Stonehenge Neolithic Famers Agriculture spread to western and northern Europe Farming societies built megaliths that contained burial areas beneath the earth A sort of artificial cave Tens of thousands and megaliths across Europe All created 5 000 2 000 years ago Stonehenge is a ring of massive standing stones located it Salisbury Plain southern England It is an enigma and been a mystery for centuries Who built it o Greeks Romans Druids Danes For some Stonehenge is product of mystical forces Construction o Not single construction of one monument It is a sequence of monuments over a 1 000 year period Three Phases Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age 5 000 3 500 years ago Archaeology now reveals Stonehenge development and regional context High status burial ground and ceremonial site Social and economic organization still a challenge Megalith o 3 categories Menhirs Large standing stones single or collectively in a linear fashion Henge monuments Circles defined by enclosure Circular ditch and bank Dolmen Tomb or chamber with a roof May be used for ancestor worship Phase 1 The Earthwork Circle o Late Neolithic 5 000 ya o Round bank and ditch 330 ft in diameter o Ring of 56 Aubrey holes around outside Post holes Cremation internment o Faunal bones cow jaw ox skull buried in ditch o A few cremations Phase 2 Burials and Timber Structure o Late Neolithic 5 000 4 500 ya o Extensive remodeling o Ditch and Aubrey holes filled in Cremated burials within fill o Wood henge built in center of monument o Avenue built Phase 3 Stone Monument o Monumental standing stones constructed and erected Early Bronze Age 4 500 3 500 ya Six sub phases Phase 3A Stones set up in circular or semicircular formation holes Center of monument Series of Holes known as Q and R Not the most impressive but raises lots of questions Transported from Wales Enormous effort What value Don t know Phase 3B Circle and Trilithons Timber circle in center replaced with stone o Most intensive phase at Stonehenge Sandstone pillars quarried and carves o Almost 20 miles away Larges 25 ft high 3 ft thick weighing 50 tons Moved on Oak rollers System of scaffolding to raise stones into position Hundred to thousands of people Part of journey by boat Sarsen Circle blocks Sarsen circle constructed of massive o Circle in central area of site Made from sarsen stone o Very hard sandstone o Up to 25 miles o Capped by lintels o Fitted together with carved Trilithons points Within Sarsen Circle Horseshoe pattern toward northeast Sarsen Stone o 5 pairs each capped with lentil Phases 3C F Rearranging Bluestones and Digging Holes Bluestones arranged between trilithons Holes in concentric circles Constructed Ladescape Interconnected o Numerous megaliths and earth mounds built on Salisbury Plain Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age o Avenue at Stonehenge Runs to Avon River Guiding people to Stonehenge o Temple ritual significance Solstice celebrations No domestic evidence middens post holes Domain of the ancestors o Durrington Walls Land of the Living Cultural Context Housed o Wooden posts o Durrington Walls site Near Stonehenge Village settlement Contemporaneous with phase 3 of Stonehenge Subsistence o Farming herding hunting o Wheat and cattle Population Organization Stonehenge construction o Requires organization of many people Work beyond subsistence Clear planning is necessary o Trilithons Stonehenge Age England not under state organization Chiefdom and Status Hypothesis o Increased size of Stonehenge over time reflects growing territories controlled by a chief No direct evidence Until Amesbury Archer Found in 2002 Early Bronze Age Stage 3 of Stonehenge Slate wrist guards bone pin copper knives pots boar tusks cache of flint arrowheads shale belt ring two gold earrings Chief o Care and artifacts o Most elaborate burial found for the period Expected of a chief o BUT He was not born on the Salisbury Plain Why did he come to the area How did he become high status in and area he moved to