Page 23 - ModernParadiseFLIPBOOKcomplete

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and river rafts and overland sledges. Deep ditches, ropes, strong wooden poles and

frames were then used to raise them up, the ditches packed with rocks and rubble to
hold them in place; maybe earth ramps to lift and position the lintel stones. And
obviously a lot of manpower. This has actually given rise to one of the more
interesting speculations: that the key to Stonehenge lies not its function but in the
process of its building. This provided an opportunity to bring communities together in
a huge collective act of solidarity and celebration with epic levels of feasting and
drinking.

This is at least as plausible as some of the other theories which have emerged. These
include a temple for sun and moon worship, a place of burial, a meeting place for the
living and the dead, an astronomical computer to predict eclipses, a seasonal
calendar perhaps based on one adopted in ancient Egypt around 2600 BC, and a
place of healing. This last theory is based on finds of skeletons showing signs of
disease, injury and even skull surgery, and also amulets carved out of fragments of
the blue-stones. People kept these even during Roman and medieval times. They are
th
found in burials. In the 12 century monk Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that they
had medicinal properties.

Stonehenge and prehistory
The problem with all these theories is that, as archaeologist Ian Morris says, you can’t
dig up beliefs. But there is a wider problem. Whatever explanation is offered, there is
an apparent disconnect between what we see or imagine Stonehenge to be and the
society that produced it. Work started around 5,000 years ago, in the Neolithic (new

stone) Age. This is the period when hunter-gathering was giving way to agriculture. It
was completed however around 1800 years BC, during the Bronze Age, i.e. as stone
implements gave way to metal. The problem is that none of the suggested purposes
of Stonehenge fit easily with our picture of what life and society were like during
those times. In a word, Stonehenge is an anomaly.

English Heritage who run Stonehenge offer some thoughts on this their website. The
call the Neolithic age one of the most significant turning points in all human history.
They ascribe this to “Neolithic ingenuity”. Among the examples cited are farming
rather than hunting and gathering; living in settled communities; wattle and daub;
selective breeding and knowledge of wheat and other crops; holding regular feasts;
mining for better quality flint; underground pits to keep food cool; salting and drying
food; and possibly cheese-making. And also architecture; they built spectacular stone
monuments, “a radical change in the way people thought about landscape and
materials”.