Craig Rhos-y-Felin

As I was passing it would have been unforgivable not to take a few photos of Craig Rhos-y-Felin a source of some Rhyolite "Bluestones" for Stonehenge.

Mike Parker Pearson has left his "abandoned" monolith shrouded ready for further investigation.

And the council is preparing for visitors. (See http://www.sarsen.org/2014/04/craig-rhosyfelin-visitor-management.html  for details)

Click any picture to enlarge it.

Stoneholes 17-20 Parchmarks - 50 years ago

Back in July I noticed some parchmarks at Stonehenge which were the first indications that there are stoneholes for the missing stones 17 and 18 and also showed the stoneholes for stones  19 and 20  - see this post for more details.

I bought a postcard today which dates from 1959 which also shows these parchmarks, I think they have often shown up and they were never recognized for what they are. Last year they had been there for some time before the penny dropped with me.

Click to embiggen

A Mystery Depression at Stonehenge

STONEHENGE: PLANS, DESCRIPTION, AND THEORIES by W M Flinder Petrie with an update by Gerald S Hawkins.

A fascinating book with this excellent map produced in 1966.

Click to enlarge

Hawkins is intrigued by the semi-circular depression  just to the east  of  the North Barrow.

It shows up in this photograph from the early sixties as a dark mark. He assures the reader it isn't a Fairy Ring and wonders what it is? I do as well, as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else.

Magic Maps

Her Majesty provides some very informative interactive maps for anyone interested in the countryside. I recommend a play with them:

http://www.magic.gov.uk/ 

The MAGIC website provides authoritative geographic information about the natural environment from across government. The information covers rural, urban, coastal and marine environments across Great Britain. It is presented in an interactive map which can be explored using various mapping tools that are included.

Here's one of Stonehenge showing some species and the Parish Boundaries (odd where they go).

And  http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/ for other detailed info

"What's in your backyard? provides access to environmental data for England and Wales at a local level. However, please be aware that with the scale used, the maps are not precise for a single point e.g. for an individual property."

Silbury Hill Data Archive

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/silbury_eh_2014/index.cfm 

English Heritage has been engaged in work at Silbury since May 2000 when a vertical shaft originally dug in 1776 re-opened up on the summit. After temporary stabilisation, a major investigative programme revealed further local problems associated with lateral tunnels dug at the base of the hill in 1849 and 1968. After much public debate and scrutiny, a scheme for permanent remedial works was agreed and work was duly carried out between 2007 and 2008.

The 2007/8 recording work identified numerous phases of the mound, suggesting that the archaeological stratigraphic sequence is considerably more complex than previously thought; the mound growing through many small events, rather than a few grand statements. The digital archive reflects the work that took place from the shaft opening on the summit of the hill in 2000 to the 2007/8 excavations and the assessment and analysis stages that followed.

Restoring Stonehenge Report

Research reports to look forward to:

http://research.english-heritage.org.uk/results/?&year=2014

'Restoring' Stonehenge 1881-1939 
Forthcoming. 
6/2014

Stonehenge Aerodrome and the Stonehenge Landscape 
Forthcoming. 
7/2014

The Heel Stone and the Horizon

Reading W M Flinder Petrie's Stonehenge book I came across the following passage:

(The Heel stone) has a remarkably peaked top, which is unlike that of any other stone there, and which gives a definite horizon azimuth. Is, then, the peak to be observed from the middle of the entrance, or from the slit between the middle trilithon? First, the entrance is 50 inches wide, and its middle is not easily settled without measurement; whereas the slit between the trilithon was only 13 inches wide, about the same as the peak of the Heel stone, the estimated middle of which would give a good definite azimuth on a length of 3400 inches. Next, the horizon is invisible at the entrance, the peak of the Heel rising far above it; and it is only on retreating up the slight rise, to behind the middle trilithon, that the horizon is seen on the level of the peak, by an eye at a fair height of 65 inches from the ground; behind the circle the peak is seen below the horizon. From both these reasons, it seems nearly certain that the point of observation was intended to be from behind the trilithon, to the peak of the Heel stone; as any place between the entrance and the trilithon shares the disadvantages of the former.

An old postcard shows the horizon from the middle of the  circle before trees obscured it:

I took a stroll into the circle to see the changes now and how the Heel stone rises up to the horizon as one walks in.

The photos were all taken at approx 65" from gound level and can be clicked to enlarge.

From beyond the bank

From the Aubrey Hole ring

From the outer stone circle

From behind the Great Trilithon

From the centre