Re: Boles Barrow bluestone | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

nigelswift Sep 10, 2006 08:33:46

Replying to FourWinds

The bluestones were in fact eratics found at these locations and were worked there before being moved to Stonehenge?

But the question arises, why? The bluestones aren't all that big. Would they be worked in order to reduce their weight for easier transport? Seems unlikely. Were they worked there because any closer would be inappropriate as it was a sacred area? But that presupposes a massive untouchable area.

How about the bluestones were all pre-existing outlying monuments brought together in the central one?

FourWinds Sep 10, 2006 08:39:32

Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:

But the question arises, why? The bluestones aren't all that big. Would they be worked in order to reduce their weight for easier transport?

Common practice. Axes were usually worked into rough blanks at the quarry site before being taken to the location where they were finished, so why not adopt a similar approach to slightly larger stones? The sacredness of the main Stonehenge zone could have been a factor.

nigelswift wrote:

How about the bluestones were all pre-existing outlying monuments brought together in the central one?

My first option was that they were from somewhere else, although I hadn't considered the many-sites 'sub-option', and it is a possibility.

whatisthat Sep 10, 2006 17:19:55

Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:

Were they worked there because any closer would be inappropriate as it was a sacred area?

Workshops and factories (of certain types) may have been within the ritual or 'sacred' sphere. There's something about this in Richard Bradley's 'Arch. of Natural Places' but I haven't got there yet.