Julian Richards has suggested that one reason that sarsens were removed was for the stone to be used for producing grinding querns. There is very little stone in neighborhood suitable for stones to grind grain with and some sarsen stone types are very suitable, other less so. So a source of excellent source material may have been irresistible in the later Bronze Age, and a quern manufactory set up.
"East of (north Fargo) plantation the field system corresponds with an area of later Bronze Age activity identified by extensive surface collection in the winter of 1980-81 and subsequently sampled more intensively (Richards, J 1990 The Stonehenge Environs Project. HBMC: London ). The surface scatter consisted of pottery and large quantities of burnt flint and burnt and broken sarsen, including quern fragments, and was interpreted as a small nucleated area of later Bronze Age settlement, lying within the area of regular field"
Research Department Report Series 82-2011
STONEHENGE WORLD HERITAGE SITE
LANDSCAPE PROJECT
LEVEL 1 FIELD INVESTIGATIONS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY REPORT
Sharon Bishop
You gotta be kidding Tim?
ReplyDeleteAmesbury Abbey was the most likeliest culprit and after the dissolution the stone could have gone anywhere including the nearest listed house to Stonehenge, West Amesbury House which has stone quoins and garden walls covered with sarsen stonework!!
And as for Julian's 'grinding querns' (if you had a choice) well the bluestones are a better stone than Sarsen for grinding - as its harder.
RJL
I would point out that West Amesbury House doesn't seem to have any visible sarsen stonework, though it is rumoured to have some internally, which I doubt.
ReplyDeleteAlso sarsen is much harder than the various types of bluestone and can have the ideal granular texture for grinding, unlike rhyolite for instance.
You may be right about West Amesbury House - I'm no stone expert, but looking at a similar site 'Old Sarum' you find Sarsen stone in the foundations of old Salisbury cathedral (probably from an old stone circle that would have been located on the site) as they are not as good as limestone for carving but make very good foundation blocks.
ReplyDeleteSeek out the location of the original Amesbury Abbey and look for the foundations if they still exist - pound to a penny you find your Stonehenge Sarsens!!
RJL
But
pound to a penny you find your Stonehenge Sarsens!!
ReplyDeleteWhen does the book close on those odds? (not sure how many pennies I can get into a honda without doing the suspension in)