Stone Writings

When I visited the great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge, I was in awe of the massive stones that have stood for at least 5000 years. To think that it was built with only stones and animal bones as tools.

The image above is a painting by Belenus of the bluestones and Sarsen stones of Stonehenge from photographs he has taken.

Forming Stonehenge
The standing stones of Stonehenge are remarkable to visit as I was fortunate to do a few years ago. The circle of stones sits in a huge
plain known as Salisbury Plain. When I walked along the plain, it was hard to imagine that it was once covered by a forest of towering pines and hazel woodland. Over many centuries, the landscape reformed itself into chalk downland. Chalk downland is white chalk covered with a thin layer of topsoil and vegetation.

The image above is a photograph of chalk downland. At top of the
image you can see the covering soil and vegetation. At bottom of the
image you can see the exposed chalk.

When Stonehenge was in its prime, it stood on a circle of chalk that
reflected the bright sunlight. It could be seen from miles away and many were attracted to its gleaming whiteness. Now the chalk is completely covered with soil and vegetation that obfuscates the chalk underneath. Many of the original stones have been removed by farmers to use in their nearby buildings and walls. The remaining stones have been abused by being either pushed over or chipped and hacked at by trophy seekers in the later years. Luckily the circle is now protected by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission of England. Still the stones themselves have retained their magnificence despite their treatment over the years. I could feel the energy radiating from their rough surfaces and stood in awe at the size of the grey Sarsen stones that towered above me.

The circle that visitors see today does not reflect what was once there. Stonehenge was actually built in three phases with the first stage not made of stone at all. It was composed of a circle of timbers
surrounded by a ditch and bank. This makes sense when you consider it was constructed 5000 years ago. The ditch would have been dug by hand using animal bones and deer antlers which were used as pick-axes to loosen the underlying chalk and then the shoulder blades of oxen or cattle were used as shovels to clear away the stones. The remains of these tools have been found in and around the circle.

Then about 1000 years later it was rebuilt, this time in stone. Blue stones were used (which are the smaller stones that you can see in the pictures.) These came from the Prescelli Mountains in Pembroke, south Wales, 245 miles away (380kms), dragged down to the sea, floated on huge rafts, brought up the River Avon, and finally moved overland to where they are today. Can you imagine the determination of the people when you consider that each stone weighs about 10,000 pounds. It required unbelievable conviction from these ancient peoples to
bring these stones all the way from Wales.

One hundred years after the start of the second phase, the third and final phase began. The blue stones were used again, but they were
dug up and rearranged. They were surrounded by massive stones made of sandstone that was quarried from Marlborough Downs some 20 miles (32 kms) away. They are now called Sarsen stones. They were formed by hammering with balls of stone known as “mauls”. Even today you can still see the drag marks across the country side indicating the route they traveled. Another amazing feat was the fact that the ancient peoples used woodworking techniques to connect the stones together.
The vertical standing stones were hammered until stone tongues projected. In the horizontal stones, notches were hammered. The horizontal stones were hauled and hoisted on top of the vertical stones so that the notches fitted over the tongues forming a physical bond. In woodworking this is called a mortise and tendon joint. Not an easy task to create in stone using only another stone as the carving implement. The large stones were arranged on the alignment of the rising of the mid- summer sun.

At the end of the day, I stood by the incredible structure. In turn I touched the blue stones and grey Sarsen stones. To my amazement, the
blue stones were warm while the grey stones remained cool. Could this have been a factor in the ancient people’s choice of materials? And that is only one of the questions the structure inspires.

This article is part of series of articles on Stonehenge.

***

author bio:

StoneWritings April 2006
This page and all its contents are copyright by www.mysticguides.com.
All Rights Reserved.

Belenus is a pagan artist who loves to travel, photograph, paint, and write. He believes that nature is the greatest gift mankind can share.

To see more of his works visit:
www.mysticguides.com