Post by Morgan Sierra on Jan 13, 2014 13:23:02 GMT -6
Seahenge
England is famous for it's prehistoric monuments. In addition to Stonehenge, which is one of the world's most recognized places, there are also megalithic stone circles at sites like Avebury, Swinside and over a thousand other locations scattered all over the British Isles. In fact, the stone structures are so plentiful in England that they are almost as common as...rocks. While almost everybody has heard of Stonehenge most people probably have no idea just how numerous the Stonehenge-type monuments really are. People also don't realize that they were actually made out of other materials besides just stone.
In 1998 a circular monument was discovered on a beach near the village of Holme-next-the-sea in the English county of Norfolk. Unlike the other stone monuments this one was made of wood, or tree trunks that had been partially buried in an upright position. 55 split oak trunks had been arranged in a ring roughly 20 by 23 feet in diameter. Their split side faced to the inside of the circle and the bark faced the outside, except in one instance where one was turned around backwards. In the center of the circle was a large oak stump, weighing close to a thousand pounds, that had been buried in an upside-down position.
The structure was originally built around the year 2049 BC, which would put it over 4000 years old. At the time the area was a tidal marsh at the edge of a forest. Over the years as the sea level has risen the area was gradually submerged under silt, sediment and sea water so that it eventually came to be located on Holme beach at the edge of the North Sea. Salt water and erosion caused the upper part of the wood to decay so it is impossible to know exactly how tall the tree trunks originally were but archaeologists have estimated that they may have been around ten feet high when it was first built. Only the lower parts of the wood have been preserved.
This a reconstruction of what the structure may have originally looked like
Nobody has any idea what this wood monument was originally used for. While theories about the purpose of the other stone circles and henges have ranged from burial sites to ritual centers to astronomical observatories, no conclusive evidence has ever been found to prove one or the other. In fact, very little is known about the people who built the structures or how they lived. This is especially true of Seahenge. Because the original top soil which surrounded the structure has been washed away and replaced with newer sediment, few archaeological clues to its construction or use remain. Using a variety of techniques however, scientists have managed to learn a few interesting things. By doing an X-ray analysis of the wood they were able to determine that 59 different bronze-age axes were used to cut and shape the wood. This contradicted conventional thinking that bronze axes at that time were very rare. Several of the axe heads were actually found nearby on the beach. Also by studying the wood scientists found that all of the trees were cut down at the same time during the spring. This, plus the number of axes used would imply that a large group of people were involved in its construction so whatever it was used for it seems to have been a community effort.
Seahenge does not actually have a "henge" anywhere in it's structure. It gets it's name from the similarity it has to other popular prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge and because it was located at the edge of the sea. It was "officially" named in 1999 when its discovery was first brought to the attention of the world by a local newspaper. Local citizens had actually known about the site for several decades but once the news media got wind of the discovery it quickly gained international attention. Thousands of people flocked to the area to see the unique wood monument and archaeologists backed by English Heritage quickly began an excavation in order to remove and preserve it. Just as quickly protestors organized to stop them.
Local citizens wanted the monument left where it was to possibly improve tourism to the area. Neopagan groups such as The Council of British Druid Orders claimed that they had a "spiritual connection" to the site which gave them ownership over it. Lawsuits and restraining orders were filed, protestors and the news media stormed the beach and the police were called in to restore order. Eventually the archaeologists won and the wooden trunks and the stump were removed and shipped to the Fenland Archaeology Trust's field center at Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire for preservation. They were later put on public display at the Lynn Museum in West Norfolk were they still reside today.
Seahenge is unique in that it was the first all wooden prehistoric pre-Christian monument discovered in England. Since its discovery another wooden structure consisting of two concentric circles surrounding a pit has been located about 100 meters away from Seahenge's original location. The second structure is thought to be slightly older than the first however due to the controversy that surrounded the excavation of Seahenge it has been left in its original location on the beach. There is no telling how many other megalithic monuments of either stone or wood may exist off the coast of England. Since people have a tendency to build things close to the sea and since the water level has risen pretty dramatically over the past several thousand years there may be hundreds more of these sites buried under the shifting sands. Seahenge was the first to be discovered but it doubtless will not be the last.
England is famous for it's prehistoric monuments. In addition to Stonehenge, which is one of the world's most recognized places, there are also megalithic stone circles at sites like Avebury, Swinside and over a thousand other locations scattered all over the British Isles. In fact, the stone structures are so plentiful in England that they are almost as common as...rocks. While almost everybody has heard of Stonehenge most people probably have no idea just how numerous the Stonehenge-type monuments really are. People also don't realize that they were actually made out of other materials besides just stone.
In 1998 a circular monument was discovered on a beach near the village of Holme-next-the-sea in the English county of Norfolk. Unlike the other stone monuments this one was made of wood, or tree trunks that had been partially buried in an upright position. 55 split oak trunks had been arranged in a ring roughly 20 by 23 feet in diameter. Their split side faced to the inside of the circle and the bark faced the outside, except in one instance where one was turned around backwards. In the center of the circle was a large oak stump, weighing close to a thousand pounds, that had been buried in an upside-down position.
The structure was originally built around the year 2049 BC, which would put it over 4000 years old. At the time the area was a tidal marsh at the edge of a forest. Over the years as the sea level has risen the area was gradually submerged under silt, sediment and sea water so that it eventually came to be located on Holme beach at the edge of the North Sea. Salt water and erosion caused the upper part of the wood to decay so it is impossible to know exactly how tall the tree trunks originally were but archaeologists have estimated that they may have been around ten feet high when it was first built. Only the lower parts of the wood have been preserved.
This a reconstruction of what the structure may have originally looked like
Nobody has any idea what this wood monument was originally used for. While theories about the purpose of the other stone circles and henges have ranged from burial sites to ritual centers to astronomical observatories, no conclusive evidence has ever been found to prove one or the other. In fact, very little is known about the people who built the structures or how they lived. This is especially true of Seahenge. Because the original top soil which surrounded the structure has been washed away and replaced with newer sediment, few archaeological clues to its construction or use remain. Using a variety of techniques however, scientists have managed to learn a few interesting things. By doing an X-ray analysis of the wood they were able to determine that 59 different bronze-age axes were used to cut and shape the wood. This contradicted conventional thinking that bronze axes at that time were very rare. Several of the axe heads were actually found nearby on the beach. Also by studying the wood scientists found that all of the trees were cut down at the same time during the spring. This, plus the number of axes used would imply that a large group of people were involved in its construction so whatever it was used for it seems to have been a community effort.
Seahenge does not actually have a "henge" anywhere in it's structure. It gets it's name from the similarity it has to other popular prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge and because it was located at the edge of the sea. It was "officially" named in 1999 when its discovery was first brought to the attention of the world by a local newspaper. Local citizens had actually known about the site for several decades but once the news media got wind of the discovery it quickly gained international attention. Thousands of people flocked to the area to see the unique wood monument and archaeologists backed by English Heritage quickly began an excavation in order to remove and preserve it. Just as quickly protestors organized to stop them.
Local citizens wanted the monument left where it was to possibly improve tourism to the area. Neopagan groups such as The Council of British Druid Orders claimed that they had a "spiritual connection" to the site which gave them ownership over it. Lawsuits and restraining orders were filed, protestors and the news media stormed the beach and the police were called in to restore order. Eventually the archaeologists won and the wooden trunks and the stump were removed and shipped to the Fenland Archaeology Trust's field center at Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire for preservation. They were later put on public display at the Lynn Museum in West Norfolk were they still reside today.
Seahenge is unique in that it was the first all wooden prehistoric pre-Christian monument discovered in England. Since its discovery another wooden structure consisting of two concentric circles surrounding a pit has been located about 100 meters away from Seahenge's original location. The second structure is thought to be slightly older than the first however due to the controversy that surrounded the excavation of Seahenge it has been left in its original location on the beach. There is no telling how many other megalithic monuments of either stone or wood may exist off the coast of England. Since people have a tendency to build things close to the sea and since the water level has risen pretty dramatically over the past several thousand years there may be hundreds more of these sites buried under the shifting sands. Seahenge was the first to be discovered but it doubtless will not be the last.