Durrington Walls
Sep. 7th, 2015 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloSo there were stones at Durrington Walls- big ones- 15 ft sarsens- apparently arranged in a line along the top of the embankment in the shape- roughly- of a letter "C". At some point they were taken down and buried (or allowed to become overgrown) on site. In it's heyday- circular earthwork with walls of naked chalk, topped for part of its length with very large standing stones- it must have looked a little like a Greek amphitheatre.
This would seem to be a prehistoric monument unlike any other in Britain. It stands about a mile from Stonehenge and right next to the much smaller Woodhenge, with its south-east entrance located about 100 metres from the course of the River Avon.
Earlier interpretations have read it- in spite of its great size- as subsiduary to Stonehenge. But was it? Have we been misled by its worn-down and denuded present condition? Stonehenge is quite small as henges go while Durrington Walls is enormous- the largest henge in Britain and- with its sarsens in place- must have been hugely impressive. Perhaps, after all, it's Stonehenge that's the way station in the ritual landscape and Durrington that's the nexus.
This would seem to be a prehistoric monument unlike any other in Britain. It stands about a mile from Stonehenge and right next to the much smaller Woodhenge, with its south-east entrance located about 100 metres from the course of the River Avon.
Earlier interpretations have read it- in spite of its great size- as subsiduary to Stonehenge. But was it? Have we been misled by its worn-down and denuded present condition? Stonehenge is quite small as henges go while Durrington Walls is enormous- the largest henge in Britain and- with its sarsens in place- must have been hugely impressive. Perhaps, after all, it's Stonehenge that's the way station in the ritual landscape and Durrington that's the nexus.
