Stonehenge 'Was A Cremation Cemetry, Not Healing Centre'

[Bianca]

                             Stonehenge 'was a cremation cemetry, not healing centre'






By Louise Gray
Environment Correspondent
Last Updated:
09/10/2008



Stonehenge was used as a cremation cemetry throughout its history, according to new evidence that divides archaeologists over whether England's most famous ancient monument was about celebrating life or death.

Stonehenge birthdate discovered by archaeologists
Stonehenge may have been an ancient Lourdes where the sick were healed
Stonehenge 'was hidden from lower classes'

   
The origins and purposes of Stonehenge have eluded
academics and historians for centuries

 
The origins and purposes of Stonehenge have eluded academics and historians for centuries and been the subject of much debate.

The circle of standing stones was originally through to have been erected in 2,600 BC, to replace an earlier wood and earth structure where cremation was carried out.

Recently a BBC documentary suggested that the standing stones were not erected until 2,300BC, when the site became a centre of healing.

Now a team behind the latest dig suggest the standing stones were erected much earlier than previously thought, in 3,000 BC, and used for cremation burial throughout their history and not for healing.

The latest evidence is from a team of archaeologists from a number of British universities who have been carrying out excavations over the past five summers.

[Bianca]

The Stonehenge Riverside Project looked at remains found in an "Aubrey Hole", one of the pits where it was originally throught the wooden posts that predated the standing stones stood.

Crushed chalk was discovered leading the team to conclude that in fact standing stones had been erected in the holes much earlier than previously thought.

The report said: "We propose that very early in Stonehenge's history, 56 Welsh bluestones stood in a ring 285 feet 6 inches across. This has sweeping implications for our understanding of Stonehenge."

The second significant finding was from radiocarbon dating of human remains found on the site from between 2,300 and 3,000 BC. Researchers concluded that this meant cremation burial was going on long after the standing stones had been erected.

The report said: "Contrary to claims made in the recent BBC Timewatch film, which promoted a theory of Stonehenge as a healing centre built after the practice of cremation burial had ceased, standing stones and burial may have been prominent aspects of Stonehenge's meaning and purpose for a millenium."

Mike Pitts, one of the authors of the study and editor of British Archaelogy, said that the study overturned previous theory over Stonehenge.

"This means there were earlier connections with Wales, where the standing stones came from, than previously thought and that Stonehenge was always about death and ancestors and burial and not healing," he said.

Geoffrey Wainwright, one of the archaelogists behind the BBC film, maintained that healing was one of the uses of the site.

"We do not claim Stonehenge was a single use monument," he said. "We think it was a multifunctional monument and part of its purpose was for healing."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/09/eastonehenge109.xml