Lecture 3. A Stones Throw from Home

Yet again this blog is a bit overdue, but here it is...

So Chris gave us a lesson in British history describing the various invaders and settlers. From the intellectual prowess of the Romans bringing with them their roads, to violent Vikings bringing with them their well rehearsed skills in rape and pillaging.

The one thing that stuck out to me from the lecture was the various mentions of Stonehenge.

Now, despite settling down south (no rape or pillaging involved) I originally hail from the west country. Yes that is correct, I am a country bumpkin. My mother speaks like a farmer, but she is not also my sister and lover. I have had the pleasure of witnessing the musical genius of the Wurzels and meeting them after. I drink up thee zider etc etc.

The majority of my family still live in Wiltshire and we frequently drive up to visit them. Just coming out of Salisbury, along the A360, on a clear day, you can see the mysterious sight of Stonehenge from your window.

I have done this journey loads of times since I was four years old, and those stones have also interested me. I can remember watching a video my nan had about them over and over again.

Archeologists had believed that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC. However one recent theory has suggested that the first stones were not erected until 2400-2200 BC, whilst another suggests that it could have been as early as 3100 BC.

Stonehenge is believed to have served as a burial ground from its earliest days. According to Professor Mike Parker Pearson, head of Stonehenge Riverside Project:

"Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead."

It all seems a far cry from all the druids, wizards, warlocks etc that turn up at the site for the Solstice festivals. How jolly of a bunch of 'stoned' simpletons to dance on people's graves!

My mother used to tell me how she and her sisters would have picnics on the stones. The health and safety police have since put a stop to this sort of outrageous behaviour. That seems fair. I mean a prawn sandwich is far more damaging to those sacred stones than a one eyed wizard armed with a bongo drum!

Its incredible how after thousands and thousands of years, Stonehenge remains a site of mystery and intrigue. The sheer force of human power needed to carry the stones from one part of the world over to Salisbury plain is one that baffles me to this day.