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

Stonehenge visitor centre will be a "tremendous boost"

CONSTRUCTION of the long-awaited, £27million Stonehenge visitor centre is well underway.
The centre, which will create 35 new jobs and be used by around 1.25 million tourists each year, is set to open this winter.

Work on the new Stonehenge visitor centre

Two buildings have been constructed at Airman’s Corner to house an exhibition, a cafe, shop and education centre, from where they will take a passenger transit vehicle the 1.5 miles to the stones.
The vehicles will be able to carry up to 900 people an hour from the visitor centre to the stones, along the route of the existing A344, which will be closed to all other traffic except farm access. On the way the vehicle will stop at Fargo Plantation where there will be a viewing point for tourists to get their first glimpse of the ancient monument.

Work on the contents of the exhibition is well underway and will include an audio visual presentation, display cases, interactive features and exhibits loaned from Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, many of which have never been on display before. Stonehenge director at English Heritage Loraine Knowles said: “This visitor centre will let us tell the story of Stonehenge, how it evolved over millennia.It will also transform the whole landscape – it will be truly fantastic.”

The visitor centre will employ 78 people. The entry price for the visitor centre will be announced later this year along with the opening date.
* The opening of the visitor centre could be a huge boost to the south Wiltshire economy according to tourism bosses. Because it will take a minimum of two hours to visit Stonehenge, they say visitors are more likely to stay in the county rather than visiting area on a whistlestop tour of the south west.
“At the moment you have coaches pulling up, people spending 20 minutes taking pictures of the stones and then going on to Bath and the Cotswolds,” said David Andrews, chief executive of Visit Wiltshire. “They are not here long enough to spend any money and are taking their business elsewhere.”
Once the A344 is closed it will not be possible to stop and see the stones from the road, which English Heritage says will build up a sense of anticipation.
Other tourist attractions are also hoping they will benefit from the new visitor centre.
“We want to co-ordinate the way we are presenting information about Stonehenge,” said director of Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, Adrian Green. “At the visitor centre they will learn its history while we will have displays focussing on the excavations and more recent discoveries such as the Amesbury Archer.
“We will each tell part of the story and encourage people to visit the museums as well.
“There are tremendous opportunities for marketing and it could be a fantastic boost for the economy in this area.”
By Jill Harding: http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk

Stonehenge Tour Guide