Win Scutt's ArchNews @Archaeology_ws
https://twitter.com/Archaeology_ws/status/504676435823710208
Stonehenge: circle of parchmarks identified outside sarsens between Y and Z holes @AntiquityJ bit.ly/1mSDIJC
Win has spotted the surprise finding of the Antiquity parchmark paper - that maybe there are more circles at Stonehenge...
The conclusion of the paper is: “The new discoveries do tentatively allow further consideration of the multicircuit post settings envisaged by Gibson (1998: 41-44) and comparison with Woodhenge and the Sanctuary as well as Stanton Drew (David et al. 2004) but in the absence of dating evidence this remains speculative. The more diffuse marks around the periphery of the site might offer support for Pitts’ (1981) suggestion of an outer ring of stones. However, again, more research is needed to clarify this issue. This emphasises the potential for new discoveries about Stonehenge (one of the most widely researched monuments in the world) through non-invasive as well as invasive techniques.”
I can't share the plans yet so here is one of some other circles instead...
Click to enlarge - for more on Stanton Drew see
Update: Plan published on BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-28967538
Stanton Drew more a 'Circle of Stones' rather than a 'Stone Circle!
ReplyDeleteTo compare the ditches of Stonehenge and Stanton drew as comparable is laughable as one is metres deep whilst the 1997 survey at Stanton Drew shows shallow ditch of probably inches.
The fact that so many circles within a so called henge/stone circle exists should question (to a rational archaeologist) the fact that rather it being 'unique' it is in fact a 'garden feature' - Medieval labyrinths are well known hundreds of years before the first recorded documentation of this site in the 17th C.
This 'troy town' or turf maze may have had either a small shallow ditch or mound around the edge and stones (of erratic size and shape) as a feature. Furthermore, agger samples show the site is covered in alluvium showing it was underwater in prehistoric times.
RJL