tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787185370858787658.post289543116632994250..comments2024-01-30T06:35:10.103+00:00Comments on www.Sarsen.org: The strange case of the dig for the Stonehenge tunnelTim Dawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10667360714222841797noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787185370858787658.post-60184682680093055482016-10-21T15:10:49.849+01:002016-10-21T15:10:49.849+01:00Hi Dan,
I have discovered that ditch-and-bank syst...Hi Dan,<br />I have discovered that ditch-and-bank systems are generally level across a henge, regardless of topography, so the 'artificial horizon' idea is a good one, also proposed by several people.<br /><br />But at many sites - particularly Stonehenge - very few features have a single purpose, being layered with other meaning as well. This said, I believe that both the ditch and the bank were important to a couple of other concepts, while the painstaking labor of constructing them is not the least rationale.<br /><br />Few have taken flora into consideration and I'm pleased that this aspect is coming into its own.<br /><br />The locations on the bank that sport postholes certainly appear to indicate a 'Stand Here' motive.<br /><br />NeilND Wisemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11925248433335448747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787185370858787658.post-58671728774951295952016-10-21T12:32:18.808+01:002016-10-21T12:32:18.808+01:00Interesting, thanks. I have previously refered to ...Interesting, thanks. I have previously refered to the post hole sites on top of the Stonehenge bank that may have been so used. Food for thought.Tim Dawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667360714222841797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5787185370858787658.post-12012510078437883662016-10-21T10:59:49.845+01:002016-10-21T10:59:49.845+01:00As an aside to this, did you ever wonder where the...As an aside to this, did you ever wonder where the idea of stone circles versus henges came from?<br /><br />The pollen records for much of lowland Britain at the time of what Mike Pitts terms the Hengeworld culture/religion was fairly open hazel scrub. However, at this time if we assume that the same religion was current across the whole of the country, we see an interesting set of monuments developing.<br /><br />In upland areas, stone circles made of varying sizes of stones were commonplace. In lowland areas, timber circles and henges were the replacement for stone circles.<br /><br />From a purely practical point of view, this actually makes sense. If you are interested in marking out astronomical movements and are, as is universal with humans, somewhat lazy then if you can get away with a permanent marker like a stone, then that is what you do.<br /><br />In upland areas then, where sightlines to the horizon are clear, you use stones on a levelled surface.<br /><br />In lowland areas where scrub obscures the horizon, you use either very tall timber posts that project above the scrubby horizon, or you create your own artificial horizon with a henge bank.<br /><br />This, BTW, is why there are different ditch positionings on different henges. The ditch isn't the important bit of a henge, the important bit is the bank top, which when in use probably had some sort of marker system (now long since eroded away) on the top to mark the various sightlines, together with some sort of "Stand here" marker inside the body of the henge.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02618328278732100203noreply@blogger.com