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An Introduction to Henges...
Mar. 28th, 2010 01:05 pmWell, I promised a post about henges, but after doing some background reading, I think it's going to be impossible to do a single post about henges. So this is going to be the first of a series of posts about henges, and all things hengiform.
First of all. What's a henge? Well, here's the most famous one of the lot:-
According to Michael Parker Pearson, the name 'henge' (as used for the class of monument) is indeed derived from this particular example, 'henge' being Old English for 'hanging'.
But... Stonehenge is probably the worst possible example to use as an archetypal henge. Most importantly, the presence of the stones is irrelevant. Please erase them from your minds and see, instead, a monument more akin to the one below, Mayburgh Henge in Cumbria:-
But... Stonehenge is probably the worst possible example to use as an archetypal henge. Most importantly, the presence of the stones is irrelevant. Please erase them from your minds and see, instead, a monument more akin to the one below, Mayburgh Henge in Cumbria:-
No stones, just a combination of banks and ditch. The earthworks would originally have been much larger and more imposing, unravaged by millenia of erosion and plough-truncation.
Henges are sacred enclosures in the landscape. At University, the standard description for 1st Year students was of a circular enclosure defined by a ditch with an external bank, and opposing entrances. There are always exceptions - the bank at Stonehenge, for example, is inside the ditch.
Henge-building appears to have been taking place between 3800 and 3000 BC. But henges cannot be viewed in isolation. Other monuments were being built at around the same time, in particular, the cursus monuments which formed long processional ways, defined by high banks on either side. Cursus monuments and henge monuments are often found in close association, all serving to order the landscape, and people's movement through it, in a particular fashion.
Parker Pearson cites ongoing research that suggests that while chambered tombs are orientated in the majority of cases on the rising moon, henges are orientated towards the sun, They required a substantial amount of community involvement to build them, with the construction of sometimes massive banks and ditches, as illustrated quite clearly by this shot of Avebury:-
Henges are sacred enclosures in the landscape. At University, the standard description for 1st Year students was of a circular enclosure defined by a ditch with an external bank, and opposing entrances. There are always exceptions - the bank at Stonehenge, for example, is inside the ditch.
Henge-building appears to have been taking place between 3800 and 3000 BC. But henges cannot be viewed in isolation. Other monuments were being built at around the same time, in particular, the cursus monuments which formed long processional ways, defined by high banks on either side. Cursus monuments and henge monuments are often found in close association, all serving to order the landscape, and people's movement through it, in a particular fashion.
Parker Pearson cites ongoing research that suggests that while chambered tombs are orientated in the majority of cases on the rising moon, henges are orientated towards the sun, They required a substantial amount of community involvement to build them, with the construction of sometimes massive banks and ditches, as illustrated quite clearly by this shot of Avebury:-
Their presence represents a dislocation with a pre-existing tradition, perhaps, and only a few hundred years later, the chambered tombs finally fell out of use. There's also the suggestion that the appearance of henges corresponds to a period of famine, where marginal lands no longer became sustainable. Perhaps there was a general feeling that the ancestors had failed in their duties to the living.
Henges and cursuses may have been the result of communal building projects, but they allowed ranks and divisions to be maintained and reinforced amongst the living. Only certain individuals were able to enter the sacred space within the henge, and carry out the required rituals. The rest of the population would merely have watched from the sidelines. There's a contrast with the chambered tombs, however, in that the business of conducting ritual takes place out in the open, where the general public can look on. But all this was set to change as the Neolithic gave way to the Bronze Age...
For further reading, I'd once again recommend Bronze Age Britain by Michael Parker Pearson, and Fragments from Antiquity: An Archaeology of Social Life in Britain, 2900-1200 BC by John Barrett.
Henges and cursuses may have been the result of communal building projects, but they allowed ranks and divisions to be maintained and reinforced amongst the living. Only certain individuals were able to enter the sacred space within the henge, and carry out the required rituals. The rest of the population would merely have watched from the sidelines. There's a contrast with the chambered tombs, however, in that the business of conducting ritual takes place out in the open, where the general public can look on. But all this was set to change as the Neolithic gave way to the Bronze Age...
For further reading, I'd once again recommend Bronze Age Britain by Michael Parker Pearson, and Fragments from Antiquity: An Archaeology of Social Life in Britain, 2900-1200 BC by John Barrett.
