=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
The Modern Antiquarian Forum »
Henge corrals?
Log In to post a reply
152 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
fitzcoraldo
fitzcoraldo
2709 posts

Re: Henge corrals?
Dec 19, 2005, 22:43
I'll not muddy the waters any further, I shall stick strictly to the archaeological evidence and I shall deliberately avoid the henges of Wessex.

Henges are not just stand-alone structures they are part of a revolution that occured in the late fourth millenium BC. Harding describes this revolution as "a tear in history".
What happened, the whole world view of the people from Orkney to the south coast of England changed , the long barrows were sealed , the cursuses fell into dis-repair, the linear perspective moved to a circular world view.
The evolution of the henge from the enclosure is part of this revolution. The earliest henges on Orkney are contemporary with the earliest henges in the south of England, some thing major was happening in Britain Along with this came radical changes in material culture, burial practices changed, Grooved Ware pottery spread south from Orkney, the nature of feasting changed, cattle fell out of favour as the flesh of choice at the feast became the pig, prestige objects begin to appear in great numbers, carved balls, maceheads, pins polished axes etc all of which indictes a change in society, a change that lasted five hundred years.
Find yourself a henge that has been excavated and then have a look at the finds from the excavation, you will find very little material that is associated with the 'domestic' business of the Neolithic. What you will find are deposits that have been deliberately placed in the ground including human remains, special artifacts, wild animal remains. All of this would indicate that the henge was not a place where domestic activities took place.

Then take a look at the way some henges were maintained, the ditches may have been deliberately filled-in with clean gravel and then at a later date re-cut, respecting earlier deposits.
I could go on and on but I won't.
Where does all this lead?
It leads me to the conclusion that henges were not places where domestic activities took place. So if the activities that occured within a henge were not domestic, what were they?
In reply to:
Re: Henge corrals? (Littlestone)		 Replies:
Re: Henge corrals? (Littlestone)
Re: Henge corrals? (Ishmael)
Topic Outline:
The Modern Antiquarian Forum Index