Why William Harvey Went to Stonehenge: Anatomy, Antiquarianism, and National Identity

“Why William Harvey Went to Stonehenge: Anatomy, Antiquarianism, and National Identity.” ISIS, a journal of the History of Science Society, 25 November 2024. By Anita Guerrini

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/733151 (£)

Abstract

During his royal progress in the summer of 1620, King James I stopped in Wiltshire. In his party were the architect Inigo Jones and a royal physician, William Harvey. The king sent Jones and Harvey to Stonehenge, which was nearby, to make drawings and measurements of the mysterious monument. In addition, Harvey was to perform excavations. This visit, described by Jones in his posthumous book The Most Notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng on Salisbury Plain, Restored (1655), raises many questions, particularly about Harvey’s role in this expedition. The answers to these questions involve Harvey’s underexamined role as a courtier, the place of antiquarianism in the establishment of royal legitimacy and national identity, and debates in early modern Europe surrounding fossil bones and ancient monuments. There is a good chance that Harvey was looking for the fossil bones of giant ancestors.

Stonehenge Quadrangle, Solstice and Lunistice, Sun and Full Moon

Stonehenge Quadrangle, Solstice and Lunistice, Sun and Full Moon

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

Polytechnic University of Turin - Department of Applied Science and Technology

Date Written: November 21, 2024

Abstract

Here we discuss the orientation of the megalithic Quadrangle of Stonehenge, created by its four Station Stones. Stimulated by the recent proposal made by Timothy Darvill of a solar calendar embedded in the monumental sarsen stones, we investigate a possible role of the moon. At the same time, we invite the reader to use software to simulate the behavior of the moon, regarding lunistices (lunar standstills) and lunar phases. Thanks to software, we can appreciate how the full moon, rising and setting along the long side of the Quadrangle in the case of major lunistices, is heralding the solstice. The Metonic cycle could also be considered as involved in the solar calendar proposed by Darvill.

Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina, Stonehenge Quadrangle, Solstice and Lunistice, Sun and Full Moon (November 21, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5023173 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5023173

West Kennet Granodiorites

"Seventy-seven pieces of very weathered pyroxene-bearing granodiorite corestone excavated from trenches 2, 3 and 9 within Structure 5 of West Kennet in 2019 and 2021 and varying from small pebbles to >500grms cobbles, have a total weight of 22kg. Detailed petrographical and geochemical analyses of typical samples show them to share an unusual (for Britain) and distinctive mineralogy and petrography and also suggest they are all from a single outcrop/subcrop. The essentially unaltered pyroxene-bearing granodiorite carries 'large' skeletal zircon crystals, which are a determinative characteristic. Petrological comparisons with similar British granodiorites show that its origin is to be found within the large, 60km 2 and lithologically highly diverse Cheviot Igneous Complex of Northumberland, more than 450km from West Kennet."

Exotic granodiorite lithics from Structure 5 at West Kennet, Avebury World Heritage Site, Wiltshire, UK. / Ixer, Rob; Bevins, Richard; Pearce, Nick et al. In: Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, 2025

 https://www.academia.edu/125773662/West_Kennet_Granodiorites

The Sarsens of Devon

Devon is pleasantly littered with Sarsen stones, mainly in the south of the county. Nash et al even sampled some for their paper hunting for the sources of the Stonehenge Sarsens.

David J. Nash et al. ,Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge.Sci. Adv.6,eabc0133(2020).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abc0133

Here are the sarsens in Staple Fitzpaine in Somerset, looking very like the ones further west in Shebbear.

 I'm intrigued by reports from elsewhere in the county, especially this one from North Molton, which I can't find corroborated more recently. I must look when I'm next passing.

CHURCHES BUILT ON PRE-CHRISTIAN BURIAL-PLACES. Ward, H Snowden.  The Antiquary; London Vol. 2, Iss. 3, (Mar 1906): 120-120.

Shebbear's other boulder

The regularly manuported "Devil's Stone" on Shebbear's village green.

Just up the road there is another boulder, more angular but said to be of a similar type of stone.

HER Number:	MDV51508
Name:	Stone, Berry Farm, Shebbear

"Summary

Large boulder to right of access to plot at Berry Farm said to be of similar type to standing stone on Shebbear village green. Exeter University geologists and archaeologists suggest that it is not of local origin."

The Limeslade Erratic - the professional analysis

The Limeslade erratic is in no way exceptional. It is simply another giant erratic on the foreshore of southern Britain.

The occurrence of boulders from Pembrokeshire transported by glacier southeastwards across South Wales towards the Severn Estuary has been known for well over a century (reviewed in Scourse, 1997). There is, however, no geochronological or other evidence to support John’s contention that this ice advance occurred during the Anglian glaciation, nor is there any evidence to extrapolate this transport route eastwards from the western Mendips towards Stonehenge

There is no evidence presented by John to shed light on its provenance; rather, the narrative represents a curious journey of local sources to a broad, Wales-wide journey of potential sources of the Stonehenge bluestones, which has no relevance to the identification of the boulder on the foreshore, at Limeslade on Gower, and which logically, on the basis of previously published works, was derived from north Pembrokeshire. This article merely represents a disingenuous cover to justify a rehearsal of the now well-worn and increasingly tedious debate concerning transport of the Stonehenge bluestones.

The conclusion of: 

Comment on "An igneous erratic at Limeslade, Gower, and the glaciation of the Bristol Channel by Brian John" -  Nick Pearce, Richard Bevins, Rob Ixer & James Scourse PDF

From: Quaternary Newsletter Issue 163 (October 2024)

Seeking a Scottish source: Updating the story of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone

"Current Archaeology issue 415 reported on new scientific analysis suggesting that the origins of the Stonehenge Altar Stone lay hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain, in the Orcadian Basin of north-east Scotland. The story has already moved on, however, with recently published research narrowing the search further, ruling out Orkney itself as a potential source. Rob Ixer, Richard Bevins, and Nick Pearce bring us up to date." November 2024

"This map shows the distribution of the Old Red Sandstone sedimentary basins of Britain and Ireland, highlighting the location and extent of the Orcadian Basin."

Full article: https://the-past.com/feature/seeking-a-scottish-source-updating-the-story-of-stonehenges-altar-stone/

Or at https://www.academia.edu/125350876/_054_CA417_Altar_stone_geology2_EMSCCH

Turning the Shebbear Devil Stone 2024

The annual tradition of turning the Shebbear Devil Stone

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/the-annual-tradition-of-turnin-BsYH5yLtQdqjslSQBCULVQ

Video https://www.facebook.com/reel/1290278195733726

Thornborough Henge Survey

Geophysical surveys led by Historic England have identified outer features of the Thornborough Northern Henge along with other possible archaeological finds 

Read further at: bit.ly/NorthernHenge