Avebury and Stonehenge

Baba had wanted to see Avebury for some time, so he was like a kid in a candy store walking all around the huge site (the 100 stones of the circle, most of which are gone now, surround the tiny town of Avebury) and taking pictures from various vantage points. It didn't occur to me that Winnie and Rowan would have no idea where I was.

Daddy is in the shitter, and Rowan knows this. Yup, Mama was pretty pissed that I ran off like I did--Rowan came up to me and said, "Baba, BIG trouble!" Here we sit on one of the large stones of the perimeter. Avebury also has two smaller stone circles of about 28 stones each. It is one of the largest stone circles in existence (perhaps the largest), and predates Stonehenge by roughly 300 years.

Perched on one of the stones in the area.

At dusk we took a little trip to some of the many prehistoric sites around Avebury, including West Kennet Long Barrow, a long prehistoric tomb made of stone and covered with earth near the town of West Kennet. It's set back a bit from the road, so we had to walk through vast fields to get there. Rowan goes off the beaten path and into the grass.

A fine photo of Rowan (the tiny orange speck) in the middle of this field, with the mysterious Silbury Hill in the background, and a lone oak tree (probably the last remnant of an earlier hedge) at the end of the path.

Here is a closer look at the barrow, situated atop a small hill. Even from this distance you can get a sense of the size of these stones that once covered the entrance to the tomb. The tomb had long since been excavated and its findings placed in museums at Devizes and other places.

A great view of Silbury Hill at dusk. No one has any idea what its purpose was, despite two excavations that nearly collapsed the hill. It was created over several hundred years and is made up of chalk earth, shells and other organic materials (kind of like a prehistoric landfill). Its proximity to Avebury make it that much more curious.

We took another peek at Avebury in the evening. Rowan hugs one of the huge stones (some of which are 6 meters in height and nearly the same in width).

Winnie stands next to one of the tallest of the stones. This one is situated next to another of equal size (but different shape), forming a kind of gateway. The running theory about Avebury was that it was a religious center for sun worship, though no one has a clue.

Stonehenge, despite being more famous, is less spectacular in many ways. It's certainly a smaller site, but the excessive number of tourists have forced the English Heritage to rope off the site, so this is about as close as you can get to it. Rowan enjoyed running around the perimeter of the site and letting his hand slide along the rope. Because Stonehenge evolved a great deal over the course of more than 500 years, its functions most likely changed. In its earliest incarnation (before the trilithons were erected), the theory goes that it might have been a place of healing, given the presence of its blue stones (brought from Wales some 250 miles away), which may have been thought to have magical properties. When the trilithons were set up, it probably became something of a calendar to indicate when to plant and harvest crops. What is certain is that neolithic people had been gathering at this site about 3000 years before Stonehenge was built.

Next stop--Exmoor National Park (where we hear the saga of the tick).