PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 08:08
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Ishmael wrote "If anything Henges tended to be kept clean as there are very few finds found within."
That would also support the idea of a stock compound. You would not expect artefacts to be left in an area where animals are contained.
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Ishmael
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 08:43
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whatever. You seem to have convinced yourself.
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PeterH
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 09:02
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Not at all.
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Rhiannon
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 09:13
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It's probably a stupid point. But there weren't any rabbits in Britain in the Neolithic? So if you were going to do anything in a henge in the summer without wading through kneehigh grasses, you might want to have special mowing animals in for at least a while to tidy the area up a bit.
But somehow I can't see that when henges are renowned for their paucity of artifacts, as though they were deliberately kept pure and clean, that you'd want a load of animals pooing everywhere. You wouldn't want animals pooing in Canterbury Cathedral, would you, god's creations or not.
I'm trying to find out about the persistence of nitrates in the soil. But not getting very far yet. They'd be easy enough to test for but unless you've got an unusual soil they'd surely all be leached out by now? But do I have a vague memory of them discussing this on the Durrington Walls tt programme?
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Littlestone
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 09:29
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You seem to have convinced yourself that they <i>aren't</i> corrals (without sufficient evidence the argument works both ways ;-)
The idea that nitrates in the soil might indicate that some structures were used as corrals is an interesting one; the only problem there is that such structures may have been used as corrals at any time during the last x thousand years; Avebury is a classical example of that where sheep have been grazing within the circle for as long as I can remember.
Apart from excavations, perhaps the only other way to get some idea about what some of these structures were originally used for is to look at how the stones are organized. It's been said elsewhere that some stones are higher at one end than the other - does that indicate a possible windbreak function? Are there significant <i>pairs</i> of stones to suggest that they may have functioned as gateposts? Does the distance between such pairs of stones also suggest that they may have served as gateposts?
It also occurs to me that if stones are placed with their predominately <i>flat</i> sides facing inwards or outwards they are forming part of a wall or fence - to use them the other way suggests that they were probably <i>not</i> forming part of a wall or fence.
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nigelswift
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 09:39
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I'm a bit unclear as to the workings of henge corrals. How deep, how high and how vertical would the walls need to be. How soon would they erode, is there evidence they were re-cut, would they be used in conjunction with a fence (in which case, why not just use a fence?)
Would the animals be allowed into the ditch? Presumably, else if there was a fence to keep them out of it, what's the point of the ditch or the bank?
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nigelswift
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 09:46
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"It also occurs to me that if stones are placed with their predominately flat sides facing inwards or outwards they are forming part of a wall or fence"
Ah, but entirely ritual places like Stonehenge exhibit that. It doesn't invalidate your thought, merely reduces it to a 50% chance, like everything else that's ever said about this stuff! ;)
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Jane
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 10:14
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Nope. No bunnies here in the neolithic. We had hares. The R*mans brought wabbits, I believe. Probably coz they thought they were SO cute.
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Littlestone
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 10:17
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>Ah, but entirely ritual places like Stonehenge exhibit that.<
Chuckle... (but who's to say there was never any filling between the stones at Stonehenge and the place was never roofed :-)
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nigelswift
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Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 20, 2005, 10:21
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"but who's to say there was never any filling between the stones at Stonehenge and the place was never roofed :-)"
Nah, Foamhenge felt just right, complete.
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