Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and UsesFergusson, James
History
Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and Uses
Fergusson, James
Megalithic monuments
With regard to this nothing is certain, except in respect to eight
stones, which stretched across the entrance of the choir, and may
consequently be called the choir screen. Of the four on the right hand
side only one has fallen, but it is still there; on the left hand only
two remain, and only one is standing, but the design is perfectly
clear. The two central stones are 6 feet high, and the stones fall off
by regular gradation right and left to 3 feet at the extremities. They
are rude unhewn Sarsen stones, but there is nothing to indicate whether
they were, or were not, a part of the original design.
Beyond this, between the two great Sarsen circles, there exist some
nine or ten stones, but whether they are in _situ_ or not, or whether
they were ever more numerous, it seems impossible to determine. On
the left hand, near the centre, are a pair that may have been a
trilithon, but the rest are scattered so unsymmetrically that it
would be dangerous to hazard any conjecture with regard to their
original arrangement. It seems, however, most improbable that while
the choir screen is so nearly entire even now, that this circle, if it
ever existed, should have been so completely destroyed. Had it been
complete, it would probably have consisted of 40 stones (excluding, of
course, the choir screen), and of these only 10, if so many, can be
said to belong to it. These are rude unhewn stones, and of no great
dimensions.
In addition to these, there are two stones now overthrown lying inside
the vallum, unsymmetrically with one another, or with anything else.
Here again the question arises, were there more? There is nothing on
the spot to guide us to our answer, and as nothing hinges upon it, I
may perhaps be allowed to suggest that each of these marks a secondary
interment. At the foot of each, I fancy urns or bones, or some evidence
of a burial might be found, and if the place had continued for a
century as a burying place, it might have been surrounded by its circle
of stones, like Avebury, or Crichie, or Stanton moor. The place,
however, may have become deserted shortly after these two were erected,
and none have been added since.
There are still two other stones, one standing, one lying in the short
avenue that leads up to the temple. Their position is exactly that
of the two stones, which are all that is visible of the so-called
Beckhampton avenue, at Avebury. But what their use is it is difficult
to guess. Were either of the places temples, they would have been
placed opposite one another on each side of the avenue, so that the
priests in procession and people might pass between, but being placed
one behind the other in the centre of the roadway, they must have had
some other meaning. What that may have been I am unable to suggest. The
spade may tell us if judiciously applied, but except from the spade I
do not know where to look for a solution of the riddle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account