Stonehenge | Page 9

to
Stonehenge, and there were, as usual at such gatherings, papers and
discussions dealing with it. Mr. William Cunnington, F.S.A., specially
put on record the fact that his grandfather, Mr. H. Cunnington, and Sir
R.C. Hoare, remembered this stone as standing erect. Here at all events
are three conflicting statements. Under these circumstances it is well to
leave the Slaughtering Stone as a problem for posterity.
[Illustration: Stonehenge. shewing the Avenue approach & the
earthwork surrounding the stone Circle.]
THE EARTHWORK

Visitors entering Stonehenge are apt in their eagerness to reach the
stones to overlook a definite banked Avenue leading from the
north-east towards the Hele Stone, and entering the circular earthwork
enclosure. This earthwork is not very considerable to-day, but in the
Stonehenge of yesterday it was probably far more marked and
imposing. This Avenue extends from Stonehenge in a straight line
northwards for about five hundred yards, where it divides into two
branches, one going eastward towards the Avon, where there is an
ancient ford, the other continuing northward until it joins yet another
earthwork, generally known as the Cursus, about half a mile distant.
The whole Avenue has suffered greatly in recent years and is fast
disappearing entirely. Both the circular form of the earthwork enclosing
Stonehenge, as well as the straight and parallel banks of the Avenue,
are specially worthy of notice. They belong to a class of earthwork
quite unlike the usual planning of cattle enclosures, and defensive
works, and exhibit a precision in setting out which is only associated
with the sepulchral and religious earthworks of prehistoric times in this
country.
[Illustration: Stonehenge, Yesterday--Looking South East.]

THE BUILDING OF STONEHENGE
The question is often asked, "How did they build Stonehenge?" There
is a refreshing simplicity about that indefinite word "they," but for the
present, whoever "they" may be, it is possible to some extent, at all
events, to furnish an answer to this ever recurring query. In the first
place, however, it may be well to recapitulate very briefly the
conclusions already arrived at, before entering into a more detailed
description of the tools which were employed in the work of erection,
and the methods by which the huge Sarsens were reared into position.
Stonehenge is a circular monument, enclosed by a circular earthwork,
and approached by an avenue lying north-east and south-west. Without
the circle lie four Sarsen stones. The Hele Stone, and two smaller
stones unworked, occupying definite sites with reference to the rising

and setting of the sun at the Summer and Winter Solstices; and the
so-called Slaughtering Stone, the use of which is at present a matter of
speculation. The monument proper, consisting of a circle of Sarsen
Trilithons, enclosing a circle of upright foreign stones. Within these,
five detached Sarsen Trilithons, of graduated height. These five
Trilithons are set horseshoe wise. Before them a standing horseshoe of
foreign stones, and in the front of the great Trilithon a flat slab or altar
stone. From this stone it is possible to look outwards towards the Hele
Stone, which lies in line with the axis of the monument drawn through
the centre of the Altar Stone. The Sarsen stones were obtained from the
immediate neighbourhood, the foreign stones must have been imported
from a very considerable distance. All the stones, with the exception of
the four specially indicated, have been worked. The question naturally
arises how were they worked? The answer to this may be given without
the least hesitation: with stone tools. For many years the method of
working the stones was a matter of great debate, and the uncertainty
then prevailing permitted many theorists to speculate on the "Roman"
origin of the structure. Now, however, the entire absence of any metal
which resulted from Mr. Gowland's excavations in 1901, at once
precludes the possibility of the builders being anything but a primitive
people, to whom the use of metal was unknown, or only partly known.
The stone tools in use in the construction of Stonehenge were of four
kinds.
i. Axes of rude form roughly chipped, and with a cutting edge.
ii. Hammer-axes, chipped to an edge on one side and flat on the other.
iii. Rounded hammer-stones; many of which show signs of bruising
and hard wear. The material used in these three classes was flint. All of
these tools would have been used in the hand, and not set in a handle.
iv. Rounded hammer-stones of Sarsen, varying from one pound to six
and a half pounds in weight. They would have been used for the surface
dressing of the stones, to which reference will be made later.
v. Mauls of compact Sarsen weighing between thirty-six and sixty-four
pounds. The broadest side of these was more or less flat, and when

wielded by two or three men they were