Skip to main content

Stonehenge excavations 2008.

Darvill, T. and Wainwright, G., 2009. Stonehenge excavations 2008. Antiquaries Journal, 89 (1), 1-19.

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
Darvill_and_Wainwright_2009_Stonehenge_Excavations_2008.pdf

12MB

DOI: 10.1017/S000358150900002x

Abstract

The following paper is the first published account of an excavation that took place at Stonehenge during April 2008. As this was the first excavation to take place within the stone circle for some forty years, the excavation has attracted an uncommon degree of interest, hence its publication in the Antiquaries Journal as an interim account of work in progress, in the form of an edited transcript of a paper first given at the Ordinary Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 9 October 2008. The paper explains that the 2008 excavation set out to date the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle at Stonehenge and to chart the subsequent history of the bluestones and their use at the monument. Evidence is presented for a provisional working date of around 2300 BC for the construction of the Double Bluestone Circle, while it is argued that the history of the site is far more complex than has been allowed for in existing interpretations, with a multiplicity of overlapping and intercutting (though not continuous) events, including substantial late Roman, medieval and early modern activity. The excavated material, and the evidence from the surviving stones, supports the suggestion that bluestones were brought to the site because of their perceived special qualities, perhaps for their supposed healing properties, and that some knowledge of those qualities remained current in later times with the result that in excess of two-thirds of the original bluestone volume has now disappeared.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:0003-5815
Uncontrolled Keywords:Stonehenge; Wiltshire; neolithic; Bluestone; Excavations; megalithic; Beaker; Stone circle; henge
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:11797
Deposited By: Professor Timothy Darvill
Deposited On:15 Oct 2009 07:19
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 13:26

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...
Repository Staff Only -