fitzcoraldo
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 12:36
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Peter, there's no need to shout.
You said "I am not making any assertions". You did title this thread "Henge Corrals" and then go on to suggest that certain henges "do not have a religious/ritual purpose".
I am mearly putting forward a different perspective. A perspective that I have arrived at by reading extensively on the subject.
If you have a problem with someone putting forward an alternative point of view to your own then I suggest you gather some evidence to support your ideas, before not after you bring them to the forum.
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FourWinds
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 13:32
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Then again, who is to say that in the early days of farming there wasn't a lot of ritual involved in husbandry? After taking something from nature (a thing that was probably/possibly sacred in itself) maybe rituals were needed to appease the Natural gods and assure success?
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PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:18
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Look Matey - I'm not shouting and the title of this thread has a question mark attached which you have ommitted.
It is "Henge corrals?" Of course I want opinions. I don't have one yet, but that doesn't stop me questioning the establishment dogma. Interpretations are continually being challenged and re-examined and they start by someone just pausing long enough to ask "Why?"
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PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:21
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I like that a lot. Thanks Moss ;o)
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fitzcoraldo
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:30
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Chill out dude.
I said you were shouting because you were using capitals
Henge Corrals? it is
Oh yeh and here's a few questions
Why corrals?
why not cricket pitches or rhubarb beds?
What leads you think these structures were used for stock
Why some henges and not others?
Why are you rehashing a recent thread when you don't really have anything new to say?
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PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:37
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Yes - I have no quarrel with that.
Basically, if we were to survey 100 henges and find that 90% have a similar alignment of entrances eg NE and SW, then that would be a strong indication that the henges were constructed primarily for common astronomical ritual purposes. If we find that there is no uniformity of alignments, that does not prove a non-ritual use. You cannot prove a negative. At this stage, I am concerned just with sampling a fairly large number of henges and see if that leads towards any indications.
We can agree I think, that the ditch inside the bank (as it is in most cases) is not defensive. It SEEMS that something is being contained within rather than being kept without. What options does that leave us with? Spirits of the ancestors, people, animals. It is even possible that henges were temporary camps - they dug a circular ditch to throw up a circular bank. Possible even that Durrington Walls was the labour camp for the guys that put up Stonehenge. There they lived and died and there they kept and prepared the vast amount of food that they required. But I'm going off on a tangent - my first task is to look at what we can find out about all the many henges of all sizes dotted around the country. I'm not going to make the mistake of selecting and rejecting evidence to prove a point. I simply don't know why henges were built, but I certainly don't accept the accepted view.
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PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:39
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Look - if you aren't interested, go and read about leylines and leave this thread to those that have something to say
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fitzcoraldo
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 15:56
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no ta matey
I'm gonna stick around in the vain hope that you may produce a single shred of evidence to back up your opinions on henge corrals?
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Jane
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 16:24
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Great question!
Henges today follow a rough pattern of an area of land enclosed by an inner ditch and a bank on the outside.
We haven't a clue what went on inside them. Just as many buildings today don't just have ONE purpose, why shouldn't henges - which come in all shapes and sizes - have many, many different purposes? To believe they all had the same use - and only one use - is not a great place to start from.
To neolithic communities an area of land enclosed by an inner ditch and a bank on the outside would have been bloody useful. I reckon they were gathering grounds probably used a couple of times of year for something we might describe today as a 'festival'. Like a festival it would have also been a marketplace, offer speed-dating services, livestock trading, stalls trading fancy goods, and campground.
In many parts of Africa, where the population is dispersed, people gather once or twice a year at specially designated places to do all these things. For example, the Cure Salee gathering in Niger, where the semi nomadic people of the Tuareg and Wodaabe come together to do all these things. They bring livestock to trade, get married, meet up with family and friends from all over the Sahara, do a bit of dancing, listen to music, tell stories, meet holy men and shamen, chat up potential spouses... They trade in salt, leathers, rope, spices, metals, clothing, precious things and generally have a great time. The Cure Salee doesn't take place in a henge, but it has a particular fixed location. What better place to do this than a secure and specially constructed meeting place like a henge? Bring your oxen, goats and sheep, tether them securely them against danger in henge, camp outside the henge and party on down inside! You could call this activity 'ritual' or 'ceremonial' if you want. (I don't really know what either of those words mean anymore!) or you could just call it people gathering to party.
Perhaps at other times of the year when the festival wasn't on, young animals would be grazed within the safety of the henge. Why not? Nice piece of secure land, good grazing, easy to shepherd.
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tiompan
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 17:08
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"We can agree I think, that the ditch inside the bank (as it is in most cases) is not defensive. It SEEMS that something is being contained within rather than being kept without."
I believe this line of reasoning is a getting a bit closer to a possible "purpose" . There is a "threat " that is being contained . The ditch and bank and possibly stone circles could serve a function of closure . The last monumental event at Tomnaverie was the building of the stone circle.
This tradition could extend into the Iron Age where we find so called defensive sites with the same containment architecture as henges .
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