Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society
11:45am Tuesday 30th November 2010 in Reports
JULIAN Richards, a TV presenter of archaeological programmes, gave an informative and often amusing lecture entitled ‘Stonehenge: the Debate Continues’ at a well-attended meeting of the society on November 11.
He described the many ideas which have come and gone over the past few centuries as to when, why and by whom the monument was built.
At various times, the Iron Age Druids or Romans have been thought responsible and even Mycenaean influence has been suspected, but technology now available to archaeologists and improvements in excavation techniques have shown such theories to be false.
The stone circles are now firmly dated to about 2500 BC.
As to why the site came to be chosen, perhaps the most interesting suggestion of recent years has been that the ‘Heel Stone’ is a natural feature that may have drawn Mesolithic hunter gatherers to the site about 7500 BC and then led over thousands of years to the evolution of what we now see as an ancient landscape. Whatever the explanation, the site was not selected because it was close to the A303, as has been suggested quite seriously to the speaker.
Evidence from the landscape, as well as Stonehenge itself, provides firm support for the theory that the ‘Bluestone’ circle and Sarsen stone arches were built in the Neolithic period (when farming replaced hunter-gatherer activities) to align with the midwinter sunset after which the sun returns from its most southerly path and was seen to bring about the renewal of life in the spring.
It therefore seems safe to suggest that modern ‘Druids’ and others attending the monument at mid-summer sunrise may well be barking up the wrong Sarsen.
Friends of Ancient Monuments’ volunteers from the society were at Basing House on October 31, working on the clearance of vegetation and trees in the vicinity of the fishponds, and at Odiham Castle on November 13 doing site maintenance work which will also be undertaken at Silchester amphitheatre on January 23.
The Christmas social evening will be held at Church Cottage on December 9, and the next lecture will be given by Tony Wilmott, of English Heritage on ‘Amphitheatres in Roman Britain’, at 7.30pm on January 13 at the same location.
