Stonehenge, where the demons dwell, where the banshees live--and they do live well...
Stonehenge, where a man's a man, and the children dance to the pipes of Pan...
Posted on 06/21/2005 2:52:07 PM PDT by blam
Stonehenge druids 'mark wrong solstice'
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
(Filed: 21/06/2005)
Modern-day druids, hippies and revellers who turn up at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice may not be marking an ancient festival as they believe.
The latest archaeological findings add weight to growing evidence that our ancestors visited Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice.
Analysis of pigs's teeth found at Durrington Walls, a ceremonial site of wooden post circles near Stonehenge on the River Avon, has shown that most pigs were less than a year old when slaughtered.
Dr Umburto Albarella, an animal bone expert at the University of Sheffield's archaeology department, which is studying monuments around Stonehenge, said pigs in the Neolithic period were born in spring and were an early form of domestic pig that farrowed once a year. The existence of large numbers of bones from pigs slaughtered in December or January supports the view that our Neolithic ancestors took part in a winter solstice festival.
The revellers at Durrington Walls, the largest ceremonial site in the country and even larger than Avebury, are also thought to have feasted on cattle and aurochs - an extinct wild ox - before going to Stonehenge while fires burned on cliffs or hill tops. Prof Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield university, who leads the project, said: "We have no evidence that anyone was in the landscape in summer.''
Up to 20,000 people were expected at Stonehenge last night with visitors being allowed in from 10pm. The site will be closed from 9am today for the whole day so that the area can be cleaned up.
Change your calendar.
The modern "Druids" just didn't want to be hanging around on Salisbury Plain in the middle of winter!
Yeah, Christmas, er the precursor to Christmas.
Maybe the modern Druids are smarter than their ancestors. It's gotta be cold there in December.
Does it really get cold in England, or just chilly?
Those freaky New Age Druid chicks don't want to dance around naked in the middle of winter...
When it rained, it was just flat COLD. It's not so much the absolute number on the thermometer as it is the dank, damp, bone-chilling humidity!
Bummer man. Did they celebrate this at "Stoned" henge?
This is uninformed thinking, from what I know. Stonehenge is oriented toward the summer solstice. You view the first day of summer's sunrise over the "heel" stone. Not to say Druids don't celebrate the winter solstice, but not by viewing it from Stonhenge. Anybody with more scientific information jump in here if 'ya can.
I see you are an Idahoan, so I will take your word for it being cold. I travel to much of the lower 48, year round, and it's funny what some people think of as cold, especially when my experience comes from living on the plains of SD.
You will probably never meet a real one. The Roman army drove them onto the Isle of Angelsey (Ynys Mon) and slaughtered them all. Druids were the living embodiment of scholarship in Celtic society. It took about 27 years of study to learn enough to meet the basic entry level requirements. They didn't write things down. What passed for books were literally made with "leaves".
Druids were NEVER armed. If a Druid walked onto a field of battle and raised his hands, the combatants would set their weapons down. At least the Celtic warriors held them in that level of esteem. Not so with the Romans.
Priests in ancient Britain. The Romans mostly wiped them out after they conquered Brittania (they found their religious practices abhorrent, but getting rid of them also meant less opposition to Roman rule).
There has been a revival of the religion, but just how much it is like the old Druidic religion is open to debate. In one regard they're different: the original Druids practiced human sacrifice.
Cold in my neighborhood is -10 F with a steady 20 knot wind AND driveway full of snow that has to be removed with a shovel. We had a total whiteout blizzard on January 1st, 2004. Thunder, 70 knot winds and snow that piled up 2 feet in 45 minutes. Some fun.
"My guess would be that their "celebration" was to bring the sun back before it slipped out of view over the southern horizon"
I'm sure you're right. My daughter went through a bout of the whole "wicca" when she was about 18 or so (she's recovered nicely) and that seems to be the purpose of pagan winter solstice festivals.
Makes sense too, I guess.. I mean what the heck, its a religion - not a science.
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