[Stones] Berwick St James

[littlestone]

Ric wrote -

the use of the word 'altar' is a cultural anachronism here, as far as i am aware - i know of no altars per se from the Neolithic or Bronze Age?

in this context - and i stand to be corrected - i would strongly disapprove of any moves to transport the said stone to Stonehenge

Apologies to those who have read the following elsewhere but if the stones at Berwick St James are shown to have come from Stonehenge then why should they not be returned?

The question of repatriation/restoration of displaced artefacts and works of art is an old chestnut. Personally I'm of the opinion that unless there's a danger that the main part of an artefact (in this case Stonehenge, though it could equally be applied to the buried stones at Avebury) will somehow be damaged by returning a displaced part of it then I think the displaced part should be returned; I'd qualify that with one thing though - if the aesthetic appearance of an object is likely to be detrimentally changed (by returning a missing piece of it) then perhaps it shouldn't be done (that's a tricky one though - who decides what's aesthetically appealing?). Stonehenge, in the ruinous state that it now is, still has an aesthetic appeal that has inspired visitors throughout the ages (though I can't really see that the return of the Berwick St James stones to the site would seriously change the appearance of the monument as a whole).

One thing's for sure, if the Berwick St James stones do turn out to be the real McCoy they shouldn't be left where they are and where they may be vandalised or accidentally damaged.
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