Mythical rings? Waun Mawn and Stonehenge
Stage 1 by Timothy Darvill
"In a recent
Antiquity article, Parker Pearson
and colleagues (2021) presented
results from excavations at Waun
Mawn in south-west Wales, interpreting the site
as a dismantled stone circle and source
for some of the Bluestone
pillars used in the Aubrey Holes at Stonehenge. Here, the author examines the evidence, showing that alternative
interpretations are possible. Waun Mawn is argued to represent a series of smaller
stone settings, typical of ceremonial sites in
south- west Wales. Meanwhile
the Aubrey Holes are shown to reflect a well-established regional
sequence in which post circles are followed by pit circles. A Welsh
‘source-circle’ for
Stonehenge cannot be excluded but, the author
argues, the claim is unsupported by the current evidence."
Mike Parker Pearson et al have responded:
How Waun Mawn stone circle was designed and built, and when the Bluestones arrived at Stonehenge: a response to Darvill
"In response to Timothy Darvill's article, ‘Mythical rings?’ (this issue), which argues for an alternative interpretation of Waun Mawn circle and its relationship with Stonehenge, Parker Pearson and colleagues report new evidence from the Welsh site and elaborate on aspects of their original argument. The discovery of a hearth at the centre of the circle, as well as further features around its circumference, reinforces the authors’ original interpretation. The authors explore the evidence for the construction sequence, which was abandoned before the completion of the monument. Contesting Darvill's argument that the Aubrey Holes at Stonehenge originally held posts, the authors reassert their interpretation of this circle of cut features as Bluestone settings."
The response is at: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.132
Darvill plan showing the recorded stones
and stone-sockets at Waun Mawn,
Pembrokeshire (figure by G. Belmont
after Grimes 1964: fig. 36 and Parker Pearson
et
al. 2021: fig. 4a).
MPP et al "the reader should ignore Darvill's Figure 1 and refer only to our plan to understand the site. How do we know that Waun Mawn is an unfinished circle? Because it has an entrance, convincing arcs of stoneholes, and—most significantly—a centre."
Plan of the unfinished and dismantled stone circle of Waun Mawn, Pembrokeshire. Remaining stones, standing and recumbent (purple), are shown, with stoneholes of dismantled standing stones (red), pits dug for standing stones but never used (green) and other features (black). Viewed from the hearth (131) at the centre of the circle, the midsummer solstice sun rose within the entrance formed by stoneholes 128 and 21 (figure by C. Casswell)
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