Mysterious Britain: The ritual landscapes

Avebury henge
May 2019

Its close proximity to my neighbourhood makes visiting Avebury little bother, if any at all, certainly much less bother than what is worth. One could use a helicopter ride or a drone to paint the complete picture of Avebury henge in a single capture, because the 330-metre diameter of its outer stone circle makes any viewpoint other than the ethereal insufficient for this purpose. Despite featuring a few photos of Avebury in my gallery, I have never attached the occasional verbose description to any of them. I have been reading about Neolithic monuments for longer than I can remember and I am not sure I am any the wiser or if I can trust some of these books as far as I can throw them. To start with, the term “Neolithic” has changed many times over the years, certainly since the days I was taught is at school: from originally referring to ways of making particular tools, it has extended to embrace the adoption of domesticated animals and, more importantly, the earthwork monuments found in the continent but especially in these islands. Flint mines used as axe factories, ditch-circuit ceremonial centres and tall burial mounds are all conspicuous imprints of the Neolithic Age (4000 – 2500BC), as is their importance to the forging of our land.

There is so much of the Neolithic Age that, to this day, remains an enigma. Our knowledge of prehistoric patterns of settlement is being constantly updated, yet we seem to know more about the monumental architecture of the period than about the lives of those who built and oversaw it. No matter. Maybe one day, someone will explain to me why after several excavations, Silbury Hill, down the road from here, the biggest burial mound in Europe, hasn’t yielded any trace of human bodies. Maybe someone will render a verdict on the significance of the illustrated stones and help unshroud the site from the mystery veil. Maybe local folklore is more credible than scientific circles, after all. Who knows?

Many subjects of our Neolithic and Bronze Age perspective have changed throughout centuries of studying, yet there is one that remains uncontroversial: sheep. They were introduced by settlers from continental Europe and never left us since. Grazing from dawn to dusk, the docile wanderers are almost as iconic as the henge's megaliths, in fact to the extent of even canibalising their popularity. Nestled amidst stones, ditches and rolling hills, the quaint village of Avebury has grown up abreast thousands of years of history. It is now cared for by the National Trust, who will provide all necessary leaflets to get your curiosity going and also rip you off for a car-park space. Alas, so will the landlord of the Red Lion (background). The value of education is unquestionable, but I am not so sure about its price. It all boils down to one thing: how much one thinks this photo is worth.
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