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Recent research has considered the relationship between Stonehenge and sites in south-west Wales, raising questions about whether the first monument at Stonehenge copied the form of an earlier stone circle at Waun Mawn and how the relationship between these sites was connected with the transport of bluestones between the different regions. But Stonehenge and Waun Mawn are not the only prehistoric sites in Britain and Ireland that share architectural elements and hint at social connections across vast distances of land and sea. This debate article explains how the questions raised about these Late Neolithic monuments can and should be applied to other monumental complexes to explore this insular phenomenon. Keywords: Britain and Ireland, Neolithic, Stonehenge, Waun Mawn, megaliths, travel, alliance, pilgrimage, Introduction The various periods of construction and alteration at Stonehenge took place over more than a thousand years and the site assumed its special significance at a time when connections […]

In a recent Antiquity article, Darvill (2022) proposed that the mid third-millennium BC Stage 2 sarsen settings of Stonehenge (comprising the Trilithon Horseshoe, Sarsen Circle and the Station Stone Rectangle) were conceived in order to represent a calendar year of 365.25 days--that is, a calendar identical in duration to the Julian calendar. In the present article, the authors argue that this proposal is unsubstantiated, being based as it is on a combination of numerology, astronomical error and unsupported analogy. Keywords: Prehistoric Britain, Stonehenge, archaeoastronomy, Egyptian calendar, numerology, analogy, Introduction Stonehenge is an astonishingly complex monument, which can be understood only by taking into account both its landscape context and the long chronology of its successive phases of construction [...]

Lipid residues identified in Grooved Ware pottery from Durrington Walls have been interpreted as evidence for large-scale feasting associated with the construction of Stonehenge, around 2500 BC. While a function related to food consumption is possible, other explanations may be equally plausible. An alternative interpretation not previously considered is that these residues may be related to a non-food use of animal resources, such as in the production of tallow. Such an interpretation would support the 'greased sled' theory for the transport of the megaliths for Stonehenge. Keywords: Neolithic Britain, Durrington Walls, Stonehenge, lipid residues, Lipid residue analysis and pottery function The analysis of absorbed lipid residues is a well-established technique for determining the types of products processed in ceramic vessels. Research has focused largely [...]

Geologists and archaeologists have long known that the bluestones of Stonehenge came from the Preseli Hills of west Wales, 230km away, but only recently have some of their exact geological [...]

The long-distance transport of the Stonehenge bluestones from the Mynydd Preseli area of north Pembrokeshire was first proposed by geologist H.H. Thomas in 1923. For over 80 years, his work on the provenancing of the Stonehenge bluestones from locations in Mynydd Preseli in south Wales has been accepted at face value. New analytical techniques, alongside transmitted and reflected light microscopy, have recently prompted renewed scrutiny of Thomas's work. While respectable for its time, the results of these new analyses, combined with a thorough checking of the archived samples consulted by Thomas, reveal that key locations long believed to be sources for the Stonehenge bluestones can be discounted in favour of newly identified locations at Craig-Rhos-yfelin and Carn Goedog. Keywords: Britain, Wales, Mynydd Preseli, Stonehenge, bluestones, H.H. Thomas, provenancing, Introduction Stonehenge is one of Europe's finest and most iconic prehistoric monuments. It stands on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, some 15km north of Salisbury, and forms part of a complex [...]

The discovery of Neolithic houses at Durrington Walls that are contemporary with the main construction phase of Stonehenge raised questions as to their interrelationship. Was Durrington Walls the residence of the builders of Stonehenge? Were the activities there more significant than simply domestic subsistence? Using lipid residue analysis, this paper identifies the preferential use of certain pottery types for the preparation of particular food groups and differential consumption of dairy and meat products between monumental and domestic areas of the site. Supported by the analysis of faunal remains, the results suggest seasonal feasting and perhaps organised culinary unification of a diverse community. Keywords: UK, Stonehenge, Neolithic, feasting, isotopic lipid residue analysis, public and private consumption, Introduction Henges are distinctive monuments of the Late Neolithic in Britain, defined as ditched enclosures in which a bank is constructed outside the ditch. The largest is Durrington Walls (Figure [...]

Recent investigations at Stonehenge have been accompanied by new research on the origin of the famous 'bluestones', a mixed assemblage of rhyolites and dolerites that stand among the much taller sarsens. Some of the rhyolite debitage has been traced to a quarry site at Craig Rhosyfelin near the Pembrokeshire coast; but fieldwork on the upland outcrops of Carn Menyn has also provided evidence for dolerite extraction in the later third millennium BC, and for the production of pillar-like blocks that resemble the Stonehenge bluestones in shape and size. Quarrying at Carn Menyn began much earlier, however, during the seventh millennium BC, suggesting that Mesolithic communities were the first to exploit the geology of this remote upland location. Keywords: Britain, Preseli Hills, Stonehenge, Mesolithic, Neolithic, megalithic, bluestone, dolerite, meta-mudstone, prehistoric quarrying, Introduction For nearly a century it has been known that the 80 or so pillars of dolerite, rhyolite and tuff, collectively known as 'bluestones', that were incorporated into the structure [...]

Stonehenge is a monument in the same way that Philip Larkin was a librarian: it has other defining qualities. First among these is its role as an archive of archaeological [...]

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Much excellent archaeological work has been done on Stonehenge ... It has been established that there was building activity from approximately 2,000 B.C. until 1,500 B.C. At the beginning of [...]