Recently, among the hypotheses about the purpose of Stonehenge, two more were added - that the ancient building is nothing more than an ancient cemetery, and that the mysterious structure was used for healing rituals.
One of the oldest European monuments, Stonehenge belongs to a group of structures called "cromlechs". This is the name of structures of unknown purpose, consisting of stones arranged in a certain order. By the way, in addition to Stonehenge, there are a large number of cromlechs in the world, and some of them are located in Russia.
Some scholars argue that cromlechs are religious buildings, a kind of temples in the open air, others associate the position of the stones with astronomical observations - in particular, the function of a sundial or calendar. Since Stonehenge is the most famous pile of stones in the world, its function was explained by the most daring hypotheses - right up to the place of the UFO landing. Recently, among the hypotheses about the purpose of Stonehenge, two more were added - that the old building is nothing more than an ancient cemetery, and that the building was mysteriously used for healing rituals.
Parker-Pearson of the University of Sheffield and his colleagues examined the cremated human remains excavated in the Stonehenge area using the radiocarbon method. It was revealed that for about 500 years after its origin around 3000 BC, Stonehenge was used as a burial site.
Based on this, Parker-Pearson went further and suggested that burials were made at Stonehenge at all stages of its use. “It was a cemetery that has grown over the centuries,” says the scientist.
However, the presence of cremated human remains on the territory of Stonehenge has never been a secret for archaeologists. Until recently, most scholars believed that the structure was used as a cemetery only between 2800 and 2700 AD.
In addition, Parker-Pearson and his colleagues did not investigate the results of "fresh" excavations. 52 "sets" of charred bones, which they consider to be their main "trump card", were discovered on the territory of Stonehenge in the early twenties of the last century. Until now, they were kept in the local museum. By the way, 49 other skeletons were reburied, because then for some reason they were not considered objects of scientific value.
The oldest remains were found in one of 56 ancient tombs surrounding Stonehenge - the so-called Aubrey Holes. They date back to around 3000 BC. The remains date back to roughly the same period - from 3030 to 2880 BC. At the same time, more "fresh" bones, as it turned out, were found in the moat surrounding Stonehenge and date back to 2930-2870 BC and 2570-2340 BC. Later remains were buried at about the same time when unknown builders erected huge stones in Stonehenge for an unknown purpose.
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However, in their findings, the Parker-Pearson team relied not only on the age determination of the remains found in the Stonehenge area. Scientists have examined in detail the so-called Darrington Walls. This is the name of a rounded archaeological site located about two miles north of Stonehenge. As it turned out, in its center is the so-called Southern Circle - the remains of a wooden structure very similar to Stonehenge.
Earlier, scientists discovered in the Stan Darrington area the remains of several houses close to the Southern Circle, as well as structures along a wide street linking the excavation site with the nearby Avon River. Now scientists believe that there were at least 300 houses on the territory of the Darrington Walls, which means that one of the largest settlements in the territory of then Europe was located here. It occupied no less than 17 hectares. Radiocarbon dating also showed that the Walls of Darrigton was a kind of city from about 2600 to 2500 BC - and just then the characteristic long vertical stones were installed at Stonehenge.
Parker-Pearson argues that his research leads to a simple conclusion: Stonehenge was not in isolation, but was half of an ancient archaeological complex. It can be assumed that the wooden cromlech, located in the center of a large settlement, symbolized the transience of life, and its stone copy - eternity, with which people meet after death.
Parker-Pearson even suggests that the geographical location of two structures - a wooden one - near the river could symbolize some ancient beliefs of local residents. By the way, the Avon River, which connects the wooden and stone Stonehenge, could be perceived by the locals as something like the Styx River, through which people were transported from the world of the living to the world of the dead.
However, Tim Darville of Bournemouth University in the UK believes that Parker-Pearson did not gather enough information to draw such far-reaching conclusions. Together with Jeff Wainwright, the former head of the English Legacy organization, he believes that the stone structure could have served as a place for some kind of ritual, among which is a healing ritual. According to these studies, burials in the Stonehenge area ceased as early as 2500, so that later cromlech began to be used for another purpose.
It is known that the huge stones that make up cromlech are usually difficult or almost impossible to move from place to place. However, Stonehenge is unique in that its constituent blue stones were transported 250 miles from the Preseli Hills in Wales. It is possible that the ancient creators of Stonehenge believed that these stones have some kind of magical power - perhaps even healing.
Curator of the Cambridge University Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, author of The Complete Stonehenge, broadly supports the Parker-Pearson theory. However, according to him, the stone Stonehenge could hardly have been used exclusively as a cemetery. Like most religious buildings of ancient times, it was, so to speak, an object of dual, and possibly triple use. There are many facts in favor of this version.
“It seems incredible to me that such a laborious and costly architectural complex like Stonehenge was created for one single purpose. He says. "Most likely, it could be a burial place, and also a place for performing healing rituals."