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January 30, 2006

Was Stonehenge "Disneyfied"?

Nick Packwood has a link to a fascinating story of which I was previously unaware: the rebuilding of Stonehenge:

For decades the official Stonehenge guidebooks have been full of fascinating facts and figures and theories surrounding the world's greatest prehistoric monument. What the glossy brochures do not mention, however, is the systematic rebuilding of the 4,000 year old stone circle throughout the 20th Century.

This is one of the dark secrets of history archaeologists don't talk about: The day they had the builders in at Stonehenge to recreate the most famous ancient monument in Britain as they thought it ought to look.

From 1901 to 1964, the majority of the stone circle was restored in a series of makeovers which have left it, in the words of one archaeologist, as 'a product of the 20th century heritage industry'. But the information is markedly absent from the guidebooks and info-phones used by tourists at the site. Coming in the wake of the news that the nearby Avebury stone circle was almost totally rebuilt in the 1920s, the revelation about Stonehenge has caused embarrassment among archaelogists. English Heritage, the guardian of the monument, is to rewrite the official guide, which dismisses the Henge's recent history in a few words. Dave Batchelor, English Heritage's senior archaeologist said he would personally rewrite the official guide. 'The detail was dropped in the Sixties', he admitted. 'But times have changed and we now believe this is an important piece of the Stonehenge story and must be told'.

Note, however, the suspicious domain name of the host site: www.ufos-aliens.co.uk.

Posted by Nicholas at January 30, 2006 03:50 PM
Comments
You have reason to be suspicious of the domain name. Somebody is trying to make a big deal out of next to nothing. There is nothing new about the rebuilding of Stonehenge and Avebury, and other megalithic monuments. I have before me the book "Prehistoric Avebury", by Aubrey Burl, Yale University Press, 1979. Beginning on pg. 69 Burl details the reconstruction work done at Avebury by Alexander Keiller. It goes on to pg. 74. Through the earlier chapters of the book he also tells of the destruction of Avebury during previous centuries, as well as reconstruction work before Keiller. None of this can be called "secret". From what I recall of my readings on Stonehenge, the same applies, although I don't have my best sources immediately at hand. Also, I Googled "Brian Edwards" and found nothing about this "enfant terrible" of English archaeology. Posted by: Daveo at January 30, 2006 11:34 PM
Having taught archaeology at the University of Toronto (ahem) I can assure you that while there is nothing secret about Stonehenge reconstruction it is not something most people are aware of and has a bearing on assumptions of authenticity. To me the real issue is that the conspiracoids think this is a big deal but why English Heritage so apparently does not. Posted by: Flea at January 31, 2006 09:25 PM
"the real issue is NOT that", etc. My typo. Posted by: Flea at January 31, 2006 09:26 PM
I've visited both Stonehenge and Avebury, but I blushingly admit that I didn't know they'd been reconstructed as recently as all that. I wonder how much of the reconstruction efforts have messed up the ground for archaeological studies over the years? Posted by: Nicholas at February 1, 2006 09:49 AM


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