Part 8

To begin with, it is almost certain that at the time of building, there existed some primitive form of priesthood, or body of "wise men." This is quite compatible with the culture of the period. The existence of the Neolithic Long Barrows is sufficient evidence that man had, by this time, arrived at that particular culture which grasps the existence of a "spirit."

Death only terminated the existence of the body, and not that of the spirit. It was even able to return and enter another body, say that of a new-born infant, an animal, or tree. And being after the manner of human beings, spirits could understand human language and become accessible to human petitions. Thus a spirit might even prove a powerful friend or enemy. And the dwellings of these spirits would be those great powers which meant so much to a primitive people; the sun, moon, stars, rivers, forests, and clouds; from which arose the two great classes of spirit, the "ancestral" and the "spirit of nature." From this general body was developed a regular hierarchy of good and evil spirits, gradually ascending to the conception of one great creative spirit, or superior deity.

To these early men, therefore, there was always the problem of maintaining diplomatic relations with the unseen forces about them, and for this purpose a primitive priesthood became necessary. The chieftain would manage the temporal affairs of the tribe, those spiritual would be relegated to a special body of wise men, or intermediaries. These men would certainly, from the nature of their calling, be not so much men of action as men of learning, the recorders of history and tradition, students of the natural phenomena, and of all those signs and portents which concerned the good of the community. One of the earliest facts which impressed itself upon them must have been the horizon. It was above that horizon that the sun rose in the morning, and below that horizon that it sank to rest at night; further, when the sun had set the moon and stars peeped up from that line, and sank below it, all in due course. These were facts easily apprehended. The common people even had grasped them, but the wise men learned more. As the link between man and the spirits of the stars, sun, and moon, they came to recognise that the sun did not rise over the same spot on the horizon every day. In the summer it rose roughly in the north-east and set in the north-west. In the winter, on the other hand, it rose in the south-east and set in the south-west. Moreover, these variations would be found to be regular and recurring. The sun would appear to move every day after the Solstice towards the east, and from the east towards the south, back again towards the east, and once more northwards. A staff set in the ground would determine the range of the sun's apparent journey and its extreme limits or turning points. This would fix the Summer Solstice in the north-east, and the winter Solstice in the south-east. Even such simple learning as this was probably beyond the capacity of the tribesman, whose daily duties took him afield early and late. But it was to his interest that all such observations should be entrusted to individuals who could keep definite count, and know exactly at what part of the horizon the sun might be expected to appear. In this way the solar year might be mapped out and divided into Solstices and Equinoxes. Nor was this a mere arbitrary arrangement. The good of the community depended upon it. The agriculturalist depended upon the sun for his crops. It was essential that he should know the correct time to plough, to sow, and to reap. Without the aid of the "wise men" he had no means of knowing what day it was, or how much longer he could count upon the sun for his primitive agriculture. The "wise man," on his side, realised the importance of his knowledge, and doubtless used it to his own advantage, thus winning support and respect from his simple followers.

Temples, or stone circles corresponding to temples, might face either to the north-east or south-east, for the Summer or Winter Solstice, marking the end of the sun's journey, or they might be directed towards the east, when the sun would appear in the appointed spot twice in the year; once in his journey southward, and once on his return; in other words, at the two Equinoxes. Stonehenge is so arranged as to mark the sun at its Summer Solstice.

But, interesting as these speculations of the Sun Temple theory may be, the facts recorded by Sir Norman Lockyer in 1901 are even more so, as by independent calculations he has arrived at the same date for Stonehenge as the archaeologist. Briefly his task was to calculate the extent of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic since the building of Stonehenge. The whole process involves a certain knowledge of astronomical operations and calculations, and the reader is referred to Sir Norman Lockyer's book for the actual steps taken to arrive at his conclusion. But on astronomical grounds pure and simple he was able to fix the date of Stonehenge as "lying between 1900-1500 B.C."

It is at all events interesting that his results should tally with those of Mr. Gowland who, working on entirely different lines, came to practically the same conclusion.

Having proceeded thus far it is well, however, not to insist too strongly on the "Sun Temple" theory, on the lines already sketched out. It should be always remembered that the "Hele Stone" is an unworked stone, which stands without the circle, and does not form a symmetrical integer in the structure. Being unwrought it may have been erected at an earlier date, and might belong to an earlier culture. It is possible that Stonehenge may have been a later addition to the Hele Stone. Many of the arguments relating to the "wise men" and the observation of sunrise are matters of analogy rather than direct proof, and though coincidences are ever suggestive and fascinating, they cannot always be entirely accepted as proof. While it is quite possible that the Hele Stone was erected to mark the Solstice and to afford a definite means of determining the year, this may not justify the theory that the entire structure was an astronomical observatory and dedicated entirely to sun worship, with elaborate ramifications, and "observation" mounds for celestial phenomena. Weighing, therefore, the archaeologist's and astronomer's evidence, it is fairly safe to conclude that Stonehenge can be dated at about B.C. 1700, and that its use was religious; probably a temple, in which the sun may have been adored in some way. As yet, however, the actual nature of that worship is a matter for speculation. It is of the utmost importance in dealing with a question like this, to observe the greatest caution and to maintain a strictly detached position. The astronomer, archaeologist, geologist, and anthropologist have each their share in the solution of the problem, but each also has the bias due to his own special science. The mineralogist solves the problem of the Foreign Stones by suggesting a "glacial drift" without reference to the geologist, who will tell him that the local gravels contain no pebbles which belong to those classes of stones known as Foreign Stones. The astronomer, in his quest for alignments, will convert barrows into observation mounds, without reference to their uses and contents, and without allowing for the ignorance of the period, while the anthropologist often allows his imagination to carry him beyond the limits of actual fact. Time, and constant careful investigation, will pierce some of the mists which must always shroud the origin of Stonehenge, but the true solution will be for the field archaeologist, rather than to the weaver of theories or the student in his library.

The circular form, the horseshoe form, the unhewn Hele Stone, all bespeak religious origin. These are actual, visual facts, as is the sunrise on the Solstice. Around these arises a clamour of conflicting claims, each possibly containing much of real importance, each probably expressing some clue to guide the future worker on his way, but none containing that element of finality which is once and for all time to quell the storm of controversy which has ever raged about this ancient monument of the plain.

THE DRUID QUESTION

Perhaps one of the most persistent traditions which has been passed on from generation to generation is that which connects Stonehenge with the Druids. There is, indeed, a vast literature on the subject of Druidism, but the actual knowledge of the subject is limited, and the entire question is very obscure. Much of the information existing is derived from a time when Christianity had long been established. The early Celtic religion has in fact been overlaid and embellished by so many later theories as to be particularly confusing to the modern student. Benedictine historians have discovered in Druidism traces of revealed religion by the simple process of confusing similarity with identity. The Gaul adored the oak tree, therefore this must have been a far-off remembrance of the plains of Mamre.

Another class of writers have invented for the Druids the mission of preserving in the West the learning of Phoenicia and Egypt. The cults of Baal and Moloch have been grafted upon them, and so forth, until the very Druid himself is lost in a mass of crystallisations from without. The insular Druids, to which our national traditions refer, were far more likely to be mere "wise men," or "witch doctors," with perhaps a spice of the conjuror. This, at all events, seems to be the case at the time when we first acquire any positive information concerning them. Theirs it would be to summon the rain clouds and to terrify the people by their charms. The Chief Druid of Tara, decked out in golden ear-clasps and his torque of heavy gold, is shown us as a "leaping juggler" as he tosses swords and balls in the air, "and like the buzzing of bees on a beautiful day is the motion of each passing the other."

Amazing as is the bulk which has been written about the Druids, their beliefs, knowledge, and ethics, it seems even more remarkable that so much should have been said to connect them with the building of the stone circles which they are credited with having constructed as astronomical observatories and temples. As has already been indicated, Stonehenge belongs to an epoch far earlier than any Druidism of which record remains. This fact rests upon the evidence of both the archaeologist and the astronomer. It is, therefore, not a little puzzling that Sir Norman Lockyer, after fixing the date of Stonehenge at about 1700 B.C., should cite the Druids and their late Celtic cult in dealing with a monument which, on his own showing, was built in early Bronze times. There must exist a very wide gap of anything from seven hundred to a thousand years between the "May Year" Druids of whom he writes, and the builders of Stonehenge, and an interval possibly as great or even greater between Stonehenge and Avebury and those other north-east and south-east temples to which he attributes a Druidic form of worship. It is even a matter of grave question if the race who built the Stone Circles was not entirely different to the late Celtic inhabitants of the plain. Avebury has been classed as a Neolithic monument, built by the "long-headed" race whose remains are usually found in the Long Barrows; Stonehenge belongs to a bronze period, but at a very early date in that culture; its builders would probably belong to the round-headed type of man whose barrows are studded very closely round about it.

THE BARROWS OF SALISBURY PLAIN

It is impossible to approach Stonehenge without passing numbers of burial mounds or Barrows. North, south, east, or west they meet the eye, some singly, some in groups. In the immediate neighbourhood of Stonehenge there are two Long Barrows and three hundred Round ones, or, in other words, one-fourth of the Barrows in Wiltshire are to be found within a short distance of the Altar Stone of Stonehenge. This cannot altogether be accidental. The suggestion at once rises to the mind that these burial places clustering about the circle of Stonehenge are strongly reminiscent of the graveyard about the village church of to-day. The Rev. William Gilpin, writing in 1798, when as yet the Plain was unbroken by the plough and cultivation, recognised this fact at once. "All the Plain, at least that part of it near Stonehenge, is one vast cemetery.... From many places we counted above a hundred of them at once; sometimes as if huddled together, without any design, in other places rising in a kind of order. Most of them are placed on the more elevated parts of the Plain, and generally in sight of the great Temple." At one time it was considered that these Barrows were the monuments erected to the memory of warriors who had fallen in battle. Though this popular conception is still current, it seems hardly likely that a victorious army would tarry after the day was won to erect these laborious monuments, all of which are designed and laid out with no little skill. A far more reasonable hypothesis, and one more in accordance with fact, is that they represent the graves of exalted personages, and that their erection extended over a considerable period.

The Barrows may be roughly divided into two classes: (i) the Long Barrow; (ii) the Round Barrow, with its three variants, the Bowl, the Bell, and Disc Barrow.

The Long Barrow is the older form, and may usually be referred to the Neolithic Age. Wiltshire is specially rich in Long Barrows. There are no fewer than seventy-two within its limits, and fourteen others have been destroyed within the past century. They are usually found standing alone, and very seldom is it possible to find two of them within sight. They are also, as a rule, found upon rising ground. Their construction is somewhat curious. They vary from two to four hundred feet in length, thirty to fifty feet in breadth, and from three to twelve feet in height. The earth of which they are composed was dug out from a trench on either side of the mound. This trench did not, however, continue round the two ends of the barrow. They lie usually, but not always, east and west, and the eastern end is higher than that at the west. Within the higher end is the sepulchral deposit.

Two such Long Barrows are within a short distance of Stonehenge. No metal objects have been found in these Long Barrows, though leaf-shaped flint arrow-heads, most delicately chipped, are almost invariably met with, and occasionally rough, hand-made, undecorated pottery. Most Long Barrows have been used for "secondary interments," i.e. other bodies at a later date have been buried in them. These secondary interments are sometimes associated with bronze or even iron. Interesting as the Long Barrows are, however, they are only mentioned as being, so far as present information goes, the earliest form of regular sepulture in this country. It is highly improbable that they have any connection with Stonehenge, which must have been erected at an age when the Long Barrow with its inhumed body was passing away, and the plain was being peopled with a new race, the "round-headed" people, whose method of burial was considerably different.

THE ROUND BARROWS

The visitor to Stonehenge has only to turn his back to the "Friar's Heel," as he stands on the Altar Stone, and he will see a typical "group" of Round Barrows, seven in number. Let him remember, then, that Wiltshire boasts of two thousand similar sepulchral mounds; and that he can, within an easy distance of Stonehenge, find three hundred of them, while in the same radius he will only encounter two Long Barrows.

The proportion, therefore, of round to long is considerable, viz. 1:150. The figures of round and long for the entire county are eighty-six Long to two thousand Round Barrows, or 1:24. In other words there are five times more Round Barrows in the Stonehenge District, than there are anywhere else in Wiltshire, taking Long and Round Barrows together. This disproportion in distribution cannot altogether be the result of accident; it must bespeak a special attraction for the spot by the builders of the Barrows, and from the very fact that Stonehenge was erected at a time when these people were first arriving on Salisbury Plain, it does not seem extravagant to claim that they had some reason for wishing their remains finally to rest within easy distance of what must have been to them a sacred spot.

As already noted, these Round Barrows can be divided into three classes: 1. The simple Bowl-shaped Barrow, that most frequently encountered, having a diameter of from twenty to sixty feet, and a height of from three to five feet. 2. The Bell-shaped Barrow which reaches its highest development on the plain round Stonehenge, and is more common and more beautiful in Wiltshire than in any other part of England.

Indeed, the Stonehenge Bell Barrows are the very crown of the Sepulchral Mound on Salisbury Plain. Unlike the Long Barrow, they are entirely surrounded by a circular ditch, from which material for the Mound has been excavated; within the ditch is a circular area level with the turf, from which the mound rises from five to fifteen feet in a graceful conical form. The diameter will be upwards of one hundred feet, so that the entire structure is considerably larger and more impressive than the Bowl Barrow.

3. "The Disc Barrow," so named by Dr. Thurnam, the great Barrow expert, from its resemblance to a flat dish surrounded by a deep rim. It consists of a circular area, level with surrounding turf, having a diameter of about one hundred feet. This circular area is enclosed by a ditch with a bank on the outside, both usually very regular and well constructed. Within, at the centre, is a mound not more than a foot high containing the sepulchral deposit. Occasionally there are more than one of these minute mounds, which often escape notice by reason of their insignificance.

It is very significant that the Disc Barrow is more plentiful around Stonehenge than in any other part of Wiltshire. Elsewhere they are comparatively rare.

In the "Round" Barrows it is not uncommon to find that the body has been cremated before interment. In the Bowl and Bell types, about three out of every four bodies have been so disposed of. In Dorset the relative interments, by cremation or otherwise, is four out of five, while in Cornwall cremation is almost universal.

Almost without exception, however, the Disc Barrows contain only cremated remains. The existing impression is that these three forms of Round Barrow were in use at one and the same time, but that the Bowl Barrow was the earliest, followed by the Bell, and that the Disc is the latest form of all. From construction, if for no other reason, this hypothesis seems perfectly tenable.

The Barrows on the Plain were built of the materials most easily accessible, mould, chalk, and flints, with occasional fragments of Sarsen. As has already been recorded, fragments of Foreign Stone from Stonehenge have been found in one of those forming the group which lay immediately south-west of the circle, but now destroyed by cultivation. The method of procedure was simple. A grave would in many cases be dug sufficiently long to contain the body if buried by inhumation in a crouching position. This grave would vary in depth from a few inches to six feet. Sometimes blocks of Sarsen would be built over the body to protect it. The crouching posture is specially noteworthy. The knees are drawn up to the trunk and the legs bent on the thighs, while the arms are closed towards the chest, and the hands over the face. There has been some speculation as to the significance of this particular attitude. Some have seen in it that of an unborn infant, others the natural position in death, others again have maintained it was the primaeval posture of sleep. It seems quite possible, however, that the position may be due to mere utilitarian motives as being more compact for the purpose of burial. The lie of the inhumed skeleton is usually with the head to the north; exceptions show that the east, south-east, and south-west, have sometimes been selected, but never due south. Interments with the head to the west, as in Christian burial, are very rare.

When burial by cremation took place, it is evident that the actual rite of burning took place elsewhere, and that the calcined remains were brought to the plain for burial. In some cases the ashes were conveyed to the spot wrapped in skins, or possibly in some rude form of cloth; more frequently in Wiltshire they were deposited in cinerary urns. The proportion of urn burial is as three to one. This method of conducting the cremation at one spot, and the subsequent removal of the ashes to another, generally considered sacred, is not uncommon, even at the present day.