http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file
For complete access to all the files of this collection
see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php
==========================================================
* How They Rebuilt Stonehenge*
*For decades the official Stonehenge guidebooks have been full of
fascinating facts and figures and theories surrounding the world's
greatest prehistoric monument. What the glossy brochures do not mention,
however, is the systematic rebuilding of the 4,000 year old stone circle
throughout the 20th Century.* *The restoration has been kept elusive and
a large percentage of vacationers sitting in their hotels in London
, planning a trip to the
monument, have no idea that they aren't getting the full story."*
This is one of the dark secrets of history archaeologists don't talk
about: The day they had the builders in at Stonehenge to recreate the
most famous ancient monument in Britain as they thought it /ought/ to look.
This picture shows workers on the site in 1901 in a restoration which
caused outrage at the time but which is rarely referred to in official
guidebooks. For it means that Stonehenge, jewel in the crown of
Britain's heritage industry, is not all it seems. Much of what the
ancient site's millions of visitors see in fact dates back less than 50
years.
From 1901 to 1964, the majority of the stone circle was restored in a
series of makeovers which have left it, in the words of one
archaeologist, as /'a product of the 20th century heritage industry'.
/But the information is markedly absent from the guidebooks and
info-phones used by tourists at the site. Coming in the wake of the news
that the nearby Avebury stone circle was almost totally rebuilt in the
1920s, the revelation about Stonehenge has caused embarrassment among
archaelogists. English Heritage, the guardian of the monument, is to
rewrite the official guide, which dismisses the Henge's recent history
in a few words. Dave Batchelor, English Heritage's senior archaeologist
said he would personally rewrite the official guide
. /'The detail was dropped in
the Sixties'/, he admitted. /'But times have changed and we now believe
this is an important piece of the Stonehenge story and must be told'/.
Cambridge University archeological archivist and leading Stonehenge
author Christopher Chippindale admitted: /'Not much of what we see at
Stonehenge hasn't been touched in some way'/. And historical research
student Brian Edwards, who recently revealed that the nearby Avebury
Monument had been totally rebuilt, has found rare pictures of Stonehenge
being restored. He said: /'It has been as if Stonehenge had been
historically cleansed'. 'For too long people have been kept in the dark
over the Stonehenge restoration work. I am astonished by how few people
know about it. It is wonderful the guide book is going to tell the full
story in the future.'/
A million visitors a year are awe-struck as they look back in time into
another age and marvel at the primitive technology and muscle-power
which must have been employed transporting the huge monoliths and
raising them on Salisbury Plain. They gasp as they are told about this
strangely spiritual site.... mankind's first computer, its standing
stones and precise lintels, lining up magically and mysteriously with
the heavens above and the solstice suns.
But now, as if to head off a potential great archaeological controversy
- and following interest displayed by historical researcher Brian
Edwards and a local newspaper, the brochures will be re-written, to
include the 'forgotten years'. The years when teams of navvies sat
aboard the greatest cranes in the British Empire to hoist stones
upright; drag leaning trilithons into position, replace fallen lintels
which once sat atop the huge sarsens. As Mr Edwards - the erstwhile
enfant terrible of British archaeology following revelations that nearby
Avebury was a total 20s and 30s rebuild by marmalade millionaire
Alexander Keiller - says:/ 'What we have been looking at is a 20th
Century landscape, which is reminiscent of what Stonehenge MIGHT have
been like thousands of years ago. It has been created by the heritage
industry and is NOT the creation of prehistoric people. What we saw at
the Millennium is less than 50 years old.'/
In archaeological terms the re-writing of the guidebooks is dynamite.
English Heritage run Stonehenge on behalf of the nation, and an English
Heritage insider revealed: '/Dark forces were at work in the 70s, when a
decision was taken to drop the information about the restorations Now
that is about to change.'/
* The Restoration and Rebuild*
The first restoration of Stonehenge was launched 100 years ago this year.
And, in 1901, as the builders went to work, The Times letters column was
full of bucolic missives of complaint. But the first stage of
'restoration' thundered ahead regardless and the style guru of the day,
John Ruskin, released the maxim which was to outlive him....
/'Restoration is a lie,'/ he stormed. Nevertheless the Stonehenge
makeover was to gather momentum and more work was carried out in 1919,
1920, 1958, 1959 and 1964. Christopher Chippindale, curator at the
Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and
Anthropology, and author of Stonehenge Complete, admits: /'Nearly all
the stones have been moved in some way and are standing in concrete.'/
A stone was straightened and set in concrete in 1901, six further stones
in 1919 and 1920, three more in 1959 and four in 1964. There was also
the excavation of the Altar stone and re-erection of the Trilithon in 1958.
The guide book /'Stonehenge and Neighbouring Monuments' /, and the audio
tour of the Henge omit any comprehensive mention of the rebuilding in
the 20th Century. Only on page 18 is there a slight reference.../'A
number of the leaning and fallen stones have been straightened and
re-erected.' /But even that official guide book
does not contain clues to
the large scale restoration, which was not deemed worth a full entry.
Why does John Constable's 1835 painting of the Henge on pages 18 and 19
look so vastly different from the latter-day pristine photograph across
pages 28 and 29? REASON: A lot of restoration work had taken place in
between the two images being recorded. And, during long hot summers it
would be possible - if one could get near to the stones - to see the
turf peeling back to reveal the concrete boots into which the majority
of the stones are now set. A dead give-away, but difficult to spot now
as proximity to the Henge is limited.
Our pictures clearly show the rebuilding in progress. Some were
discovered by Mr Chippendale and were used in a revised edition of his
book. Many of those have since been lost. Others were found by Mr
Edwards who unearthed guide books from the time when Stonehenge was not
ashamed of its past and featured photographs and stories of the
resorations.
/'The news is sensational,' /said Mr Edwards, a decorate student at the
University of the West of England./ 'Once I realised how much work had
been carried out, I was amazed to discover that practically no-one
outside of the henge know of its reconstruction in the last 100 years. I
have always thought that if people are bothering to make a trip to
Stonehenge, from home or abroad, then the least they should expect is a
true story.'/
Raising an upright of the
trilithon in 1958
Part of this article was written by Roger Taverner and originally
featured in 'The Western Daily Press' 8/1/2001. Pictures appear
courtesy of The Wiltshire Archeological Society and Christopher
Chippindale.
[theCounter.com]