Outline of the main differences between the 1st edition of the English Heritage guidebook (2005, reprinted 2007) and the 2nd Edition (2011)

Summary

This document tries to highlight the main changes that have been made since the first edition to bring the guidebook up to date with the current state of knowledge and understanding about Stonehenge.

Mostly these relate to the excavations and discoveries by the Stonehenge Riverside Project (Parker Pearson et al) at Stonehenge, , Durrington Walls, the Cursus, the Avenue and West and those by the S.P.A.C.E.S. Project (Darvill and Wainwright) within the stone circle.

There are changes of emphasis to reflect a different interpretation of the evidence from that previously published.

The key changes relate to: i) The possibility that the originally held stone pillars rather than timber posts. ii) Redating of other monuments in the landscape (e.g. Cursus from 3000 to 3500 BC and the Avenue construction to being at the same time as or just after the erection of the larger instead of well afterwards in the "final phase"). iii) Revision of dates relating to Stonehenge's construction phases (e.g. narrowing of the range of dates for the erection of the sarsens to about 2500 BC). iv) The possibility of stone rearrangement and active use in the Roman period. v) The possibility that Stonehenge's location was chosen as a result of the coincidental alignment with the solstice axis of natural landscape features (periglacial stripes underlying the Avenue) coupled with the occurrence of a natural (the ) at the end of that alignment. vi) The monument's use as a cremation cemetery as well as a possible healing centre and the near certainty that it was used as a temple to the Sun. vii) The de-emphasis of a "timber phase" pre-dating the arrival of any stones. viii) The possibility that bluestones remained on site throughout and that the bluestone Q&R settings may have been contemporary with the erection of the sarsens.

Alterations to picture captions are also noted, but not the rearrangement of existing or the inclusion of new imagery except where the content of an illustration has been altered. Page-by-page details of notable revisions to the content p3: Reference to "a circle of upright timber posts" has been removed. Date of 'about 2400BC' has been added to the caption for the Amesbury Archer's gold hair ornaments. p4: Reference to Aubrey Hole timber posts has been removed. Emphasis changed to suggest Aubrey Holes may have held stone pillars instead. Remaining text adjusted to discuss when stones were first erected in the centre. p5: Changed "each of which" to "many of which" in discussion of the small holes under the grass around / within the monument, and whether they held upright timber posts. Aubrey Holes now stated to have held either upright timbers or small stones. Re-worded to clarify that the "pale concrete spots in the grass" indicate the Aubrey Holes which have been excavated. p6: Changed "constructed in 3000 to 2920 BC" to "constructed between 3000 and 2920 BC" for the dating of the first phase. Changed "several hundred years earlier" to "several hundred years older" when discussing the age of animal bones found in the bottom of the ditch. Date of the early sarsen stone settings changed from "between 2600 and 2200 BC" to "about 2500 BC". Date of the final bluestone settings changed from "2200 to 2000 BC" to "2300 to 2000 BC". Changed "between 3000 and 2920 BC" to "shortly after 3000 BC" in discussion of the construction date for the first Stonehenge. Added "smaller" to the description of the southern entrance to distinguish it from the larger northeastern one. Reference to red deer antler "rakes" has been added. Reference to shovels made of cattle shoulder blades has been removed. Emphasis changed to highlight that the older cattle bones themselves must have been very special to have been carefully placed in the ditch terminals. p7: Changed "One possibility" to "One strong possibility" for the Aubrey Holes to have been contemporary with the early enclosure. Emphasis significantly changed to remove the implication that the Aubrey Holes held upright timbers and that they were used for cremation burial only after the posts had rotted or been removed. New emphasis is that it is uncertain whether they held timber posts or stone pillars and that these settings were used for cremation burials throughout their existence. Reference to Dorchester-on-Thames cemetery has been removed. Reference to the 2008 excavation of reburied cremation remains placed in an Aubrey Hole in 1935, and the results of the analysis of them, has been added ("about 60 individuals, almost entirely young male adults"). p9: Cross-reference to Dorchester-on-Thames (p7) has been removed. Location of Preseli Hills has been changed from "west Wales" to just "Wales". Caption to the first map has been changed from "Map showing a likely route" to "Map showing one possible route" from the Preseli Hills to Stonehenge. p10: Discussion of the bluestones "original setting" of "an incomplete circle of paired stones", the dismantling of it prior to the inner sarsen structure's construction and the later reintroduction of the bluestones, has all been removed. This has been replaced by a paragraph noting that the sarsen structures do not appear to have been moved once erected whereas the bluestones have been rearranged more than once. It notes that the stone settings were built between about 2500 and 2000 BC. In the discussion of the gaps between sarsen uprights, mention is made of the slightly wider gap that exists between the uprights that directly face the northeastern entrance. The error "while only five of the lintels are still in place" hasn't been corrected (there are six lintels in place in the sarsen circle). p11: Changed "ring of stone suspended high above the ground" to "ring of stone suspended high and perfectly level above the ground". Removed "resembled a giant doorway" from and changed "huge uprights" to "closely spaced huge uprights" in the description. Reference has been added to the carvings of daggers and axes on some uprights, these decorations being made over 700 years after the were raised. Changed "prominent mortise" to "prominent tenon" in the first picture caption. p12: Changed "2000 BC" to "1800 BC" in second picture caption dating the carvings of daggers. The phrase "without the benefit of the wheel" has been removed from the discussion of how the stones were shaped. Changed "Several" to "Many" as being the number of sarsen mauls found. Reference is now made to the discovery of the main sarsen working area "just to the north of the enclosure, on the opposite side of the modern road". Discussion of the dating of the carvings has been changed from "earlier part of the Bronze Age, some time in about 2000 BC" to "later in the Bronze Age, about 1800 BC". p16: Added "just outside the main entrance to the earthwork enclosure" to the location description of the Heel Stone. Reference made to the possibility that the Heel Stone may not have been transported from the Marlborough Downs but may have been found close to where it now stands. Changed "The Avenue was constructed at the same time as the great stone structures were completed, some time shortly after 2300 BC" to "The Avenue was probably constructed at the same time, or just after the great stone structures were completed just before 2500 BC". p17: Added mention of the natural "visible stripes" that are Ice Age landscape features in the chalk parallel to the Avenue along the straight section leading up to the monument. Changed emphasis in discussing the solstice axis from "this cannot be a coincidence" to "this alignment is deliberate". p19: Extensive rewording of the section "Why was Stonehenge built?". Emphasis has shifted away from a description of the society and the requirement for co- operation between large groups of people in the early stages along with mention of the later development of metalworking and the rise of material wealth. The discussion of the importance of winter being the important turning point of the year has been retained, but now two additional potential reasons for its construction are also outlined. These are: its use as a cremation cemetery from the earliest monument coupled with the idea that the stones represent long dead ancestors compared to timber circles which represented the houses of the living; and, a possible belief in the healing powers of bluestones as a reason for going to the effort of transporting them from Preseli. Reference to the near certainty of Stonehenge having been built as a temple to the sun and the changing seasons has been replaced by its likening to the prehistoric equivalent of a great cathedral such as Salisbury - a place of worship, healing, and the burial of important people. The point has been retained that archaeology cannot ever answer the question of what form the special ceremonies during the year may have taken. p20: West Amesbury Henge has been added to the Landscape Tour map and key. Minor rewording of the text to create the space to say that "more recently, a major campaign of excavations across the landscape has revealed far more about how the landscape developed at the time Stonehenge was being built." p22: Causewayed enclosures' dating of "between 4000 and 3500 BC" has been changed to "in about 3600 BC", and the subsequent phase "but they were in use until about 3000 BC" has been changed to "but some may have remained in use for several centuries". The dating of the Cursus has changed from "Also built at the time of the first Stonehenge" to "Built before the first Stonehenge". The sentence "Its eastern end stops just short of a levelled Neolithic long barrow" has been added. Radiocarbon date of the Cursus has been changed from "probably some time before 3000 BC" to "in about 3500 BC". The theory that it may have been laid out for processions or as a deliberate barrier is now prefaced with "The few finds from the ditches suggest that …". The date of the Lesser Cursus has been changed from "about 3000 BC" to "about 3500 BC". p24: Overhead view of a Neolithic house excavation at Durrington Walls, together with caption, has replaced the artist's impression of one of the timber circles. Construction of Durrington Walls dated to 'just before 2500 BC'. The number of entrances to the enclosure has been increased from two to four. Discussion of the results of the excavations starting in 2004 has been added. This includes the discovery of: the gravelled avenue aligned to the winter solstice sunrise and leading southeast from the southern through the southeast entrance of the enclosure down to the Avon, clusters of rectangular Neolithic houses close to this avenue under the henge bank, huge quantities of animal bone (mostly young pig) said to be the remains from midwinter feasts, plus other "more special houses" enclosed by deep ditches inside the enclosure. Durrington Walls is identified as being the largest Neolithic village yet found in Britain and Ireland, with the houses and timber circles being built first and then encircled later by the surrounding ditch and bank. p25: Reference to the burial of the skeleton of a three year old child in the middle of Woodhenge has been altered to remove the explicit reference to human sacrifice and the rewording attributes the report of this skeleton having a split skull to the excavator rather than stating it as a fact. A new section about the 2008 discovery of West Amesbury Henge has been added. Stonehenge Avenue ends not at the water's edge but at this henge, which encloses a circle of deep pits that are suggested to have held stones - possibly bluestones that were later relocated to Stonehenge itself. The henge enclosing the stone settings was built after the stones had been removed in about 2500 BC. p29: The map of the World Heritage Site has been updated to include West Amesbury Henge. The north and south timber circles at Durrington Walls are now also marked. p31: Reference to the clearance of parts of the wildwood forest to make 'spaces in which they could farm and build their ceremonial sites and burial mounds' has changed to remove mention of ceremonial sites and burial mounds. It is now suggested that the upland chalk areas may have had more ceremonial monuments and burial mounds because they were comparatively free of woodland. p32: The Timeline of Stonehenge has been modified to account for the revised dating of long barrows (c. 3750 BC), the Cursus, Lesser Cursus (both c. 3500 BC) and Robin Hood's Ball (c 3600 BC). "Timber structures" at Stonehenge are now "Possible timber structures". The Avenue is now included (c. 2400 BC). p33: In the section about "The First Stonehenge" reference to a third possible entrance to the enclosure, just west of the south entrance, has been removed. A new paragraph has been added discussing the discovery of the existence of natural Ice Age gullies parallel to the Avenue, and the possibility that the Heel Stone is a rare local sarsen found near where it now stands, both features providing a coincidental alignment on the solstices. It is suggested that this may have provided the impetus for the building work that followed. p34: The caption to the illustration of "The Timber Phase" has been reworded to say that the Aubrey Holes held uprights and "wooden structures may have stood within the enclosure". The discussion of this phase points out that although the illustration shows many wooden posts as part of a single timber phase pre-dating the arrival of the stones, some may in fact date to later stages of the monument. The Aubrey Holes' description has been changed to indicate that they may have held either wooden posts or small upright stones, the latter suggestion is based on early excavators' reports and the 2008 excavation of one of them. Discussion of the dating of a possible timber phase has been removed. p35: Dating of "The Early Stone Phase" has been changed from "about 2550 BC" to "just before 2500 BC", and the reference has been removed to the stones arriving at an ancient earthwork enclosure containing the remains of timber structures. The and Heel Stone are still listed as being amongst the first stones erected. The discussion of the Q&R holes' arrangement of bluestones now points out that they reflect the axis of the enclosure, with multiple stone holes in the significant northeast direction. In the dating discussion, the Q&R holes are now said to be cut only by holes of the later bluestone circle. Reference to them being cut by sarsen circle stone holes has been removed. The caption of the early stone phase illustration has been reworded as "envisaged here as constructed before the larger sarsens arrived, some time just before 2500 BC". The second caption now refers to the bluestone "macehead" as a "battle-axe" instead. p36: The second caption has been reworded from "after the construction of the sarsen circle and trilithons" to "showing the final form of the sarsen circle and trilithons". In "The Late Stone Phase" text the phrase "The major change to the appearance of Stonehenge" has been changed to "What spectacularly changed Stonehenge" when referring to the erection of the 75 sarsens of the trilithon horseshoe and outer circle. The dating information has changed from "they were raised between 2440 BC and 2100 BC but most probably closer to 2300 BC" to "This seems to have happened in about 2500 BC but over what length of time this major construction took place is unknown". The sentence "There is little evidence of the bluestones from this phase of construction" plus the note that they had been removed from their original setting of the Q&R holes has been replaced by "It is possible that the bluestones still stood in their Q&R hole settings or indeed that they were raised at the same time as these great sarsen structures". p37: "The Final Phase" dating has changed from "between 2280 and 1930 BC" to "2300 and 2000 BC". Emphasis has changed to suggest the Avenue's banks and ditches may have already been built by this time instead of during the final phase. The discussion of the re-arrangement of the bluestones into their circle and oval (later horseshoe) settings no longer implies that the bluestones had previously been removed. The bluestones from the Q&R holes "with the possible addition of stones from elsewhere" - in total as many as 60 - were rearranged. The bluestone oval's remaking into a horseshoe happened at a later date "perhaps even as late as Roman times". The references to the suggested number and the type of stones in the bluestone horseshoe as being "19 stones" and "some of the tallest and most elegantly shaped of the bluestone pillars" have been removed. It is no longer implied that the was placed as a final act. The phase "now lies buried beneath the wreckage of the Great Trilithon" has been removed from the Altar Stone's description. Two alternate settings are proposed: "It may have stood as a wide pillar at the focal point of the central stone settings, or it may have lain flat, as a real altar." The text "All of this effort … was to create a temple to the sun" has changed to "Much of this effort…". The suggestion of the greater importance of midwinter over midsummer is maintained, but the possible reasons previously offered for this have been removed. p38: Rewording and reordering of the text discussing "The People of Stonehenge" in light of discoveries at Durrington Walls. A new introductory paragraph refers to the 1000 years before the construction started, when farming began to replace hunting and gathering, with concepts of ownership and territory possibly arising as a result. Although we know little about the people who built the simple earthwork enclosure of the late Neolithic, we know more about the lives of those who raised the stones 500 years later. p39: In comparing the Amesbury Archer burial to that of the Stonehenge Archer from the ditch, the word "simple" has been removed from the description of the latter burial. The dating of the Amesbury Archer burial has changed from "about 2300 BC" to "about 2400 BC". The phrase "a distinctive type of decorated pot, the Beaker" has changed to "a distinctive type of decorated pottery vessel known as Beaker ware". Mention is now made of the Amesbury Archer having been buried with "what appears to be a small stone anvil". In the discussion of the , the number of Beaker pots has changed from "no fewer than eight" to "at least eight". p40: Rewording of the initial part of the "After Stonehenge" section, from "continuing the emphasis on ceremony and burial" to "continuing the emphasis on burial" and from "increasing evidence for farming and everyday life" to "increasing evidence of everyday life". Minor rewording of the part describing the Cursus banks' use as field boundaries by Bronze-age farmers. A new reference to Roman activity at the monument has been added, including the possible removal or resetting of bluestones during Roman times based on excavation evidence, and the suggestion that Stonehenge may have become a Roman shrine. p42: The caption to Aubrey's picture now credits him with creating the first plan of Stonehenge. That of Stukeley now credits him as the first to notice the Avenue and the Cursus. The phrase "that had originally contained wooden posts" has been removed from the description of the Aubrey Holes. p43: The phrase "Stonehenge remained neglected and crumbling" has been added to the description of the monument following its formal recognition in 1883 as being of national importance. p44: In the discussion of Gowland's 1901 excavation and straightening of the upright of the Great Trilithon reference to his published conclusion that it had first been raised in 1800 BC has been replaced by a note that he concluded it had been raised "at the very end of the Stone Age or beginning of the Bronze Age, a very accurate interpretation of the evidence". Mention of the fear that it could be sold abroad at the 1915 auction has been removed. The phase "now the responsibility of the government" has been removed from the sentence describing its condition in 1919. Col. Hawley is no longer described as 'a former Army officer and experienced archaeologist", instead he is noted as "an experienced archaeologist". Hawley's admission that after 6 years' excavation he was "no nearer understanding Stonehenge than when he had started" has been removed. The description of his excavations as 'a disaster' has been changed to 'had been far from satisfactory". p45: Reference to Atkinson, Piggott and Stone's 1950s excavations of two more Aubrey Holes, providing samples that gave a radiocarbon date of between 2123 and 1575 BC, is retained but the fact of this having been announced by Professor William Libby of the University of Chicago has been removed. Mention that Atkinson first noticed the axe and dagger carvings in 1953 has been removed. In the discussion of the 1958 restoration of the trilithon that fell in 1797, the phrase "Finally the upright stones were reset in a bed of concrete" has been changed to "Finally the replaced uprights were set in concrete". A new paragraph describing the 2008 excavations by Darvill and Wainwright and those of Parker Pearson has been added. The former revealed evidence for the "deliberate destruction of and removal of bluestones during the Roman period", the first evidence of its active use at this time. The latter, of cremated remains discovered by Hawley and reburied in 1935, "appear to show that the majority of burials were of adult men" and says their eventual radiocarbon dating will show how long Stonehenge was used as a place of burial. p48: In "The Future" discussion of the present inadequate facilities, the phrase "plans are underway" has changed to "plans are well underway". Reference to the bored tunnel option for the A303 has been updated to report that it was rejected due to cost. The location of the proposed new visitor centre has changed from "about 3km (2 miles) to the east" to "2km (1.5 miles) to the east". "This would provide…" has been changed to "This will provide…" and "A land train would transport…" to "A land train will transport…". The number of visitors has been increased from "nearly 850,000" to "nearly one million" a year.

Inside back cover gatefold: Diagram of "The Development of Stonehenge" has been redated and redescribed, the timber and early stone phases are now described as "possible". The total span for the dates given for phases of the monument has changed from 3000 - 1930 BC to 2900 - 2000 BC

Inside back cover: New references in the "Further reading" section are given for "If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge (Aronson and Parker Pearson, Washington, 2010)", "Stonehenge: A New History of the World's Greatest Stone Circle (Burl, London, 2006)", "Stonehenge: The Biography of a Landscape (Darvill, Stroud, 2006)", "Chalkland: An Archaeology of Stonehenge and its Region (Lawson, Salisbury, 2007)", "Stonehenge: The Story So Far (Richards, London, 2007)", "Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion (Worthington, Loughborough, 2004)".

The following further reading references have been removed: "The Stone Circles of the British Isles (Burl, New Haven, 1976)", "The Modern Antiquarian (Cope, New York, 1998)", "Stonehenge and Timber Circles (Gibson, Stroud, 1998)", "Bronze Age Britain (Parker Pearson, London, 1993)", "Stonehenge: Mysteries of the Stones and Landscape (Souden, London, 1997)", "The Henge Monuments (Wainwright, London, 1989)"

Prepared by SGB, August 2011