Stonehenge and Avebury

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Stonehenge and Avebury Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It is a ring of large stones. It is surrounded by Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age remains. Please follow this link and find a new video about monuments http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/prehistoric- monuments/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_c ontent=Animation_Prehistory&utm_campaign=General_DMT Stonehenge was first built in around 3000BC. A second phase of building can be dated to 2580BC. It was used as a cemetery from 3000BC to 2300BC. Plans of Stonehenge phases The stones are a combination of sarsen stone, probably from the North Wiltshire Downs 30km away and so-called ‘bluestones’ from the Preseli region of SW Wales 220km to the west. Stonehenge aligns with the solstice and so may have cosmological associations. It may also have been built as a symbol of “peace and unity.” At the time Britain's Neolithic people were experiencing a period of cultural unification. Reconstruction of Stonehenge Stonehenge was a cemetery consisting of 240 cremations buried over 600 years (63 recorded cremations and over 40 unburnt human bones). It is therefore the biggest cemetery in Britain (but could be a small dynasty). Stonehenge Cemetery Avebury is another henge monument in Wiltshire. Built in the Neolithic in about 2600BC, it is the largest stone circle in Europe. Avebury Stone Circle It is made up of an impressively large stone circle surrounded by a deep ditch and a bank. Avebury is not as well-known as the iconic Stonehenge and consequently less visited. It is still possible to walk among the stones and sense the unique, enigmatic atmosphere of the prehistoric site. Another unique aspect of the site is that the stone circle contains within it much of the village of Avebury. The henge is only one of a complex of ancient monuments concentrated in the 25 square kilometres of the Avebury half of the World Heritage Site. It lies at the centre of an outstanding Neolithic ritual landscape dating back over five and a half thousand years. The earliest focus of ritual activity in the area was at nearby Windmill Hill in around 3700BC. The impressive West Kennet Long Barrow was also begun in this period. Another key monument in the landscape is Silbury Hill. Built around the same period at the Henge, it represents another astonishing feat of Neolithic endeavour. At 30m high, it is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. West Kennet Long barrow Silbury Hill As well as these key monuments, the landscape contains a wealth of archaeological remains including well-preserved Bronze Age round barrows which belong to one of the greatest concentrations of round barrows in the country. Over 330 archaeological sites are known within the WHS, 160 of which are Scheduled Monuments. The area is also of national significance for its nature conservation interests and it is wholly situated within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. .

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Magazine Summer 2011 Plan Your Walk
magazine summer 2011 magazine summer 2011 Southern England Southern England 09 Land’s End Peninsula, Cornwall 10 Avebury, Wiltshire 12/05/2011 16:30 l Distance 22½km/14 miles l Time 7hrs l Type Coast l Distance 18km/11 miles l Time 6½hrs l Type Countryside NAVIGATION FITNESS NAVIGATION FITNESS 1 LEVEL 1 2/3 LEVEL 2/3 2 LEVEL 2 2 LEVEL 2 feature p61 Plan your walk Plan your walk SEE Newquay l Cheltenham Redruth Gloucester Oxford St Ives l l CORNWALL Swindon l Penzance P Bristol Reading Falmouth N l TRO L Bath AVEBURY ORGA AR LAND’S END B A PENINSULA N EVE M O Landewednack T Salisbury HY: S HY: HY: FI HY: P P WHERE: Linear walk from WHERE: Circular walk from Gurnard’s Head to Sennen To find great accommodation, visit Avebury, Wiltshire. Cove via Cape Cornwall. www.ramblers.org.uk/accommodation START/END: The Red Lion, PHOTOGRA PHOTOGRA START: Gurnard’s Head Avebury (SU103699). (SW436376). Of all Cornwall’s wonderful sides of the peninsula, taking in TERRAIN: Unmarked but Taking in the first section of the cloak optional). At the end of END: Sennen Cove coastline, stretches of the north rugged cliffs, mining relics, splendid straightforward footpaths Great Stones Way, this ‘taster’ the field, cross two stiles and (SW355263). coast and the Land’s End headlands and beautiful coves. over open, chalky farmland route starts and ends inside continue beside the road, TERRAIN: Rugged coastal Peninsula must share first prize with plenty of historic the prehistoric stone circle at keeping to the L of the field.
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November 2019
November 2019 Published by Fyfield, West Overton and East Kennett View from the Rectory Parochial Church Council for By the time you read this, one and young people. Our schools and the Upper Kennet Benefice way or another, the issue that has churches can be a place of balance dominated the news, parliament and and sanctuary for our children, who politics for over 3 years will be may be feeling upset and anxious. resolved and the future relationship The Mental Health Foundation has Please note the Upper Kennet between the UK and the wider excellent advice on talking to Benefice now has a new website world set on one particular course of children about scary world news. access link www.kennet8.org.uk action. Whatever our personal Think about the needs of political viewpoint, these changes particular groups in your area. A new email address for the Benefice will impact all of us, and are likely What are the local challenges for us Office: to have the greatest impact on the in the countryside? How are the [email protected] vulnerable, as new trading farmers and local business feeling? arrangements come into force. We Shop local, spend a few minutes have been given some indications of listening to those on the checkouts what to expect and there will be or at the markets. Kennet Valley Lottery Club more government guidance in due Have a Forward Together meal course - there might be a temptation or coffee morning - encouraging draw winners for some to ‘batten down the endless discussion about the rights £100 Number 47 Jeremy Horder hatches’ and adopt a ‘me first’ and wrongs of Brexit is unlikely to £75 Number 87 Caro & James Simper stance.
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A Pilgrimage to Avebury Stone Circles in Wiltshire
BEST OF BRITAIN A pilgrimage to Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire ere are famous religious pilgrimages, there are also the pilgrimages that one does for oneself. It doesn't have to be on foot or by any particular mode of transport. It is nothing more than the journey of getting to the desired destination, in any way or form. For me, that desired destination was the stone circles of Avebury in Wiltshire, for years I’ve been yearning to sit in stone circles and visit the sacred sites of Europe. So, why visit Avebury, a place that is often sold to us as the poor cousin of the ever-famous Stonehenge? In real - ity, it is not less but much more. Why Avebury? is sacred Neolithic site is the largest set of stone circles out of the thousands in the United Kingdom and in the world. It is older than other sites, although the dating is sketchy. I've heard everything from 2600BC to 4500BC and it’s still up for discussion. Despite being a World Heritage site, Avebury is fully open to the public. Unlike Stonehenge, you can walk in and around the stones. It is accessible by public transport, buses stop in the middle of the village, and the entrance is free. As well as the stone cir - cles, there is also an avenue of stones that take you down to the West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. Onsite for a small fee you can visit the museum and manor that are run by the National Trust.
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Concrete Prehistories: the Making of Megalithic Modernism 1901-1939
Concrete Prehistories: The Making of Megalithic Modernism Abstract After water, concrete is the most consumed substance on earth. Every year enough cement is produced to manufacture around six billion cubic metres of concrete1. This paper investigates how concrete has been built into the construction of modern prehistories. We present an archaeology of concrete in the prehistoric landscapes of Stonehenge and Avebury, where concrete is a major component of megalithic sites restored between 1901 and 1964. We explore how concreting changed between 1901 and the Second World War, and the implications of this for constructions of prehistory. We discuss the role of concrete in debates surrounding restoration, analyze the semiotics of concrete equivalents for the megaliths, and investigate the significance of concreting to interpretations of prehistoric building. A technology that mixes ancient and modern, concrete helped build the modern archaeological imagination. Concrete is the substance of the modern –”Talking about concrete means talking about modernity” (Forty 2012:14). It is the material most closely associated with the origins and development of modern architecture, but in the modern era, concrete has also been widely deployed in the preservation and display of heritage. In fact its ubiquity means that concrete can justifiably claim to be the single most dominant substance of heritage conservation practice between 1900 and 1945. This paper investigates how concrete has been built into the construction of modern pasts, and in particular, modern prehistories. As the pre-eminent marker of modernity, concrete was used to separate ancient from modern, but efforts to preserve and display prehistoric megaliths saw concrete and megaliths become entangled.
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Section II: Summary of the Periodic Report on the State of Conservation
State of Conservation of World Heritage Properties in Europe SECTION II thus defined on the basis of criteria I and III and UNITED KINGDOM ultimately criterion II. In this connection ICOMOS would like to recall that already in the 12th century Stonehenge, Avebury and Stonehenge was considered as one of the wonders of the world by the chroniclers Henry de Huntington Associated Sites and Geoffrey de Monmouth and that in the 17th century, Stonehenge was the focus of a study by Brief description the great architect Inigo Jones. Stonehenge and Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among The early and unwavering interest for this the most famous groups of megaliths in the world. megalithic ensemble which serves as a benchmark, The two sanctuaries consist of circles of menhirs has left its mark upon historiography, the evolution arranged in a pattern whose astronomical of architectural theories and the progress of significance is still being explored. These holy prehistoric sciences. places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times. Committee Decision Bureau (1986): The Bureau requested the United 1. Introduction Kingdom authorities to study possible solution to the problem of the A 344 main road crossing the Year(s) of Inscription 1986 avenue at Stonehenge (detour, digging of a tunnel, Agency responsible for site management etc.). It would be desirable for the Committee to be informed of the progress of these studies at its next • Mailing Address(es) meeting. English Heritage - Stonehenge The Close 65 Committee (1986): The Committee noted with SP1 2EN Salisbury satisfaction the assurances provided by the Wiltshire authorities of the United Kingdom that the closure United Kingdom of the road which crosses the avenue at e-mail: [email protected] Stonehenge was receiving serious consideration as part of the overall plans for the future management website: www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge of the site.
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The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe by Marta Díaz-Guardamino, Leonardo García Sanjuán and David Wheatley (Eds)
The Prehistoric Society Book Reviews THE LIVES OF PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS IN IRON AGE, ROMAN, AND MEDIEVAL EUROPE BY MARTA DÍAZ-GUARDAMINO, LEONARDO GARCÍA SANJUÁN AND DAVID WHEATLEY (EDS) Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015. 356pp, 50 figs, 32 B/W plates, 6 tables. ISBN 978-0-19-872460-5, hb, £85 This handsome book is the outcome of a session at the 2013 European Association of Archaeologists in Pilsen, organised by the editors on the cultural biographies of monuments. It is divided into three sections, with the main part comprising 13 detailed case-studies, framed on either side by shorter introduction and discussion pieces. There is variety in the chronologies, subject matters and geographical scopes addressed; in short there is something for almost everyone! In their Introduction, the editors advocate that archaeologists require a more reflexive conceptual toolkit to deal with the complex issues of monument continuity, transformation, re-use and abandonment, and the significance of the speed and the timing of changes. They also critique the loaded term ‘afterlife’ as this separates the unfolding biography of a monument, and unwittingly relegates later activities to lesser importance than its original function. In the following chapter, Joyce Salisbury explores how the veneration of natural places in the landscape, such as caves and mountains, was shifted to man-made monumental features over time. The bulk of the book focuses on the specific case-studies which span Denmark in the north to Tunisia in the south and from Ireland in the west to Serbia and Crete in the east. In Chapter 3, Steen Hvass’s account of the history of research at the monument complex of King’s Jelling in Denmark is fascinating, but a little heavy on stratigraphic narrative, and light on theory and discussion.
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Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Management Plan 2015 Summary
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan Summary 2015 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan Summary 2015 1 Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Vision The Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site is universally important for its unique and dense concentration of outstanding prehistoric monuments and sites which together form a landscape without parallel. We will work together to care for and safeguard this special area and provide a tranquil, rural and ecologically diverse setting for it and its archaeology. This will allow present and future generations to explore and enjoy the monuments and their landscape setting more fully. We will also ensure that the special qualities of the World Heritage Site are presented, interpreted and enhanced where appropriate, so that visitors, the local community and the whole world can better understand and value the extraordinary achievements © K020791 Historic England © K020791 Historic of the prehistoric people who left us this rich legacy. Avebury Stone Circle We will realise the cultural, scientific and educational potential of the World Heritage Site as well as its social and economic benefits for the community. © N060499 Historic England © N060499 Historic Stonehenge in summer 2 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan Summary 2015 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan Summary 2015 1 World Heritage Sites © K930754 Historic England © K930754 Historic Arable farming in the WHS below the Ridgeway, Avebury The Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site is internationally important for its complexes of outstanding prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, while Avebury is Stonehenge and Avebury were inscribed as a single World Heritage Site in 1986 for their outstanding prehistoric monuments the largest.
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Stonehenge OCR Spec B: History Around Us
OCR HISTORY AROUND US Site Proposal Form Example from English Heritage The Criteria The study of the selected site must focus on the relationship between the site, other historical sources and the aspects listed in a) to n) below. It is therefore essential that centres choose a site that allows learners to use its physical features, together with other historical sources as appropriate, to understand all of the following: a) The reasons for the location of the site within its surroundings b) When and why people first created the site c) The ways in which the site has changed over time d) How the site has been used throughout its history e) The diversity of activities and people associated with the site f) The reasons for changes to the site and to the way it was used g) Significant times in the site’s past: peak activity, major developments, turning points h) The significance of specific features in the physical remains at the site i) The importance of the whole site either locally or nationally, as appropriate j) The typicality of the site based on a comparison with other similar sites k) What the site reveals about everyday life, attitudes and values in particular periods of history l) How the physical remains may prompt questions about the past and how historians frame these as valid historical enquiries m) How the physical remains can inform artistic reconstructions and other interpretations of the site n) The challenges and benefits of studying the historic environment 1 Copyright © OCR 2018 Site name: STONEHENGE Created by: ENGLISH HERITAGE LEARNING TEAM Please provide an explanation of how your site meets each of the following points and include the most appropriate visual images of your site.
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The Origins of Avebury 2 1,* 2 2 Q13 Q2mark Gillings , Joshua Pollard & Kris Strutt 4 5 6 the Avebury Henge Is One of the Famous Mega
1 The origins of Avebury 2 1,* 2 2 Q13 Q2Mark Gillings , Joshua Pollard & Kris Strutt 4 5 6 The Avebury henge is one of the famous mega- 7 lithic monuments of the European Neolithic, Research 8 yet much remains unknown about the detail 9 and chronology of its construction. Here, the 10 results of a new geophysical survey and 11 re-examination of earlier excavation records 12 illuminate the earliest beginnings of the 13 monument. The authors suggest that Ave- ’ 14 bury s Southern Inner Circle was constructed 15 to memorialise and monumentalise the site ‘ ’ 16 of a much earlier foundational house. The ﬁ 17 signi cance here resides in the way that traces 18 of dwelling may take on special social and his- 19 torical value, leading to their marking and 20 commemoration through major acts of monu- 21 ment building. 22 23 Keywords: Britain, Avebury, Neolithic, megalithic, memory 24 25 26 Introduction 27 28 Alongside Stonehenge, the passage graves of the Boyne Valley and the Carnac alignments, the 29 Avebury henge is one of the pre-eminent megalithic monuments of the European Neolithic. ’ 30 Its 420m-diameter earthwork encloses the world s largest stone circle. This in turn encloses — — 31 two smaller yet still vast megalithic circles each approximately 100m in diameter and 32 complex internal stone settings (Figure 1). Avenues of paired standing stones lead from 33 two of its four entrances, together extending for approximately 3.5km and linking with 34 other monumental constructions. Avebury sits within the centre of a landscape rich in 35 later Neolithic monuments, including Silbury Hill and the West Kennet palisade enclosures 36 (Smith 1965; Pollard & Reynolds 2002; Gillings & Pollard 2004).
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How to Tell a Cromlech from a Quoit ©
How to tell a cromlech from a quoit © As you might have guessed from the title, this article looks at different types of Neolithic or early Bronze Age megaliths and burial mounds, with particular reference to some well-known examples in the UK. It’s also a quick overview of some of the terms used when describing certain types of megaliths, standing stones and tombs. The definitions below serve to illustrate that there is little general agreement over what we could classify as burial mounds. Burial mounds, cairns, tumuli and barrows can all refer to man- made hills of earth or stone, are located globally and may include all types of standing stones. A barrow is a mound of earth that covers a burial. Sometimes, burials were dug into the original ground surface, but some are found placed in the mound itself. The term, barrow, can be used for British burial mounds of any period. However, round barrows can be dated to either the Early Bronze Age or the Saxon period before the conversion to Christianity, whereas long barrows are usually Neolithic in origin. So, what is a megalith? A megalith is a large stone structure or a group of standing stones - the term, megalith means great stone, from two Greek words, megas (meaning: great) and lithos (meaning: stone). However, the general meaning of megaliths includes any structure composed of large stones, which include tombs and circular standing structures. Such structures have been found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America and may have had religious significance. Megaliths tend to be put into two general categories, ie dolmens or menhirs.
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Silbury Hill – А Case Study with LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY: SILBURY HILL – a CASE STUDY LIONEL LIONEL SIMS LIONEL SIMS
VI. LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHAEOASTRONOMY INTEGRATING ARCHAEOASTRONOMY Integrating Archaeology: with Landscape ArchaeoastronomySilbury Hill – а Case Study WITH LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY: SILBURY HILL – A CASE STUDY LIONEL LIONEL SIMS LIONEL SIMS Abstract Weaknesses in both archaeoastronomy and landscape archaeology can be overcome by their combination. This is demonstrat- ed through a new interpretation of Silbury Hill in Avebury, Wiltshire. If monuments in their local landscape are considered as one choice in a system of alternatives, tests can be devised to intepret the prehistoric builders‘ intentions. This exercise finds that the builders chose a prescriptive arrangement of views of Silbury Hill to simulate a facsimile of the moon entering and returning from the underworld. Key words: dark moon, crescent moon, paired alignments, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Avenue, Beckhampton Avenue, Ave- bury, underworld. Introduction with a level circular summit platform.To date, no con- vincing explanation as to its meaning has been offered. Archaeoastronomy has to move on from the legacy of Archaeologists have long expected that excavating the the Thom paradigm if it is to prove its relevance to sci- interior of the hill would reveal burials or deposited ar- ence (Sims 2006). Over the last three decades the dis- tefacts that would provide the clues to its decoding. In cipline has established robust field methods procedures spite of the many tunnels that have been dug, so much and, in so doing, falsified Thom‘s claim for a prehis- so that the Hill has now to be rescued from imminent toric precision astronomy (Thom 1971; Ruggles 1999; collapse, no burials have been found nor interpretive Hoskin 2001, Belmonte 2006; Schaefer 1993; North breakthroughs made.
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The Landscape Archaeology of Martin Down
The Landscape Archaeology of Martin Down Martin Down and the surrounding area contain a variety of well‐preserved archaeological remains, largely because the area has been unaffected by modern agriculture and development. This variety of site types and the quality of their preservation are relatively unusual in the largely arable landscapes of central southern England. Bokerley Dyke, Grim's Ditch, the short section of medieval park boundary bank and the two bowl barrows west of Grim's Ditch, form the focus of the Martin Down archaeological landscape and, as such, have been the subject of part excavations and a detailed survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. These investigations have provided much information about the nature and development of early land division, agriculture and settlement within this area during the later prehistoric and historic periods. See attached map for locations of key sites A ritual Neolithic Landscape….. Feature 1. The Dorset Cursus The Cursus dates from 3300 BCE which makes it contemporary with the earthen long barrows on Cranborne Chase: many of these are found near, on, or within the Cursus and since they are still in existence they help trace the Cursus' course in the modern landscape. The relationship between the Cursus and the alignment of these barrows suggests that they had a common ritual significance to the Neolithic people who spent an estimated 0.5 million worker‐hours in its construction. A cursus circa 6.25 miles (10 kilometres) long which runs roughly southwest‐northeast between Thickthorn Down and Martin Down. Narrow and roughly parallel‐sided, it follows a slightly sinuous course across the chalk downland, crossing a river and several valleys.
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