This book about Stonehenge caught my attention at the library and it's been an interesting narrative overall. I won't lie, there are some dry parts to this book but the stories I found interesting are the discoveries of grave sites, historical excavations and carbon dating.
Stonehenge has been a fascination of mine since I was a teen. My husband, son and I were fortunate enough to take a vacation over a decade ago and visited Stonehenge twice. Highlight of the trip!
The fact that the stones come from Wales and other areas in England show that the stone was not constructed for practical purposes with straightforward business motives. If that were the case, stones would have been sourced as locally as possible. It was far more complex and a place of gatherings for many "tribes" and communities from all over England.
Near Stonehenge at Amesbury Archer a discovery of three males, apparently related, were buried in nearby graves. Human teeth do most of the growing during childhood, therefore the composition of the enamel will reflect the water a child drinks. Experts were able to find where they came from through their teeth. The oldest male came from Germany but a younger male's teeth revealed he grew up in Southern England - his teeth showed he drank water from the chalklands.
In 1978 during an excavation they came upon burial mounds. They found the body of a man with his legs bent and one arm across the chest. The time period could be estimated because of the distinctively shaped arrowheads found. These arrows entered his chest from three different sides of his body. This would seem to imply someone protecting Stonehenge and shooting at the intruder. I think it’s also amazing they can do radiocarbon dates and therefore knew this body was buried somewhere between 2400 and 2140 BC.
These are just a few interesting facts I read in this book by Francis Pryor. If Mike Biles, who writes at A Bit About Britain, wrote a book about Stonehenge I would be very interested to read that book. Historical narratives can be very engaging depending on the author and style.
Sharing with
Category: Geography
