[Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?

[David Shugarts]

Well, here's what I can say from memory. I believe there were scenes where
they used a vessel to carry a beverage, and it could have been grooved ware,
although I don't recall being given a clear view of it. For instance, I
believe they brought water to slake the thirst when the workers were hauling
the stone through the hills.

In the shots of the feasting, which went on to imply an orgy (which produced
babies in nine months, a fertility cycle), there was certainly an
implication of headiness or intoxication, but I don't think they depicted
the act of drinking mead. I could be wrong.

Finally, though, when it came to the clash of cultures, they showed an
example of a shard of a grooved ware vessel being unearthed, and used it as
one of the talking points to bring up the invasion of the Beaker culture.
Their statement was something to the effect that grooved ware was found all
over Britain and would have been a sign of home to any of the tribes there,
whereas the Beaker ware represented a dramatic shift.

The inferences about the feasting came from a number of observations that
seemed to center on a refuse pit where many bones were found. These bones
showed that the consumption was probably incomplete, an uncharacteristic
waste for this culture, as though they had had plenty of food and could
throw some away. Also, the pigs were about nine months old, judging by the
jaws, and therefore it seemed timed to the cycle of starting new livestock
in the spring, then slaughtering them for the winter feast, when they would
be excellent eating (so says MPP). I think it may have been left a bit vague
as to whether they meant that the pigs were domesticated, since there were
other scenes showing the tribesmen hunting wild boar.

Frankly, everything I saw had to be sorted into two categories, facts versus
suppositions. I will enjoy the pondering of the facts for some time to come,
but will attempt to dismiss the suppositions.

For instance, what was shown about the village was a series of many houses,
and there was a particular house shown with a clear indication of a hearth.
In front of the hearth were two depressions which they construed to be
"kneeling holes," indicating that people had knealt at the hearth for an
awfully long time.

Accepting these observable facts, I feel confident that it indicates long
hours of attending the hearth for cooking purposes and I ask, what was being
cooked? I conclude that it could not have been solely meat, because no
culture ever has THAT much meat available. But MPP says they didn't do any
farming in support of this village. So I stop and wait for further evidence.

Regards,

Dave Shugarts


On 6/3/08 6:12 AM, "ewc" <ewc at onetel.net> wrote:

> Hi Merryn
> 
> <<I did an M Phil into the function of this pottery .......JT (my former
> Professor).....dismissed it as merely speculative>>
> 
> The kettle calling the pot black maybe? (joke)
> 
> More seriously tho' - I always figured (the sadly missed) Sherratt for one
> of the good guys - and from the little I recall he had interesting things to
> say about pots. Did you find his stuff useful?
> 
> Personally I fear that archaeology has been going to the dogs since the Ucko
> coup back in 1986, and maybe if rationality is to thrive we should look for
> it outside formal academic establishments. There are plenty of sane guys on
> the academic books of course - but they are somewhat constricted in what
> they can say abt colleagues......
> 
> best
> 
> rob
> 
> "The sleep of reason breeds demons"
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Merryn Dineley" <merryn at dineley.com>
> To: "The Stones Mailing List" <stones at stoneslist.org.uk>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 8:46 AM
> Subject: Re: [Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?
> 
> 
>> Thanks Dave, this surely gives me a flavour of the thing! Just one
>> question ... at these feasts .... did they just eat pork or were they
>> shown making use of the Grooved Ware in any way? I wonder about this
>> because ten years ago I did an M Phil into the function of this pottery at
>> Manchester University. I concluded Neolithic agriculturalists had the
>> necessary equipment and skills to convert barley into malt and ale. It's a
>> poor party without ale :-) !
>> 
>> MPP & JT (my former Professor) have always studiously ignored me and my
>> research and dismissed it as merely speculative, even though it is soundly
>> based on the archaeological evidence and scientific principles.
>> 
>> I am now delighted NOT to be associated with the Stonehenge Riverside
>> Project in any way. Would very much like to see their "two hour epic"
>> though.
>> 
>> regards
>> 
>> Merryn
>> 
>> David Shugarts wrote:
>> 
>>> Respectfully, I will give it a go.
>>> 
>>> It is an elaborate program based on the work of Mike Parker Pearson of
>>> the
>>> University of Sheffield, who heads the "Stonehenge Riverside Project, a
>>> seven-year archaeological investigation of the Stonehenge area, supported
>>> by
>>> the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and
>>> Exploration."
>>> 
>>> First, I should admit right away that I am skeptical of one person who
>>> comes
>>> up with a complete tale of a pre-historical culture, filling in religious
>>> and technical details, etc. William Stukeley comes to mind . . .
>>> 
>>> Anyway, Mike Parker Pearson (who appears on camera quite a bit, so MPP),
>>> says he has found evidence that as many as 1,000 stone age houses were
>>> situated in the area around Durrington Walls.
>>> 
>>> MPP construes that the houses formed a large village or small city,
>>> comprising the people who constructed the monuments. Also, MPP says that
>>> they were farmers, but brought no farming gear with them, and so they
>>> must
>>> have been temporarily working on SH and then going back to their farms.
>>> 
>>> MPP believes they worked on Stonehenge and also the "Southern Circle," a
>>> massive wooden structure built in reciprocal solar alignment to SH. The
>>> wooden structure is envisioned based on 160 holes in concentric circles.
>>> 
>>> He envisions a summer ritual of feasting and love in celebration of the
>>> solstice, and then a somber winter ritual about death, and a procession
>>> that
>>> connects the two monuments, along with the Avenue and the River Avon. So
>>> in
>>> winter, you make the procession in one direction from the SC to SH, and
>>> in
>>> summer, the other.
>>> 
>>> MPP thinks the people cremated their dead and for most remains, put them
>>> into the river, but reserved a place of honor for some remains, and put
>>> the
>>> ashes at the monuments. Since ashes of more than 240 people have now been
>>> counted at SH (mainly in the Aubrey Holes), he is saying the monument
>>> must
>>> function in part as a cemetery. This is among the Big Revelations that
>>> allow
>>> them to title the program "SH Decoded."
>>> 
>>> MPP's theories involve the idea that wood is temporary, while stone is
>>> timeless, so the SC and SH demonstrate a religious outlook about life and
>>> death.
>>> 
>>> The two-hour program involves many scenes where actors dress as stone age
>>> Britons and haul a Sarsen stone over hill and dale, execute some of their
>>> number by shooting arrows at them (a la Apocalypto), feast on pig and
>>> deer,
>>> by implication engage in orgies, and so on. Somebody who knows these
>>> things
>>> should try to figure out what language they used as the basis for the
>>> neolithic utterings. I think they should have included scenes of a
>>> jumping
>>> game called Jumping to Conclusions.
>>> 
>>> Of course, in due course it's time for the Amesbury Archer to appear, and
>>> to
>>> represent the shocking, mind-blowing advent of copper axes and knives
>>> (not
>>> to mention Beaker culture), which MPP says transformed the existing
>>> culture
>>> instantly.
>>> 
>>> I hope I am representing this fairly, but with skepticism. I encourage
>>> everyone to wait for a chance to see it on a regular channel, DVD or
>>> elsewhere, and judge for themselves. It is being re-aired regularly on
>>> our
>>> NatGeo channel here, so I will probably see it four or five times without
>>> any conscious effort.
>>> 
>>> If I may advance my biggest concern, it is that this program's viewpoint
>>> will trickle down to the public and become the accepted Solution to the
>>> Mystery of Stonehenge, shaping everyone's beliefs for years to come.
>>> Instead, I see it as an elaborate and elegant collection of untested
>>> theories.
>>> 
>>> --Dave Shugarts
>>>   Newtown, CT
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 6/2/08 4:05 AM, "Merryn Dineley" <merryn at dineley.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Did anyone see this?
>>>> 
>>>> Could you share the revelations with those of us who do not have Sky?
>>>> 
>>>> Merryn
>>>> 
>>>> Ric wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> http://natgeochannel.co.uk/Programmes/Custom/Stonehenge/Intro.aspx?Id=819
>>>>> 
>>>>> /Ric/
>>>> 
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