Avebury forum 222 room
Image by thesweetcheat
Avebury

Avebury

close
more_vert
nigelswift N
nigelswift Dec 11, 2008 05:23:29
Replying to tiompan

There's something else to be thrown into the mix of why Avenues and "elbows" are where they are - the lie of the land. I seem to recall the first part of the Stonehenge Avenue up from the river seemed to follow the least steep route. (Might have been a dream though). That, followed by an aligned/ceremonial section could explain "the elbow". Maybe.

Then at Avebury, a lot of the WK Ave is situated exactly where the slope of Waden meets flat land (was Waden sacred, or wooded or separately owned or simply seen as sloped and therefore to be avoided?) Then. close to the Henge it kinks, so as to provide an impressive final entrance. Like Stonehenge's elbow?

I wonder if anyone has investigated whether at the other end, close to The Sanctuary, the route of the Avenue equates with the easiest route down the slope?

F FourWinds
FourWinds Dec 11, 2008 07:24:51
Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:
I wonder if anyone has investigated whether at the other end, close to The Sanctuary, the route of the Avenue equates with the easiest route down the slope?
That would be the single most useful study in my eyes. If that were true then everything is blown out. It just goes from A-B the easy way.

Anything that snakes can have tangents drawn to provide alignments. What is needed is horizon features. The presence of a barrow mentioned above as possibly fortuitous is a prime example. The avenue could align on it or it could have been built there to align with the avenue at a later date. If the barrow came first then the solar/lunar alignment is either significant or just a really nice effect to be seen from the avenue.

It's all fascinating stuff!

T tiompan
tiompan Dec 11, 2008 08:05:05
Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:
There's something else to be thrown into the mix of why Avenues and "elbows" are where they are - the lie of the land. I seem to recall the first part of the Stonehenge Avenue up from the river seemed to follow the least steep route. (Might have been a dream though). That, followed by an aligned/ceremonial section could explain "the elbow". Maybe.

Then at Avebury, a lot of the WK Ave is situated exactly where the slope of Waden meets flat land (was Waden sacred, or wooded or separately owned or simply seen as sloped and therefore to be avoided?) Then. close to the Henge it kinks, so as to provide an impressive final entrance. Like Stonehenge's elbow?

I wonder if anyone has investigated whether at the other end, close to The Sanctuary, the route of the Avenue equates with the easiest route down the slope?

It makes sense for avenues to be practical terrain wise , but cursus ? they often do it on flat land where it would be just as easy to continue going straightish , often the shift is 20 degrees .
Problem with the Sanctuary section is we don't have good evidence of the route , just a few stones in the immediate area .

L Littlestone
Littlestone Dec 11, 2008 19:28:07
Replying to nigelswift

There's something else to be thrown into the mix of why Avenues and "elbows" are where they are...
No-one's mentioned treethrows yet, let alone the 90 degree turns pigs make when people are trying to stick 'em :-(