70,000 visitors, compared to the 500 people in 1974. It was also getting much more attention from the authorities.

The clash between the Thatcherite dominant rule and the travelling community reached its climax in 1985, when the authorities 17 became concerned that the visitors could damage the monument and requested the festival to be banned. The prime minister expressed her support when she stated that she was “only too delighted to do anything we can to make life difficult for hippy convoys” (Rival Claims). The police were ordered to prevent the travellers from getting to the monument.

Their orders were to stop a convoy of 140 travellers’ vehicles reaching the site. There was a violent confrontation, later called the “Battle of the Beanfield”. Its cause is still disputed. Those in the convoy said they had been ambushed by the police, while the police blamed the travellers for starting the fight. Mick Davies of the Observer described glass breaking, people screaming, black smoke towering out of burning caravans and everywhere there seemed to be people being bashed and flattened. Some 420 travellers were arrested and 12 hospitalised (Rival Claims).

At present, the relationship between the authorities and sub-cultural groups seems to have improved. Stonehenge summer solstice celebration was reintroduced

17 English Heritage and the National Trust.

36 again after fifteen years in 2000. Although the event is accompanied by tough security measures, it seems to be the time when people from different backgrounds come together for the similar reason as the Neolithic people did: to celebrate the cycle of life and death. As one of the visitors of the 2005 summer solstice wrote:

Whether Stonehenge was a temple, a burial ground, and astronomy marker, it doesn’t matter – it comes alive when filled with people, and so many feel compelled to gather and celebrate together as our ancestors surely did. I stood amongst magical people – all celebrating life and it felt so good! (Stonehenge Summer Solstice).

Stonehenge, and all remaining ancient stone monuments, were built by the people for the people, and present generation should enjoy and appreciate them the same way as the generations of the ancestors did. After all, they are an inseparable part of British history. They are the gift of the ancient culture to the culture of today.

37 Conclusion

In conclusion, it is apparent that ancient stone monuments have a notable cultural significance for both the Neolithic and Bronze Age society and the society of the modern times. It is also apparent that the significance of the ancient stone structures differs in accordance with the time in which individual societies mentioned in the thesis lived.

The Neolithic people undoubtedly regarded ancient stone monuments as an important and inseparable part of their everyday lives. The fact that people were willing to have undergone such a long and arduous process of constructing the monuments with their own hands is itself sufficient proof that they were of great importance to the

Neolithic society. Great public works, such as Stonehenge or Avebury, prove that the stone monuments were built by a dominant sophisticated, but also cruel society capable of extraordinary achievements. The construction of a stone monument itself had a great cultural significance for Neolithic society. Thousands of people joined forces in the project of building it. They conducted astronomical observations at the sites that transformed the culture from the hunter-gatherer to the agrarian one. Furthermore, stone monuments were places of social interaction where a number of social events took place. People gathered in order to exchange goods, bury their dead, perform religious rituals and ceremonies to celebrate the cycle of life and death and honour the memory of their ancestors. It is very possible that stone monuments gave the Neolithic society a sense of home, a feeling that they belong somewhere, in the way Stonehenge meant for Hardy’s Tess , or Wordsworth when he travelled across the Salisbury Plain.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to determine for sure what ancient people’s beliefs and thoughts were. What is for sure is the fact that stone was the most precious possession

38 the Neolithic people had. Stone monuments, therefore, were a symbol of their wealth, beliefs and identity.

Hundreds of year later, long after the creation of stone monuments, the

Neolithic culture was replaced with a culture recognizing a completely different set of values. People no longer regarded stone as the most valuable material, but rather as an everyday commodity. The sacred and spiritual connection between people and megalithic monuments has been lost for centuries. In the Romantic period, however, this lost connection experienced a notable revival, and megalithic monuments sparked a growing interest among writers, poets and other artists, bringing their existence to the attention of the general population. Ancient stone structures received attention in many different ways. As for the artists, the general attitude towards the stone monuments was very much positive, as naturalistic, mysterious, irrational, imaginative and spiritual nature of the monuments fulfils all the requirements of the Romantic definition. As for the society of that time, the general awareness regarding the existence of ancient megalithic monuments and British history arose considerably, mainly owing to the works of art and literature that was presented to them by artists like Hardy, Burke or

Constable. The ancient stone monuments, Stonehenge in particular, became important iconic symbols of the British culture.

As for the contemporary cultural significance, the important factor is which group the particular observer belongs to. Be it a mathematician, an astronomer, an archaeologist, a hippie, a member of a neo-pagan group, or a dowser, they all have one thing in common: all of them are attracted to stone monuments in a hope to uncover their mysteries. Each of the observers, however, pursues the problem and contributes to solving the mysteries in a different way. Archaeologists, for example, tend to be rather pragmatic. They search for facts and hardly ever put their finds in any further

39 perspective. Druids, on the other hand, emphasize the monuments’ original purposes by recreating the Celtic festivals during the summer and winter solstices. Each approach, nonetheless, brings a new frame of reference, and it is up every individual which theory regards to be the most plausible.

For both the dominant culture and the counter-culture of the modern times, there is one particular stone monument that has been receiving special attention, and by which the rest of them have been overshadowed – Stonehenge. When stone monuments are mentioned, Stonehenge is probably the first that comes to people’s minds.

The dominant culture has made Stonehenge a treasured iconic symbol of British cultural heritage that should be protected at all costs. They put a fence around it, introduced entrance fees, and turned it into a profit-making tourist attraction. Such transformation has resulted in Stonehenge’s loss of appeal in recent years. Nowadays, members of the dominant culture no longer share the beliefs of the Neolithic dominant society. They tend to admire the extraordinary achievement of those who constructed the monument, as Burke suggested, but they no longer appreciate the aesthetical value, or feel the spiritual connection with the monument.

Ironically enough, the beliefs of the Neolithic dominant culture are shared by the contemporary counter-cultural groups. They admire the monuments for the same reasons as the Neolithic society did. They hope to find the spiritual connection with the stones, and they try to feel the energy these stones supposedly radiate. Furthermore, they keep the Neolithic traditions of their ancestors alive by holding annual celebrations of the summer and winter solstices. Even though the beliefs of the counter- cultural groups stood in direct opposition to dominant culture’s rules and caused considerable number of conflicts, such as the “Battle of Beanfield”, these beliefs reflect the views of the monument’s creators.

40 It is interesting to notice, that the set of values regarded in the Neolithic and

Bronze period as a cornerstone of the society, was in the 20 th century seen as the threat to the system and order. Be it as it may, it is clear that those who built ancient stone structures had no idea they would create such a great mystery for the many generations to come.

41 Bibliography

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45 Appendix

Picture 1: Hellstone – an eroded chamber tomb (photo by Mark Williamson)

Picture 2: Grey Mare and Her Colts (photo by Charlie Bee)

46

Picture 3: West Kennet - Closer view of the burial chamber end of the barrow (photo by Secret Destinations)

Picture 4: Stonehenge (photo by Dean Talboys)

47

Picture 5: Avebury (photo by Minerva Stone Conservation)

Picture 6: Maumbury Rings (photo by Visit Dorchester)

48

Picture 7: Knowlton henge (photo at http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series8/week_six/knowlton203.jpg)

Picture 8: The Mount Pleasant Henge (photo by Phil)

49

Picture 9: Remains of the Little Mayne Stone Circle (photo at http://www.megalithic.co.uk/a558/a312/gallery/England/Dorset/thumb/LittleMayne3.J PG)

Picture 10: The Nine Stones (photo by Chris Collyer)

50

Picture 11: Ballochroy (photo by Martin J. Powell)

Picture 12: Newgrange (photo at http://www.eternalidol.com/wp- content/uploads/2007/08/newgrange-aerial.jpg)

51

Picture13: Stonehenge by Edward McKnight Kauffer (1934)

Picture 14: HMS Stonehenge (photo at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/HMS_Stonehenge.jpg)

52