Stonehenge

November 15, 2017
A renowned archaeologist chronicles the remarkable changes in our knowledge of the builders of Stonehenge and other, equally important and connected henges throughout Britain.In the last 30 years, advancements in such areas as geophysics and radar have produced tremendous strides in the knowledge about these ritual landscapes. Stonehenge was not built as a single event but was part of a "Formative Phase" that lasted at least 400 years--and it's not alone. Pryor (Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory, 2014, etc.) notes how there is an archaeological site nearly every square mile throughout Britain, from barrows to henges of many sorts. The spotlight is on Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge and the surrounding Woodhenge, Durrington Walls, and Avebury. The monuments of wood were built for the living while those of stone were built for ancestors. The River Avon linked Woodhenge and Durrington Walls to Stonehenge and was a major stop on the rite of the dead. The fact that over 1,000 house sites have been uncovered at Durrington Walls reinforces that statement. While often associated with burials, the Stonehenge rite was more a journey between life and death than a burial. Bodies may have been interred, but the discovery of the largest cremation cemetery in Neolithic Europe indicates that not all were buried. The ancestors' bones were often disinterred to be part of a familial ceremony and then reinterred. Stonehenge was never meant to be a building or even finished, and it was constantly rebuilt and changed. The earlier idea that it was to predict the solstices has been replaced by a view that focuses on day length and season and life cycles rather than the passage of time. It was certainly more astrological than astronomical. Throughout, the author includes drawings, photographs, and diagrams that facilitate understanding of the complexity of these ancient sites.Pryor's journalistic writing and vast knowledge make this a joy for historians and armchair archaeologists alike.

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March 5, 2018
Eminent British archaeologist Pryor (Home) examines Stonehenge, the most famous of all ancient British landmarks, in a work that balances the scholarly and the popular. For Pryor, “the great stones and the landscape around them are telling us a complex and a very human story.” He works forward in time from the period immediately following the last glaciation of the land that would become the British Isles, highlighting some archeological digs that have informed current theories about the site’s use. For each time period, Pryor relates how Britons of the day may have changed, used, and viewed Stonehenge (e.g., as an intertribal meeting place, for ceremonial pilgrimages into the realm of the dead); he ends with later interactions with the site, including graffiti on, artworks depicting, and recreations of the monument. Highlights include diagrams of Stonehenge that depict its elements and appearance in different time periods as well as a number of contemporary photographs and historical artworks. Readers may not agree with some of the author’s speculation about various aspects of Stonehenge’s history, including, for instance, the assertion that the ax carvings found on some stones represent specific individuals. Overall, this is a visually appealing and intellectually stimulating addition to the popular understanding of Stonehenge. Illus.