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Fourteen
thousand years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, a new lifestyle
begun to emerge. The Ice Age was coming to an end and temperatures
were warming very quickly. Food became available in relative abundance
for the first time in thousands of years. Instead of having to travel
long distances to find food, some groups were able to live in the
same place all year round. People started to build permanent dwellings.
By 10,000 BC, they were discovering that certain animals, such as
goats, sheep, cattle and pigs, had temperaments that made them easy
to manage within close proximity to their dwellings.
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They
selected and cultivated certain grasses, such as oats, wheat and barley,
which provided nourishment to larger groups of people. These plants
became common anywhere there was human settlement. They discovered
how to store and preserve food over the harsh winter months. Thus,
farming began and a new age, the Neolithic Age, was ushered in.
After the Ice Age, Britain become an island cut off by water from
continental Europe. The area around Stonehenge became one of the main
centres for Neolithic settlements. |
Silbury
Hill |
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Around
4,700 years ago the Neolithic peoples started creating burial mounds.
Simple earth mounds with internal stone chambers where they buried
their dead. These were quite large, typically about 100m long and
are called longbarrows. Later circular mounds, called roundbarrows
were made. These barrows were often sited on the crests of hills and
are a relatively common sight today.
From Stonehenge you will see many such barrows on the horizon and
you can walk over to them. Near nearby Avebury henge, is West Kennet
Long Barrow where you can actually go inside the barrow.
Silbury Hill, also near Avebury is accepted as the largest man-made
mound in pre-industrial Europe, estimated at being 4,500 years old.
At 130 feet high and definitely not a burial mound its purpose is
still very much a mystery.
These constructions demonstrate that the Neolithic communities were
beginning to construct on a communal basis structures that were not
needed for their day to day struggle to feed themselves. These structures
could not be built by an individual, and there was only very limited
times during the year when a community could afford to divert resources
into such non essential investments in time.
Bear in mind also that the wheel had not been invented and digging
a hole would typically be done with deer antlers.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge seems to have been constructed in three phases, covering
the period from 2200BC to 1200BC. It was magnificent feat of megalithic
engineering. The gigantic sarsen stones, great sandstone boulders
arranged like doorways and capped with stone lintels, weigh up to
50 tons and were dragged to the site from the Marlborough Downs 30km
(20 miles) to the north, in a time when wheeled vehicles were unknown.
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The
Bluestones that make up part of the monument were brought even further,
all the way from South Wales, probably by water a lot of the way
Stonehenge is just of one of many henges constructed in Britain,
though the henge concept was unique to Britain. Stonehenge is unusual
in that it has the stone lintels capping the upright stones and
the stones have been crafted into angular shapes, whereas most other
henges the stones were left in their natural form.
Stonehenge
was not built overnight. This was a project that was built over
decades by the Neolithic people. The organisation of stones were
radically changed, from an initial simple circle surrounded by a
ditch with wooden posts to the complicated arrangement seen now.
Detailed analysis has shown a whole series of astronomical alignments
which would explain why Stonehenge was built in this precise spot,
regardless of the problems posed by bringing stones from distant
quarries.
Many
experts now believe that Stonehenge was an astronomical observatory,
built under the instructions of astronomer-priests who used it to
chart the movements of the celestial bodies and draw up a calendar
for planting, harvesting and breeding cattle.
However this theory doesn't explain why similar Neolithic cultures
outside Britain did not create similar henges and were perfectly
capable of planting and harvesting at the right times.
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If
the sun and moon were regarded as gods, this would explain the grandeur
of a structure that could have served as a religious centre, a place
of worship and ritual.
A spot
like Stonehenge where several leys converge is like a powerhouse storing
huge amounts of energy, energy that could have been harnessed by the
builders to accomplish what seems to be an impossible task. Remarkable
numbers of UFO sightings have been recorded at megalithic sites, especially
Stonehenge, where filmmakers making a pictorial record of the stones
in 1977 captured strange flying objects giving off brilliant lights,
one hovering motionless over the site for 50 minutes. Some ley enthusiasts
maintain that extraterrestrial visitors are attracted by the elemental
force of the ley centres.
Others
believe this is just a load of old tosh and that in a time when Man
depended on the elements and consequently studied and worshipped the
elements, Stonehenge is just a simple tribute/worship site to the
Sun Gods etc. with associated rituals aimed at favourable treatment
from the elements.
There is also lots of people who twin the Druids with Stonehenge but
there is no factual evidence to support this.
In other words nobody really knows why Stonehenge was built, and probably
we'll never know for sure. Similarly the mystery of how the Neolithic
people transported the mammoth stones and erected the monument at
a time when the wheel had not yet been invented is also one of the
mysteries of Stonehenge |
Mystical
Stonehenge & Avebury Personalised
Tour From London
Guided tour with 5 hours in field - touch the stones, track
ley lines - unbeatable price |
If you really
want to understand Stonehenge and the Neolithic culture it is a symbol of,
this tour is for you. Peter Knight is a leading speaker and author specialising
in earth mysteries, earth energies. ley lines and astronomical alignments
and lives locally from Stonehenge.
Peter is an enthusiastic guide who will immerse you in the subject,
not bombard you with a monologue of facts. You will be encouraged
to touch and feel the stones, experience natural energy forces and
ley lines and really get into the mindset of our ancestors who over
3,000 years ago were creating this astounding environment. |
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| This
is an experience you will not forget, and astoundingly you can have a personalised
hands on tour with such an enthusiastic local authority for much less than
a standard packaged tour. Travel from London by train and be met at Salisbury
Station by Peter or if you are a group we will arrange a bus with pickup
from your hotel. |
Mystical
Sonehenge & Avebury Tour - More Details and Reservations
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