Could the above chalk plaque currently on permanent display in the Stonehenge Visitor Centre be a 5000 year old lost map of Stonehenge and its surrounding area? I am minded this week that, other than a number of the actual stones at stonehenge, little of the dating of man's activities in the area is similarly 'set in concrete' and frequently resembles more closely the shifting sands Jacquetta Hawkes alluded to with her now famous quote 'every age has the Stonehenge it deserves or desires'. For example, archaeological evidence indicates that the main period of construction and activity at Durrington Walls falls between 2600BC and 2400BC. Beneath the outer bank at Durrington Walls, traces of an early Neolithic settlement were found, including sherds of round-based bowls, leaf-shaped arrowheads and other ... Read More

Could the above chalk plaque currently on permanent display in the Stonehenge Visitor Centre be a 5000 year old lost map of Stonehenge and its surrounding area? I am minded this week that, other than a number of the actual stones at stonehenge, little of the dating of ... Read More

These two Stonehenge chalk plaques form part of the permanent exhibition at the English Heritage visitor centre near the monument and features on their website here. I outlined the background of the discovery of these small objects in my first posting on this blog on 30 January 2014. The above image has been kindly provided by and is © English Heritage. The plaques were buried in a pit 2km from Stonehenge before the sarsen stone monument that we know today had been erected. English Heritage have dated the plaques to between 2900BC and 2580BC. In the area around Stonehenge leading up to this time there is evidence of 5600 years of man's activity already. Mesolithic postholes in the old visitor centre car park 8500BC to 7000BC. Activities at ... Read More

These two Stonehenge chalk plaques form part of the permanent exhibition at the English Heritage visitor centre near the monument and features on their website here. I outlined the background of the discovery of these small objects in my first posting on this blog on ... Read More

The previous thread here looked at Stage One Stonehenge post holes dating from the early part of the third millenium BC. Ditch and bank enclosure-type structures were evolving at this time from an earlier tradition of causewayed enclosures, an example of which is found at Robin Hood's Ball approximately 2.1 miles north of Stonehenge. At some time in the Neolithic period a causewayed enclosure or other structures may have existed in the 'mondus abconditus' of the Stonehenge landscape at Vespasian's camp and here. Evidence suggests that after only a short period of usage, the early Stonehenge site was possibly abandoned and deserted to the elements, followed by a rapid recolonisation by scrub, bushes and rank grass. The wooden structures were left to decay and the ... Read More

The previous thread here looked at Stage One Stonehenge post holes dating from the early part of the third millenium BC. Ditch and bank enclosure-type structures were evolving at this time from an earlier tradition of causewayed enclosures, an example of which is found at ... Read More

The main elements currently attributed to stage one of the Stonehenge monument  consist of: A circular bank and external ditch with a diameter of approximately 110 metres. Entrances into the earthwork from the northeast and south. 56 Aubrey Holes. Stoneholes 97, and A and B, assumed to be sarsens and generally now assigned to this stage. (No longer standing) A line of four postholes at intervals of 2 metres to the northeast of the actual NE entrance. A mosaic of pits , postholes and stake-holes within the earthwork enclosure and the NE entrance. It is the nature of the last element above, the pits, postholes and stakeholes that I would like to briefly consider here. An image is attached above of these mysterious postholes that ... Read More

The main elements currently attributed to stage one of the Stonehenge monument  consist of: A circular bank and external ditch with a diameter of approximately 110 metres. Entrances into the earthwork from the northeast and south. 56 Aubrey Holes. Stoneholes 97, and A and B, ... Read More

 Amesbury Abbey occupies a unique position in the Stonehenge landscape. It sits on an eastern bank of the River Avon, west of Amesbury, east of the Stonehenge monument and in the lee of Vespasian's Camp. According to British History online, the recorded history of the Abbey can be traced back to 979AD, some 1,035 years ago. Perhaps in exploring its past and association with the cult of St. Melor, echos from an earlier time -- and of our ancestors, who built Stonehenge a little under two miles to the west -- may reside. Facts surrounding St. Melor are, of course, elusive. The linked story above of St. Melor, which include a magical silver hand, a severed head that speaks, and untamed bulls, is typical of ... Read More

 Amesbury Abbey occupies a unique position in the Stonehenge landscape. It sits on an eastern bank of the River Avon, west of Amesbury, east of the Stonehenge monument and in the lee of Vespasian's Camp. According to British History online, the recorded history of the ... Read More

Last Thursday, 13 March 2014, I arose early and, after battling the morning fog that enveloped Salisbury Plain, arrived at the entrance to Stonehenge Visitors Centre after a 37 mile drive from the south coast at 8 35am. My intention was to spend the day exploring the Stonehenge environs, generally and particularly to walk the length of the Cursus and King Barrow Ridge. I was not permitted entry to the main Visitor Centre car park until 9am and was pleasantly surprised that the usual £5 car parking fee for those not visiting the monument itself had been waived for the day. To the east of the new Visitor Centre, a number of Neolithic buildings are under construction, of which the above image is the best of ... Read More

Last Thursday, 13 March 2014, I arose early and, after battling the morning fog that enveloped Salisbury Plain, arrived at the entrance to Stonehenge Visitors Centre after a 37 mile drive from the south coast at 8 35am. My intention was to spend the day exploring ... Read More

 On 21 December 2013, I first became aware of  an image of a thrush portrayed on the above Stonehenge incised chalk plaque. That moment proved to be the inspiration for this blog. This fascinating object was discovered between King Barrow Wood and Stonehenge Bottom in the late 1960s by Major HM and Mrs. F De M Vatcher. It was found along with a second slightly smaller plaque during the widening and lowering of the A303 road near Stonehenge in the chalk of the verge on the north side of the carriageway, 211 yards west of the wood. The plaque above is approximately three inches square and seven sixteenths of an inch thick. It was found near the base of the pit at a depth of a little ... Read More

 On 21 December 2013, I first became aware of  an image of a thrush portrayed on the above Stonehenge incised chalk plaque. That moment proved to be the inspiration for this blog. This fascinating object was discovered between King Barrow Wood and Stonehenge Bottom in the late ... Read More