In a thoroughly engaging, inspirational and realistically practical talk to a packed Assembly Room at the Town Hall yesterday afternoon (1 October), archaeologist Mike Pitts described a different and altogether more complete way that Stonehenge had been constructed many thousands of years ago.
Stonehenge was ‘built’ at the end of the neolithic period, and just before the bronze age emerged. It was probably the last such construction in Europe, or the area bounded by what we regard Europe to be nowadays, and embraced many aspects of what other such constructs did in this area, but in one entity. Probably gaining on the collected experiences of those other builders.
It was before any ‘metal’ age as no metal tools have been unearthed in any of the digs around the area, which coincides with the accepted dating of the start of the bronze age and completion of Stonehenge. Stonehenge was built, and stones dressed using stone tools.
Mike has long been involved (immersed?) in Stonehenge. SInce the Seventies, involved in digs, reconstructions, analysis, all of which gives a uniquely comprehensive understanding as to how it came about. How the stones arrived on site, and from where, and when. All catalogued in his recent book ‘How to Build Stonehenge‘.
Much has emerged about Stonehenge in recent years. Where did the stones come from? The ‘Bluestones’ were believed to have come from the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. This has now been confirmed, and even the site of where individual stones had been quarried have been identified. But the others, the large Sarsens, they came from somewhere much closer: seventeen miles away to the North, in West Woods, just outside Marlborough. This was established not long ago when a core (from a drilling made in the fifties) was analysed.
Mike Pitts’ research leads to the belief that the stones were transported from West Woods on ‘sleds’, which ran on wood tracks (not rollers as had previously been thought), and he has charted the likely course, which mainly follows the River Avon. A route of ‘least resistance’, i.e. not navigating any steep hills to go over Salisbury Plain. His research gave examples of relatively recent experiences in the Far East where stones of quite immense and comparable weight and magnitude were moved significant distances.
His research, and a great deal of what he presented yesterday centred on the actual building of the monument itself. The five inner Trilithons – the horseshoe arrangement of five pairs of massive sarsens, with a lintel across the top of each pair, and one pair being the largest of all stones in the site with each stone weighing almost forty tons. He described how these had to be put in place before the massive outer ring, as there wouldn’t have been space to do so (or gaps to move these stones into place) if done after completion of this circular outer ring.
And then how these stones were actually put up. Not using a ‘sheerlegs’ system, as had previously been postulated, but a ramp of smaller stones being built on one side to raise into the vertical and then slide into the pit. And it was the depth of each pit that determined the height (above the soil) of each stone, hence easier to manage consistent heights.
All of this, and much more was set out in some detail in Mike’s talk. Described in his book, but whilst embracing some previous theory, much is new and based around different and detailed research conducted over decades, focusing on the aspects of this magical and significant prehistoric monument that hadn’t ever been looked at in such depth. The ‘use of’ and ‘meaning’ for the monument always tended to capture the interest of the researcher and audience alike, rather than how it got there.
A fascinating talk, but also leading to the belief that, like Rome, Stonehenge wasn’t built in a day. But neither was it across many generations either. Talking with Mike afterwards, he reckoned that the timescale could have been quite short – within a generation – possibly five years, or maybe as long as ten.
Stonehenge’s secrets are gradually being uncovered and addressed, we await the next phase with great interest….
Andrew Miller at Marlborough LitFest 2022
