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Architecture 170A
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Stonehenge Neolithic
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Neolithic Architecture: Stonehenge I. Issues surrounding study of prehistoric architecture. In the absense of written evidence the historian's dependence upon observation, excavation, and comparison, preferably with closely related sites and cultures. II. Human tendency to make deliberate marks upon the landscape. Cave paintings at Chauvet and Lascaux, France (c 10,000 BCE). Stone monuments around the world include MÈnec lines of menhirs at Carnac, France (c2500 BCE), and dolmen tomb in Kang Hwa Gun region of Korea. III. When was Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England) built? Ditch and banks (henge) with an internal pallisade c 3000 BCE, erection of a central timber structure, itself replaced c 2500 by double bluestone circle, followed by sarsen circle and trilithons, and then the re-erection of the bluestones as an inner circle. Addition of two concentric rings of pits c 1600-1500 BCE. IV. Where did the materials come from? Bluestones from Preseli Mountains, Wales; sarsens from Avebury. V. How was late stone age and early bronze age technology used to build Stonehenge and related monuments? Deer antlers were used as picks for excavation; stone and, late in the third millennium, some metal tools were used to smooth the stones. Stones were hauled by people using leather ropes and wooden rollers, in boats, and perhaps by oxen. Wooden cradles and poles were used to raise and help position stones. VI. What other monuments (in England unless noted) cast light upon its appearence and purpose? Mount Pleasant, Dorset, c 2500; Houses, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland, c 2500 BCE; Silbury Hill, c 2750 BCE; Great Cursus, c 3500 BCE, Henge, Knowlton Rings, c 2500 BCE; the Sanctuary, Overton Hill, 2900-2300 BCE; henge and stone circle, Avebury, 3000-2500 BCE. NOTE: All dates are VERY approximate; most are based on radiocarbon dated evidence.
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