Posted on 05/14/2024 1:47:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
In this video, I visit Avebury Henge and Stone Circle ... the largest in the world 馃ぉ Built and much altered during the Neolithic period, roughly between 2850 BC and 2200 BC, the henge survives as a huge circular bank and ditch, encircling an area that includes part of Avebury village. Within the henge is the largest stone circle in Britain - originally of about 100 stones - which in turn encloses two smaller stone circles.
The history books state it was built for ceremonial purposes, but they forget to take into account the geological data. If they did, they would have known that much of the area was under water at that time.
Thanks goes to Robert John Langdon @RobertJohnLangdon for his fascinating in-depth research and publications. Please spend a moment to check out his channel.Avebury Henge - the history books are wrong | 18:07
Lambourne Photography | 1.92K subscribers | 34,936 views | July 1, 2023
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
[link set to start at the 3 minute mark]
Transcript 0:04 路 foreign 0:34 路 [Music] 0:55 路 [Music] 1:02 路 thank you 1:08 路 the weather is so unpredictable 1:12 路 I left the house and it was Blue Skies 1:15 路 now it's rain and wind 1:19 路 so today we are going to eighth Brewery 1:23 路 Avery is the largest stone circle 1:28 路 in the world 1:32 路 approximately 100 Stones were 1:36 路 brought here to build a stone circle 1:41 路 about 5 000 years ago 1:46 路 not many of them 1:48 路 uh exist today and they've all been 1:51 路 carted off 1:53 路 and repurposed 1:56 路 over the centuries 2:01 路 as you can see I'm driving through Avery 2:04 路 now 2:05 路 through the center of the stone circle 2:16 路 this weather this grim 2:23 路 brighter over there 2:26 路 pretty much twice now 2:29 路 and is it coming our way 2:34 路 right let's park her up and give it a 2:38 路 give it a go 路 Time Index Set to Here 3:00 路 the area around Avery in Wiltshire 3:03 路 contains an extraordinary cluster of 3:05 路 monuments dating to the Mesolithic 3:08 路 Neolithic and Bronze Age 3:12 路 this video focuses on Avery henge and 3:15 路 its Stone circles probably the most 3:17 路 well-known prehistoric monument second 3:19 路 to Stonehenge in Britain 3:22 路 within one and a half miles of Avery are 3:25 路 many other prehistoric sites that were 3:27 路 built around the same time and therefore 3:29 路 no doubt share a connection to Avery 3:32 路 these sites include 3:34 路 windmill Hill built over 6 000 years ago 3:38 路 much older than they've rehenge and 3:40 路 towards the end of the Mesolithic age 3:43 路 Adam and Eve Stones all that is 3:46 路 remaining of the ancient beckhampton 3:49 路 Avenue 3:51 路 longstones long barrel built around four 3:54 路 and a half thousand years ago 3:57 路 silbury Hill the largest man-made 3:59 路 mountain in Europe built around four and 4:02 路 a half thousand years ago 4:05 路 West Kenneth long barrel built 4:08 路 5650 years ago 4:13 路 East kennet longborough which is yet to 4:17 路 be excavated 4:21 路 the sanctuary built around 4 500 years 4:25 路 ago 4:27 路 West Kennett Avenue wants a one and a 4:30 路 half mile route lined with 100 pairs of 4:32 路 stones connecting Avery and The 4:35 路 Sanctuary 4:38 路 it would be remiss of me not to give a 4:40 路 mention to Valley of stones the site 4:43 路 where the Assassin stones used to build 4:45 路 Avery came from 4:47 路 the sites in and around Avery were a 4:50 路 significant place for prehistoric people 4:52 路 who gathered here to build monuments 4:55 路 made of Earth Timber and stone for over 4:57 路 2 000 years 5:00 路 today this unique landscape forms part 5:03 路 of the UNESCO Stonehenge and Avery world 5:06 路 heritage site reflecting its 5:09 路 International importance 5:12 路 so I am approaching Avery at the moment 5:16 路 the largest stone circle in the world 5:24 路 before me is the 5:26 路 Western most 5:28 路 outer ditch 5:31 路 this uh 5:34 路 Neolithic 5:36 路 Earthworks were created approximately 5:39 路 four and a half thousand years ago its 5:41 路 purpose 5:42 路 is still unclear although 5:47 路 many people 5:49 路 generically stamp it as being 5:52 路 for ceremonial purposes potentially 5:55 路 religious 5:57 路 uh that could be true 6:00 路 but 6:01 路 much like my five field video recently 6:05 路 published 6:06 路 they keep forgetting 6:09 路 that much of this was underwater 6:13 路 in fact I would be 6:15 路 underwater right now four and a half 6:18 路 thousand years ago 6:34 路 [Music] 6:41 路 [Music] 6:50 路 [Music] 7:10 路 thank you 7:14 路 [Music] 7:27 路 this is the start of the 7:31 路 the well-known outer Stone Circle 7:36 路 comprised originally from 7:39 路 100 sarson stones 7:42 路 sourced from 7:44 路 the valley of stones 7:46 路 in five field 7:47 路 a couple of miles to the east 7:50 路 some of these weighed up to 30 tons in 7:53 路 weight 7:56 路 many have disappeared 8:00 路 these ones 8:03 路 which I've disappeared have been 8:04 路 identified 8:06 路 as these concrete bollards here 8:10 路 to show the original location 8:12 路 interestingly though many of the stones 8:15 路 have been buried and no one knows why 8:19 路 although there was a some evidence found 8:22 路 of one of the buried Stones it had a uh 8:25 路 a skeleton buried with it some 700 years 8:29 路 ago so I'm not sure what they were up to 8:33 路 oh 8:43 路 so most folk know uh Avery for its uh 8:47 路 large Stone Circle 8:49 路 well what's left of it 8:52 路 the largest in the world 8:56 路 but larger still is the set of worth 8:59 路 Works surrounding it 9:04 路 there's one giant circular ditch 9:08 路 and the Earth which was cut out of that 9:10 路 ditch was placed on the outer Bank 9:14 路 now this is significant because 9:16 路 immediately because they placed it on 9:19 路 the outer Bank we know 9:20 路 it's not defensive as all uh 9:24 路 defensive Earthworks they cut and then 9:27 路 fill 9:28 路 the inner Bank 9:33 路 so why was that then 9:37 路 and the ditch that we see today even 9:39 路 though it's still vast 9:42 路 uh 9:44 路 it's roughly three meters deep in places 9:48 路 that's actually only a third of what it 9:50 路 was 9:52 路 there have been some excavations and 9:55 路 uh it's been proved that the ditch did 9:59 路 go down to nine meters originally 10:02 路 but of course over time 10:06 路 uh the the bank and the sides have 10:10 路 collapsed and eroded 10:13 路 filling in the ditch 10:17 路 you know four and a half thousand years 10:18 路 is a long time 10:20 路 but why make a ditch 10:23 路 nine meters deep 10:27 路 for ceremonial purposes 10:41 路 Avery Stonehenge or Stone Circle as it's 10:44 路 also called 10:45 路 it's best seen from the air but because 10:48 路 of the size of it 10:50 路 a drone 10:52 路 won't be able to capture it 10:54 路 in full View 10:57 路 from directly above 10:59 路 because of the 120 meter maximum 11:03 路 altitude restriction or 400 feet 11:07 路 foreign 11:09 路 but that's where lidar can come in and 11:12 路 help us 11:13 路 [Music] 11:47 路 [Music] 11:55 路 [Music] 12:01 路 now 12:04 路 the kennet comes 12:07 路 all the way down here 12:09 路 today runs through the village of Avery 12:15 路 and then 12:16 路 further south 12:19 路 but 12:21 路 four and a half thousand years ago 12:24 路 that Kenneth River 12:26 路 would have been approximately 25 meters 12:31 路 deeper than it is today 12:33 路 it would also been 12:35 路 about a hundred times wider than it is 12:38 路 today 12:43 路 a good chunk of that land as far as the 12:45 路 eye can see 12:47 路 West 12:49 路 of this outer ditch 12:51 路 would have been underwater 12:53 路 [Music] 12:55 路 right 13:03 路 [Applause] 13:05 路 [Music] 13:23 路 this Stitch contrary to what the history 13:26 路 books say 13:28 路 abruptly stops in the middle there 13:33 路 there's about 13:36 路 a eight to ten meter section 13:40 路 where the ditch 13:41 路 starts and stops 13:45 路 I have almost like a giant letter c 13:49 路 so there was an opening to the ditch on 13:51 路 that side 13:53 路 and according to geological uh 13:56 路 groundwater levels 13:58 路 back then the river Kenneth 14:03 路 would have been 14:04 路 level without opening 14:08 路 therefore filling these ditches with 14:10 路 water 14:18 路 essentially this was one giant moat 14:23 路 and the center 14:27 路 was no doubt some kind of 14:29 路 trading station 15:01 路 foreign 15:07 路 [Music] 15:51 路 foreign 15:54 路 [Music] 15:58 路 foreign 16:02 路 [Music] 16:10 路 is one of the principal sites of 16:12 路 Neolithic Britain that we can visit 16:14 路 today 16:16 路 it was built and altered over many 16:19 路 centuries from 16:21 路 2850 BC to 2200 BC 16:26 路 it is one of the largest and undoubtedly 16:29 路 the most complex of Britain's surviving 16:32 路 Neolithic hinge monuments 16:36 路 good 16:37 路 it is quite likely that before the stone 16:40 路 circles were erected Timber circles and 16:43 路 structures may have originally filled 16:45 路 the area within the bank and ditch 16:48 路 as at other hinges in this part of 16:50 路 Britain 16:52 路 the exact sequence of construction of 16:55 路 the banks ditches and stone circles at 16:58 路 Avery is still not completely understood 17:04 路 at some stage two Avenues of stones were 17:08 路 also built linking the great Eng with 17:11 路 other ceremonial sites to the West at 17:14 路 beckhampton and to the south at Overton 17:17 路 Hill 17:19 路 foreign 17:20 路 Discovery suggests they may have even 17:23 路 been a Third Avenue heading Southwest to 17:26 路 the huge man-made mound of silvery Hill 17:32 路 whatever the reason for this great henge 17:34 路 being built whether ceremonial or for 17:37 路 trade it remains one of the most magical 17:40 路 and breathtaking sights in Britain today 17:50 路 thank you 17:52 路 [Music] 17:59 路 foreign 18:00 路 [Music] 18:03 路 foreign
Huge thanks to Amanda Chadburn, Jill Chapman, Alex Bayliss and Jim Leary for inspiration on this weeks video.The Day Silbury Hill Collapsed | 11:42
Paul Whitewick | 117K subscribers | 707,578 views | May 5, 2024
Transcript 0:02 路 July 2007 and one of the wetest July on record Amanda Chadburn would receive a phone 0:09 路 call hello oh hi David Amanda yes um silvery Hill has collapsed oddly this 0:22 路 wasn't the first phone call uttering those exact [Music] 0:27 路 words Amanda and the team have been working on the conservation of the mound securing its integrity 0:35 路 and safety after centuries of shafts and tunnels had been dug by drilling from the top and points 0:42 路 on the side this collapse could be a major setback for that project as it turned out though this 0:48 路 collapse gave English Heritage the opportunity to understand silbury Hill more than anyone had done 0:54 路 in the last half [Music] Millennia so Hill is an artificial chalk Mound mainly chalk Su clay 1:04 路 in fact it's completely man-made Now by and large the mound was built using chalk from the immediate 1:11 路 vicinity I sat here for Millennia confusing the random passer by the antiquarian of old 1:22 路 and perhaps even the more modern scientific and academic world that was until just a few 1:27 路 years ago 1663 and John Abrury draws the first known image of this Monument 1:33 路 he writes about silbury and the surrounding monuments publishing Monumenta Britannica he 1:39 路 mused at the notion that this could be very old pre-s Saxon pre-roman 1:44 路 prehistory 1740 it insteps William stukeley and he publishes his work on silbury and the 1:53 路 entire avebury landscape and he does a very iconic famous picture with aere Stone Circle 2:00 路 sat top in the middle and an Avenue either side Beck Hampton to the West and West kennet 2:07 路 Avenue to the east now and behold center stage at the bottom is of course silbury 2:13 路 Hill William stukeley saw this as a viewing platform a centerpiece for this 2:22 路 landscape back to the claps but not that claps you see there was another 7 years 2:32 路 prior May the 29th 2000 the first collapse and Amanda Chadburn receives the first phone 2:39 路 call hello Amanda silbury Hill has collapsed it appears that a large hole has appeared in 2:49 路 the top of silbury hill now knowing the approximate age of this place to you and 2:54 路 I that sounds quite odd but to Amanda it didn't because she knew the history 2:59 路 of this place place in great detail the largest artificial mound in the northern 3:04 路 hemisphere Amanda and her team needed a plan they needed a task which would 3:12 路 ensure the long-term security and integrity of this Monument it wouldn't be an easy task but 3:18 路 perhaps for the first time in two or 300 years it would be about conservation not 3:24 路 archaeology so how exactly was there a collapse the monument we knew had been there for a few 3:32 路 thousand years at least more importantly how was it that the collapse was just a hole in the top 3:39 路 that sunk down to answer that we need to go back some time in fact 1776 the Duke of Northumberland 3:48 路 employed a team of miners to open up a shaft on the mound now the nature of his reputation 3:55 路 really preceded the good Duke in fact some would refer to him as a treasure hunter rather than an 4:01 路 early archaeologist nonetheless he sunk a shaft right down very long way expecting to find all 4:09 路 kinds of Untold treasures and he found absolutely nothing other than chalk now you'd have to wait 4:18 路 for another 75 years before another excavation took place the archaeological Institute newly 4:24 路 formed tasked a man called Mereweather to Tunnel once again but this time in from the side once 4:31 路 again expecting to find all kinds of artefact's and things that they could use to perhaps date 4:36 路 this but once again he found absolutely nothing a century would now pass until a very keen BBC 2 4:46 路 director by the name of David Attenborough would ask Richard Atkinson to conduct a further dig now 4:52 路 Atkinson would tunnel once again and would try and unearth silbury Hills mystery he did use new 4:58 路 techniques and new standings and he did report something that the previous tunnellers had not 5:04 路 now Atkinson was probably the first to suggest as far as I can tell that Sil was built in three 5:10 路 different stages first of all the original Turf Mound followed by another chalk Mound followed 5:16 路 by choke Mound on top of that now as far as I can tell again the funding was cut for Atkinson and 5:22 路 he suggested that they should leave his Tunnel open for future Generations kind of made sense 5:28 路 but also English Heritage or the history of works at the time so that was probably unsafe 5:32 路 so they should look at backfilling at least part of it so was stukeley right was this a platform 5:38 路 on the landscape it is such a curious place for this to be positioned we aren't high up at all in 5:43 路 fact we're in a valley the valley that this mound sits in allows it to rise up to the height of the 5:49 路 surrounding Hills it's like the centerpiece of a bowl or a dish with the center meeting up to the 5:56 路 surrounding edges and if we travel across to West kennet long Barrow on the horizon while something 6:01 路 even more Curious greets [Music] us top of this hill we have West kennet longbarrow and that gives 6:11 路 us an entirely different view of silbury Hill but not the physical view you see West kennet 6:17 路 longbarrow in its first Inception its first form was built just over 1, 1,200 years before silbury 6:27 路 Mound [Music] so why is that date so important how does it relate to silbury Hill well the first 6:39 路 burial here as we said 1,200 years before silbury Hill but then it was continued to be used the 6:46 路 graves were infilled reused and perhaps for the next thousand years or so it was used as maybe a 6:53 路 ceremonial Place one Theory by Mike Parker Pearson is that because of the timing of the final closure 7:02 路 of West kennet longbarrow with these huge sarsons around a thousand years after its first use well 7:09 路 they came at almost the same time as the first stages of silbury Hill Mike goes on to suggest 7:16 路 the uh the change in society the change in people burial practices the the incoming of this new 7:24 路 technology brought about by the Bronze Age or maybe just maybe that this was the last stand 7:30 路 for the near liic people back to the claps Amanda and her team have been working hard planning the 7:37 路 conservation work for years now the involvement of the company scanska is vital for their work 7:43 路 and supporting Amanda and the team they find the 1968 lintel and when they start digging in early 7:50 路 2007 so theyd found a number of voids started to open up above that tunnel so they started to uh 7:57 路 sure it up and uh brace it a bit further they also found some uh more antlers and again this 8:04 路 time now they could radiocarbon date these with a lot more accuracy by specialist Alex bayliss so 8:10 路 why was this July 2007 collapse so important well it actually created a void closer to the center of 8:19 路 silbury Hill a tip a top stage two or phase two of silbury Hill was now exposed with organic matter 8:32 路 Jill Campbell analysed grass stems from this tip of Silbury 2 and found a specific species 8:38 路 of grass that takes 10 to 15 years to establish this means it was now possibly growing on the 8:46 路 hill at that point after Phase 2 snail shells also present implies that this was left for 8:52 路 some period of time they were also able to reaffirm the start date 2400 BC based 8:59 路 on the original turf or grass layer before any of this took place any construction here 9:05 路 the turf Mound 2,400 BC give or take one or two generations how specific is that 9:12 路 based on the numerous new results the almost per chance opportunity to date the different 9:17 路 silbury Hills that formed its overall One Construction we have a new set of data to 9:23 路 help nothing really other than construction tool tools and material were found within 9:31 路 it to uh give us an indication of the purpose of its build we do now have that 20400 BC start date 9:40 路 which is the main thing that can help give us the context of this Monument within the surrounding 9:45 路 landscape maybe just maybe as short as a 100 years or maybe even one person's lifetime would 9:52 路 have seen the entirety of this built however that could be as much as 3 or 400 years so 9:59 路 phase one was built within a generation of the 2,400 BC date Phase 2 was built and then phase 10:07 路 three and we now know as well there was at least a 10 or 15E period at least between Phase 2 and 10:16 路 phase three because of that organic matter that was found Jim leary suggests that because of this 10:21 路 Gap this potential minimum 10 to 15 years between Phase 2 and three silbury was constructed over a 10:28 路 long period of time time perhaps centuries based on this standstill period it indicates that it 10:34 路 was not a continuous progress and perhaps as Mike Parker Pearson suggests that this was a Last Stand 10:42 路 by the neolithic in the face of new technologies emerging around them we may never truly understand 10:49 路 the purpose of silbury Hill when it was built but the story of the collapses the story of the 17th 10:55 路 century antiquarians through to the more modern archaeologists and of of course Amanda Chadburn 11:00 路 and her team help us give a much better sense of the the place of this monument in the landscape 11:07 路 today potentially what it was for perhaps those that built it did see a huge change in the way of 11:15 路 life new technologies evolving and this was their their Last Stand now if you like the prehistory 11:21 路 type videos we do you can go and watch this one just here AC Smith mapped all of this area 11:26 路 on Horseback and he found many secrets that we wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for him 11:42 路 [Music]
It was under water?
May need to oil the henge........
Interesting.
A rusty hinge is an annoyance.
Was this built by Merlin like Stonehenge?
Don’t quit your day job.
My bad. This is your day job!
I was at Avebury in 2008. It was awesome.
Wife and I have been there.
One of my favorite places....
Been there a couple of times.
I hope your realize that most people cannot read without punctuation don’t you?
Why is it that everything that an archiologist enciunters must be some sort of religeous symbol or a ceremonial site?
I also visited with my family in 2014
Other trolls piss and moan that there’s no transcript.
Looks like they built a fortress with a moat during the Neolithic. Phil Harding, the main archaeologist for years with Time Team, is from Wiltshire I think, but regardless, it's easy to see why his main interest is the stone ages. :^)
I wonder where they buried the ave?
oh
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