WHO RAISED THE MEGALITHS?

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• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00792R000400590001-9
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• Document Release Date: October 27, 1998
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 Approved For Release 2000/08/15: CIA-RDP96-00792R000400590001-9
One of the mysteries of Stonehenge is bow the huge stones
were placed in position. The drawings below explain a
possible method of erecting a trilitbon. For each of the
uprights a bole is dug; then the stone is hauled into posi-
tion on rollers, the bottom end is tipped into the bole,
The total lack of agreement among the experts hardly
inspires confidence: if Stonehenge was so manifestly
a structure designed for predicting eclipses, there
should be at least some meeting of minds on how it
was done. In 1857, in order to settle whether cunei-
form had really been deciphered, the Royal Asiatic
Society challenged scholars to submit translations of
a newly discovered inscription; four did so, the re-
sults were found so alike that there could no longer
be room for doubt, and the issue was declared set-
tled. When the astronomers who have been studying
Stonehenge come up with at least convergent ideas,
then we may be readier to believe that its priests
knew how to predict eclipses.
and the stone is heaved into vertical position. by
hundreds of men on long ropes. The lintel stone is uuen
raised by levers, in small stages, as a platform is built up
under it; finally it is moved sideways until mortises on
its underside fit into the tenons on the tops of uprights.
its original position, one is fallen flat, and two have
disappeared.) Newham and Hawkins point out that
the short sides of the rectangle are parallel with
Stonehenge's main axis. So, when one looks along
them to the northeast, one sights, just as along the
axis, upon the point of midsummer sunrise. If one
looks along them in the opposite direction, toward
the southwest, one sights upon the point of mid-
winter sunset. And the line of the long sides marks, in
the southeast direction, the southernmost point at
which the full moon rises at midsummer, and, in the
northwest direction, the northernmost point at which
it sets at midwinter. Both men were struck by the
same idea as to why Salisbury Plain was chosen for
Happily, some of Hawkins' findings do converge the site; at its latitude the lines of midsummer sunrise
with those o u mo s cos at rt ht angles and so a rectangu-
ff$Jied r~ l?~g /08 a~ t - ~ - right QP4?5~, 0001-
ArW
although he wa unaware of it. Stonehenge o~erei3 tsF t ? r r
sightlines, Hawkins argues, not only for the mid sum- The claim that Stonehenge was so sophisticated an
I I -_ nkcPrvarnrv Driests could fore-
veloped the skill to identify these
erable accuracy.
If, then, this unique megalith
number of specific astronomic
was set on a site deliberately c
tions, what of its humbler rela
and alignments, even the lone
objects of veneration and no mo
astronomically useful? Here we
dropped by a Scot professor
makes Hawkins' seem like a fire
stream of articles bulked out bI
ander Thom has tried to, demon
hirs and cromlechs of Britain ark
tion to whatever religious purpo!
instruments for determining cei
tings not only of the sun and moc
tu.!
 Stonehenge, the ruins of an ancient religious center and astronomical observatory. Sightings from different
positions and along the various stones were used to predict astronomical events with remarkable accuracy.
STONEHENGE, ston'hen'', is the ruins of a Stone
Age monument situated on Salisbury Plain in
southern England. It is one of the most imposing
and complex of the 40 to 50 prehistoric circular
enclosures or "henge" monuments known in the
British Isles.
The most striking features of Stonehenge are
the remains of a great circle of lintel-capped
rectangular stone columns surrounding a still
taller "horseshoe" of trilithons, each trilithon
consisting of two columns supporting the ends of
a horizontal top piece, or lintel. The tallest
trilithon rises 24 feet (7.3 meters) above ground,
and each of the uprights weighs up to 50 tons.
Other conspicuous features of the monument
include the Slaughter Stone, the Heel Stone, the
bluestones, and ditches.
Many of the elements have changed through
time as the result of natural forces or human
activity. Standing stones have toppled, ditches
have silted, and additions and changes have been
made by the prehistoric peoples to whom this
site was an important religious center during the
Neolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age,
roughly from 1900 to 1400 B. c.
Speculation on and study of Stonehenge have
continued unabated from the time that it was
first mentioned in the literature shortly after the
Norman Conquest of 1066. Its construction has
been attributed to many of the various peoples
who have inhabited the British Isles. The most
widely held belief was that Stonehenge was built
by the Britons, a Celtic people, for druidical rites.
1t is now known, however, that the Celts and
their druid priests did not come to Britain until
1,000 years after Stonehenge was abandoned.
The first architectural study of the site was
made in the 17th century by the English archi-
tect lingo Jones at the command of King James
1? More accurate surveys and observations were
conducted subsequently by such British anti-
quaries as John Aubrey, Sir Richard Colt Hoare,
and William M. Flinders Petrie. The numbers
assigned by Petrie to the various holes and stones
are still employed in identifying them.
Archaeological research has provided the most
trustworthy evidence concerning not only the
several phases of construction and their dates,
but also the cultures to which they belong. In-
terpreting the original function of Stonehenge is
partly an archaeological matter and partly an
astronomical problem. Scientific excavation and
restoration began in the 20th century, especially
with the work of William Hawley from 1919 to
1926. The most meticulous investigations were
conducted jointly by Richard J. C. Atkinson,
Stuart Piggott, and John F. S. Stone from 1950
to 1954. The result of these excavations was an
extremely complicated picture of successive pe-
riods of construction.
Construction. The history of Stonehenge may
be divided into three main periods. The first
major construction, or Period 1, took place be-
tween 1900 and 1700 B. C. It was accomplished
by people belonging to the secondary Neolithic
culture, a blend of earlier hunting and gathering
peoples and the first groups with an agricultural
economy to appear in the British Isles. This
construction consisted of a circular ditch and
hank about 320 feet (97 meters) in diameter,
broken by an entrance causeway from the north-
east. Just inside the bank and concentric with
it was dug a circle of 56 equally spaced holes-
called the Aubrey holes for their 17th century
discoverer John Aubrey. The holes were filled
with chalk rubble and, in sonic instances, with
cremated human hones. Charcoal from one hole
yielded a radiocarbon date of 1848 B. C. t 275
years. The 16-foot (4,9-meter) tall [feel Stone
was erected at this time or earlier, a short dis-
 tance outside the ditch to the northeast. The
heel Stone is a block of sarsen stone, a type of
sandstone used for many of the larger stone
elements in the monument.
The structure of Period II (about 1700-1500
n. c. ) does not now exist but can be inferred
from the existence within the ditch and the
Aubrey hole circle of the "Q" and "H" holes.
These holes form a double circle, 86 feet (26.2
meters) and 74 feet (22.5 meters) in diameter,
each circle originally containing about 38 blue-
stones. Many of these stones were removed and
used for later constructions. Two parallel ditches
were dug outward from the main entrance, form-
ing an avenue running northeast toward the point
on the horizon at which the sun rises on mid-
summer day, or the summer solstice. Because
of the absence of holes in the western part of
the double circle, it would appear that Stone-
henge II was never completed. The architects
must have belonged to the Beaker culture, col-
onizers who came from the European continent
at the end of the Neolithic Period, for shards of
Beaker pottery have been found in association
with the traces of this structure.
Period III (about 1500-1400 B. c.) witnessed
the final and most spectacular phases of construc-
tion. One of the prince al features is the 100-
foot (30.5-meter) circle ofP30 sarsen stone columns.
Each column weighs about 25 tons; measures
about 3 to 4 feet (0.9-1.2 meters) thick, 7 feet
(2.1 meters) wide, and 13 feet (4 meters) high;
and is capped by a continuous circle of horizontal
lintels held in position by mortise and tenon
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joints. Within this circle is the central horsesl,,t,.
of five sarsen trilithons referred to previously
Other features, such as the circles of "1"'
"Z holes outside the sarsen circle and a small
horseshoe of bluestones within the trilithon all.
,i
appear to represent later modifications of till,
an. The largest of the bluestones, called th,,
Altar-Stone, now lies under two fallen trilithn?
stones. Its original location and function are
unknown. The builders of Stonehenge III
almost certainly members of the Early Bromizi.
Age Wessex culture, at the time. one of the most
.advanced European cultures outside of the Medi_
terranean area. Other sites of this culture, larg,._
ly graves, have produced bronze ax blades a,,l
other artifacts resembling strikingly in details
many objects from central Europe and Mv_
cenaean Greece. In 1953 a carving of a bronze.
dagger similar in form to those used at Mycenac
during the period of the shaft graves was found
on one of the sarsen stones.
As for the construction techniques of Stone-
henge, much practical experimentation has beet,
done with simple equipment to determine pos_
sible methods of transport and the size of the
labor force needed to move and erect the large
sarsens. Geological studies have shown that the
sarsens came from Marlborough Downs, some 20
miles (32 km) north of Stonehenge. The blue-
stones were brought from the Prescelly Mout,_
tains of southwestern Wales, probably by sea and
then overland by sledges running on rollers. it
has been estimated that it might require upwards
of 500 men to pull a 50-ton stone up the steepest
 is central horsesho,.
rred to reviousll.
circles IF T' and
circle and a small
aI the trilithon area
Aodifications of the
iestones, called the.
two fallen trilithop
and function are
tonehenge 1I1 were
the Early Bronze
mile one of the most
outside of the Medi-
this culture, large
Inze ax blades and
trikingly in details
Europe and My-
_,arving of a bronze
-c used at Mycenae
t graves was found
-~chniques of Stone
.nentation has bee,,
to determine pos_
nd the size of the
end erect the large
awe shown that the
rah Downs, some 20
nehenge. The blue_
ie Prescelly Motui-
-lrobably by sea and
]Wing on rollers. it
:~ht require upwards
tone up the steepest
711. tone
FF
slope along the route. Timber cribwork, levers,
an ropes were considered adequate for raising
stones to vertical positions and placing lintels on
their tops.
Function. The original function of this ex-
traordinary monument has been the subject of
much speculation. It has been thought of as a
monument, funeral or otherwise, to various leg-
endary or historic personages, It has also been
considered to be the center of a religious cult.
Because of its orientation toward the rising sun,
scientists have seen it as an astronomical observa-
tory of some kind. Archaeologists are. in general
agreement that the site had both a religious and
an astronomical function. It is likely that the
monument at Stonehenge, hallowed by its early
use as a purely religious structure, became modi-
fied gradually in its early phases to perform
astronomical functions as well-first to record the
advent of the summer solstice, then to predict
sunrise, moonrise, and probably eclipses, all as
part of a religious and agricultural ritual.
In 1963, Gerald Hawkins, an astronomer, used
a computer to work out all observations that
could be made by sighting along and through the
various markers, stone posts, and openings be-
tween uprights, including four "station" stone
locations that form a rectangle on the line of the
Aubrey holes. His calculations indicated with al-
most perfect probability that Stonehenge can be
used as an astronomical instrument to predict
accurately, with adjustment of movable marking
stones once a year, the movements of both sun
and moon as well as eclipses. Various objections
to the theory and its implications have been
raised by archaeologists. One of the important
ones is the unlikelihood of the existence of such a.
sophisticated device, requiring the passing on of
accumulated observational data over a long period
of time, in a culture that was otherwise on a con-
siderably lower level of development than the
heart of Bronze Age culture in the eastern
Mediterranean.
DONALD F. BROWN
Boston University
Further Reading: Atkinson, Richard J. C., Stone-
henge (Macmillan 1956) ; 1Iawkins, Gerald S., and
White, John B., Stonehenge Decoded (Doubleday 1965);
Petrie, William Flinders, Stonehenge (1881); Stone
John F. S., Wessex Before the Celts (Praeger 1958).
STONE'S RIVER, Battle of, in the American Civil
War, fought Dec. 31, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863, about
30 miles (48 km) southeast of Nashville, Tenn.
It is often called the Battle of Murfreesboro. A
hard-fought but indecisive conflict, it had no
apparent influence on the strategic situation, but
President Abraham Lincoln observed that if the
Union Array had been defeated, "the nation
could scarcely have lived over it."
After Gen. Braxton Bragg led an unsuccessful
invasion of Kentucky in the autumn of 1862, he
retired to Murfreesboro, in southeastern Tennessee.
Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, the new com-
mander of the Union Army of the Cumberland,
was based at Nashville. Eastern Tennessee was
favorably inclined to the Union, and the high
command in Washington was determined to drive
the Confederates from the region.
Under strong pressure for action, Rosecrans
led his army out of Nashville on Dec. 26, 1862,
Rain, fog, and Confederate cavalry patrols hin-
dered his advance, and his leading elements did
not approach Murfreesboro until the evening of
the 29th. The next day, the two armies con-
fronted each other in strength. Rosecrans had
about 45,000 Wien; Bragg a little less than 40,000,
Bragg deployed his forces astride the West
fork of Stone S River, a few miles northwest of
the town. The bulk of them were on the west
bank, but one division, about 5,000 men, was on
the east. Rosecrans concentrated entirely on the
west side of the river.
The battle plans of the opposing commanders
were identical in principle. Each planned to hold
with his right wing and attack with his left wing,
seeking an envelo, ent of the enemy.
Bragg struck firstm, about 6 A. M. on Dec. 31.
He surprised the Union troops at the right end
of the line; many were cooking breakfast. His
assault gathered momentum as reinforcements ar-
rived. The Union right was bent back at right
angles to the left, and by midafternoon the Union
army was compressed into a tight horseshoe with
its back to the river.
But stout resistance and minor counterattacks
had jolted the Confederates. Bragg called for the
division on the east bank of the river to strength-
en a last blow, but its commander did not move,
fearing a Union attack. At a council that night,
some Union generals wished to retreat to Nash-
ville, but Rosecrans decided to hold.
On Jan. 1, there was little fighting. Both
armies were exhausted and had. suffered heavy
losses. The next day, the only important action
was east of the river, where a Union force that
had crossed there repulsed a Confederate attack.
Bragg realized that Rosecrans had received
ammunition and supplies, and on Jan. 3 he with-
drew through Murfreesboro and proceeded south.
Rosecrans occupied the towii but did not pursue
his foe. The situation in Tennessee remained
static for six months, but by holding fast Rose-
crans had averted what would have been a. serious
defeat for the Union at that stage of the war.
The Union losses were about 12,800 men
killed wounded and missing. The Confederate
casualties totaled about 11,600. The Stones River
National Battlefield now occupies part of the
battle site. In the Stones River (or Murfreesboro)
National Cemetery are graves of soldiers of both
armies.
STONEWARE is a hard, nonporous ceramic. It
is made of a highly siliceous paste, either a
special clay or clay mixed with other materials,
such as ground flint, feldspar, or marble. The
paste is fired at a high temperature until it
vitrifies (fuses) to form a nonporous, glassy sub-
stance that gives a ringing sound when struck.
Stoneware thus differs from soft, low-fired porous
earthenware. It closely resembles hard, high-
fired, nonporous porcelain and is often called por-
celaneous ware. However, because stoneware is
usually heavy and opaque, with a bluish gray or
reddish brown color, Western authorities have
tended to distinguish it from porcelain, which
they characterize as thin, translucent, and white.
Stoneware may have incised, impressed, or
applied relief decorations. It may be unglazed,
or it may be glazed to resist acidic liquids or for
decoration. A thin, slightly pitted salt glaze is
common. Thicker, colored lead glazes are also
found.
Stonewares were made in Shang China be-
fore 1000 B. C. Heavy, porcelaneous stonewares
of the Han, T'ang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties had
black or brown painted decoration or relief decora-
tion with celadon green glaze. In the Ming period,
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