The Old Stones of Wales by Andy Burnham

Author:Andy Burnham
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Watkins Media

Healing Stones? The Preseli Bluestones

Julie Kearney, who researches the links between consciousness, creativity and natural energies

In the midst of the giant sarsens at Stonehenge is an inner horseshoe of smaller stones known as the Stonehenge bluestones. These include a variety of rock types; as well as the dolerites from Preseli, and rhyolites from the north Pembrokeshire coast, some, including the Altar Stone, are sandstones from the Senni Beds, many miles from Preseli. While most archaeologists argue that these were quarried and manually transported (not simply moved by glacial action – see opposite), the exact location of the original quarries is still in dispute.

It has been accepted since the 1920s that the spotted dolerite bluestones came from the Preseli Mountains. Timothy Darvill and the late Geoffrey Wainwright proposed evidence for a bluestone quarry site at Carn Meini, citing a match between the shape and size of stones quarried there and those at Stonehenge. Although no convincing geological evidence has been identified to prove that the Carn Meini quarry provided the dolerite bluestone pillars, a chemical match has been made between the rhyolite bluestones and the quarry site at Rhos-y-felin (see page 220).

There is little consensus on when the bluestones were quarried, with theories ranging from the early Neolithic to 2300BC. Some evidence suggests that they were originally part of a monument in Wales before being taken down and transported to Wiltshire, but most researchers do now agree that the bluestones were set in place at Stonehenge around 2900BC. How they were moved is still in dispute. But perhaps an even more important question is, why were they moved?

While Mike Parker Pearson argues that the motivation for moving the bluestones such a distance was related to their significance as symbols of ancestral identity, with stones possibly representing deceased ancestors, Darvill and Wainwright suggest another possible reason – that the dolerite stones have a long and respected tradition as healing stones and were moved to build a Neolithic healing monument. Citing Welsh mythology, they connect the bluestones to the holy Welsh healing wells and speculate that a Welsh healing cult migrated eastward, finally establishing a monument at Stonehenge. While the authors agree that Stonehenge was probably multifunctional and also had an astronomical purpose, they believe that the healing properties of the stones would have been the main focus, drawing Neolithic people from all over Europe to visit them.

Additional evidence for the existence of a Stonehenge healing sanctuary is based on the number of Neolithic bodies buried in the vicinity that bear the marks of serious injuries or illness; Geoffrey Wainwright speculated that the Amesbury Archer came all the way from Switzerland to be healed after falling from his horse, but died of a tooth abscess before being buried not far from Stonehenge. The number of bluestone/dolerite chips found in graves and scattered in the area is also notable.

For more information see: Parker Pearson, M. et al. “Craig Rhos-y-felin: A Welsh Bluestone Megalith Quarry for Stonehenge” Antiquity. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/121403/1/121403.pdf

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.