Was one of the purposes of Stonehenge as a place of healing? Archaeologists Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright think so, and their ideas are described in the October issue of Smithsonian magazine, and in a television program on the Smithsonian Channel premiering September 27, 2008.
There are 80 bluestone pillars at Stonehenge, some of which weigh several tons. Archaeologists have long recognized the source of the bluestones: Carn Menyn in the Preseli Hills of southwestern Wales. Carn Menyn is some 140 miles from Stonehenge as the crow flies, and at least 250 miles by the most pragmatic sea route. The Preseli hills have numerous stone circles made from bluestones, and as part of their investigations, Darvill and Wainwright visited the stone circles nearest Carn Menyn, called Gors Fawr and Bedd Arthur. Both are built of bluestones; Bedd Arthur in particular is similar in pattern to Stonehenge.
Stonehenge and Enhanced Springheads
Also at Carn Menyn are enhanced springheads--natural springs which were dammed to create pools and decorated with rock art. Darvill and Wainwright believe these additions demonstrate that the springs were considered places of healing. Could the reason the bluestones were hauled such a long distance, by oxen, by boat, by sheer physical labor, could that reason be that Stonehenge was intended to be a place of healing as well?
Darvill and Wainwright carried out a two-week excavation project at Stonehenge seeking support for their theories, the first excavations at Stonehenge in 44 years. I'm not sure that they proved anything about their theories--although they did discover within Stonehenge charcoal dated to 8000 BC and Roman coins from the late 4th century AD, giving us a clue to the persistence of the location as a place of interest to humans. They also found data to revise the arrival date of the bluestones from 2600 BC to between 2400 and 2200 BC.
I'd love to see the academic paper when it gets published--for one thing I'd like to know more about the context of the old charcoal and the Roman coins. But in the meantime, my advice is to pick up an October Smithsonian and tune in on September 27th to get a look at the latest theories about Stonehenge.
More on Stonehenge
- Smithsonian Magazine
- New Light on Stonehenge, from Smithsonian
- Stonehenge Deciphered on the Smithsonian Channel HD
- Stonehenge, official site at English Heritage
- Stonehenge at Solstice, a photo essay
- Stonehenge, description and history
Comments
I’m perplexed why anyone would surmise that a rich archer would choose to be buried near to the place where he died if that was any place other than where he was from.
Can’t imagine a rich well known chap with a dodgy knee schlepping all the way to stonehenge to get healed, then dying, either before or after treatment and then deciding to be buried with full honours and jewels in that location!
Surely a well known person would prefer to be interred in their home location? Do people head towards lourdes and then when it doesn’t work and they die get buried there? No they dont.
Time for another half baked theory methinks!
Oh and whilst I’m there…
“Darvill and Wainwright carried out a two-week excavation project at Stonehenge seeking support for their theories”
Uh… I didn’t get much beyond A level science (not counting my engineering degree) but I’m sure you look for facts and then work out theories to support them? Not the other way around? Perhaps that’s just me…