Stonehenge, Yesterday—Looking South East.
THE BUILDING OF STONEHENGE[ToC]
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.
