Thursday 28 March 2013

Stonehenge Neolithic House Project

Gain exclusive access to the prototype Neolithic Houses currently under construction at Old Sarum Castle. Once mastered these houses, based on evidence recently discovered at Durrington Walls, will be reconstructed at Stonehenge as part of the new interpretation and visitors centre.

Meet Luke Winter, Manager of The Ancient Technology Centre and the volunteers taking on this challenge to discover the techniques and secrets of constructing these unique buildings.

Welcome drinks will be served on arrival. This event has been graded Moderate Access as there are some uneven paths on site. This event will take place mostly outdoors.

English Heritage Members' Only Event
  • Date: Fri 24 May 2013
  • Property:
    Old Sarum
  • Time: 10am-12pm
  • Suitable for: Adults

How to Book

Ticket are available to book from 10am on Tuesday 26 March by calling our dedicated ticket sales team on 0870 333 1183. (Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm & Sat 9am - 5pm)

Prices

Welcome refreshments are included.

Visit the English Heritage website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/stonehenge-neolithic-house-project-os-24-may/
Stonehenge Tour Guide

Monday 25 March 2013

Virtual cinema for Stonehenge

English Heritage has come up with a novel idea to let people experience standing in the Stone circle without actually being there and damging the ancient site.

They are considering developing a 360 degree cinema which will be incorporated into the new £27 million centre.

The stones were roped off in 1977 due to problems with erosion. The new centre is being built one and a half miles away from the stones

Link and Video here: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-03-24/virtual-cinema-for-stonehenge/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Friday 8 March 2013

Stonehenge was product of first 'team building exercise'

Stonehenge may have been the result of the world's first team-building exercise which unified the people of ancient Britain, according to researchers.


Findings suggest the site was only occupied for about a decade, and that Stonehenge was built in a matter of years Photo: Alamy
The vast stone structure has long been the subject of the debate among historians, who have variously described it as a pagan temple, or an astronomical calendar or observatory.

Now experts claim the monument was built as part of an annual winter solstice ritual which resembled "Glastonbury festival and a motorway building scheme at the same time".

Researchers from University College London said as many as 4,000 people may have gathered at the site each year, at a time when the entire population numbered only tens of thousands.

Tests on remains found at the site reveal that people came to the site from as far as the Scottish Highlands at the same time every year to feast, and built the monument together.

But analysis of bones, tools and ancient houses in a primitive workers' village near the site suggests it was only occupied for about a decade, and that Stonehenge was built in a matter of years.

The evidence also indicates that the homes lay unoccupied for most of the year, meaning the site was unlikely to have been a place of worship.
It was more likely the product of a unification ritual with people travelling across the country to build it around the solstices, particularly in winter, and then dispersing.
Prof Mike Parker Pearson, who led the study, explained: "What we have discovered is it's in the building the thing that's important. It's not that they're coming to worship, they're coming to construct it.
"It is not so much a temple, it is a monument and it seems the big theme is unification ... Stonehenge gets visited at certain points, people build and then go away.
"It's something that's Glastonbury festival and a motorway building scheme at the same time. It's not all fun, there's work too."
Dating tests on historic artefacts revealed that Stonehenge was built about 4,500 years ago, during a brief window when all societies across Britain had begun to share a common culture.
A few hundred years later the arrival of the "Beaker People" in Britain, who brought new material goods including metals and the wheel, ended the pan-British culture and could explain why the monument was abandoned, Prof Parker Pearson said.

: Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons is being shown on Channel 4 at 8pm on March 10th

Stonehenge, Wiltshire

Stonehenge may have been used as 'elite graveyard'

The site of Stonehenge may have been used as a graveyard for an elite community of families hundreds of years before the construction of the monument that stands today, according to archaeologists.
The research, carried out by a team of academics from around the UK and led by Mike Parker Pearson from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, analysed 63 sets of human remains buried around the site. The results suggest that the bodies would have been interred over a period of more than 200 years.
Tests on cattle teeth found at the site, meanwhile, point to its use for massive communal gatherings in the years around 2,500 BC. As documented in Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons, a documentary to be broadcast in the UK at 8pm on Sunday 10 March on Channel 4, the fact that the animals were apparently killed in winter suggests their use for mid-winter feasts.
Professor Pearson said: "Stonehenge was a monument that brought ancient Britain together. What we've found is that people came with their animals to feast at Stonehenge from all corners of Britain — as far afield as Scotland."
Image credit: Channel 4
Source: http://www.historyextra.com/news/stonehenge-may-have-been-used-elite-graveyard


Stonehenge Tour Guide