The Stone Circles of Avebury, England

Like Stonehenge, the Stone Circles of Avebury have retained a somewhat mysterious reputation. In fact, up until the 19^th century, people would circle the monument, or dance around the maypole as it was called, in one of the circles, possibly as a fertility ritual. There are several other ritual sites nearby, as the landscape of Avebury, is steeped in ritual context.

During the 1930’s Alexander Keiller investigated the Avebury Stone Circles and even raised some of the fallen megalithic stones. Although some of the famous stones were missing, Keiller replaced them with concrete blocks, resurrecting an archaeological site and bringing it back to life.

The archaeological site of Avebury Stone Circles is a huge rival to Stonehenge, not in a way that takes away from the history, or demotes the richness of ceremony, but because of the area in which it covers. The entire site encompasses an area of 28.5 acres and includes Avebury Village. The outer circle of the Avebury stones contains close to 100 hulking sarsen stones weighing 15 tons or more each. Sarsen stones are also found at Stonehenge and are the taller of the two types, the other being bluestones. “The sarsen stones are simply massive hulks, if they are moved with ropes and perhaps wooden castors, at any moment something can go horribly wrong. Apart from that, the transport progresses only well as long as the ground is solid and flat” ^[1].

© Brotovox Publications

The entire site at Avebury is enclosed by a circular chalk bank, originally at the height of 55 feet above the ditch inside it. Shoulder blades of oxen and deer antler picks were used to dig the chalk out of the ditch to make the bank.

The world outside was separated from the inside by the white of the chalk. There were stones inside of the circles and they formed an avenue of stones, a processional way, which has survived for centuries. The paths you walk are over 5,000 years old. It leads from another sacred site in the south and is appropriately called the Sanctuary.

“The route passes Silbury Hill (sadly you cannot go up it) the largest manmade hill in Europe. Nobody knows why it was built; the archaeological digs have been both disastrous and very expensive failures, ruining reputations in the process” ^[2].

Silbury Hill dates to around 2600 BC and is the largest prehistoric mound in the British Isles. It measures 130 feet high and its use is a mystery. Mounds typically have burials inside, as we’ve seen this in sites all over the world, yet a burial is absent at Silbury Hill.

The Avebury Stone Circles are a feat of epic proportions considering the megaliths were dragged by locals from a quarry two miles away. How exactly they were dragged is a question that archaeologists ponder, which explains the mystery surrounding all megalithic sites of this magnitude.

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The Plain of Jars: Xiangkhoang, Laos

History of The Kasubi Hill Tombs of the Buganda Kings

References

1. Interdisciplinary Project report, Stonehenge. http://vertiefungsarbeit.ch/pdfs/stonehenge.pdf
2. http://www.walkweb.org.uk/w5_information.htm
3. Picture of Avebury Stone Circles © Brotovox Publications