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About Avebury
Why it was built
How it was built
An Artists impression of an early period of the construction of the henge
How the stones were moved
The formation
An Artists impression of the Great Avebury Henge
Legends and rumours
Getting there
Articles and our notes
Opening times
About Avebury
Why it was built
How it was built
How the stones were moved
The formation
Legends and rumours
Getting there
Articles and our notes
Opening times
Thoughts on its purpose
AVEBURY IS OPEN AND FREE
Without doubt, Avebury is the most impressive of all remaining pre-historic earthworks in Europe. While Stonehenge was dedicated to the worship of the sun and moon, Avebury seems to have been dedicated to more human themes. The strong sexual symbolism, in evidence in the way the triangular and columnar stones were paired together, in conjunction with the elaborate funeral celebrations, show us that the cycle of birth, life and death was very important in Neolithic times. (See thoughts on the Avebury Complex)
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The initial phase of the construction involved the excavation of the
ditches, or henge. Using the most basic of implements, such as antlers,
shoulder blades of cattle and mass human effort, this massive ditch and
bank was constructed.
The ditch and bank encloses an area of nearly 30 acres and has an average
diameter of about 350. Some 120,000 cubic metres of solid chalk were dug
from the ditch, 60 times more spoil than that dug from the ditch at Stonehenge
and just under half of the 250,000 cubic metres of chalk and soil that
had to be excavated from Silbury, just to the south of Avebury. Thus the
two greatest Neolithic earthworks in Europe came to be within 1 mile of
each other.
It has been estimated that originally there were 400 standing stones within the henge and forming the great avenues at Avebury, with the heaviest, the Swindon Stone weighing about 65 tonnes. These stones or sarsens were found on the Marlborough Downs where they lie thickly on the ground. To transport and erect these huge stones required enormous effort.Leather ropes, strapped around huge boulders, would have been used to drag the stones onto wooden rollers. Then the stones were dragged to their destination. It has been estimated that as much as 1.5 million man-hours would have been needed to construct the bank and ditch and to transport the sarsen stones. Once at their site, a small shallow hole was excavated in the chalk, where the stone was to stand. Stakes were set into the chalk, opposite the stone, so that when the stone was raised into position, it would stop the stone falling over. Other stakes would have been driven into the ground to help guide the stone into its correct, upright position. Great care was taken to ensure that the centre of gravity was directly over the hole, a wonderful example being the giant Swindon Stone which has balanced for 4500 years, on one corner, with only a fragment of its bulk underground . Once the stone was raised and held in place by wooden props and ropes, packing material such as chalk blocks and smaller sarsen stones were used to keep it secure.
The outer circle, around the inside of the henge, originally comprised approximately 98 stones, while within this circle were two further circles, both of the same diameter.Each was, however, used for very different ritualistic purposes. At the centre of the southern circle was placed an obelisk with a height of 6.4m. In 1723, William Stukeley the antiquarian, recorded this huge stone in its fallen position as being 21ft long and 8ft 9 inches in diameter. Unfortunately it was smashed up for building purposes some years later, along with the 27 stones which circled the obelisk. The northern circle was made up of a ring of 27 stones (of which only 4 survive today) and possibly a smaller circle inside , surrounding the central cove. Originally formed of three stones, it is believed that the cove may have been roughly aligned on the moon's most northerly rising point. These stones were some of the largest at Avebury weighing over 20 tonnes.
Avebury is a magical place, Michael and Mary, a pair of ley lines that run from Land's end to Bury St Edmunds, kiss near the stones in the southern part of the circle.