Chance

The Altar Stone (80) is the largest of all the ‘foreign stones’ at Stonehenge. It is a rectangular recumbent block of sandstone, 16 ft. long by 3.5 ft. wide by 1.75 ft. deep, embedded in the earth so that its top is level with the surface, about 15 ft. within the central sarsen trilithon.

Two fallen members of this trilithon now lie across it (stones 55 and 156), and their weight has probably pressed it down to its present position. Like the adjoining bluestones, it has been carefully dressed to shape, but its exposed surface is now considerably abraded by the feet of visitors.

Three types of stone are shown in this view.

The local sarsen from the Marlborogh Downs, 20 miles to the north, a blue stone from the Prescelly Mountains of Pembrokeshire and the Altar Stone, which is a fine-grained pale green sandstone.
This, interestingly enough, is not in the Prescelly Mountains of Pembrokeshire, the source of the rest of the blue stones, but in the Cosheston Beds (a division of the Old Red Sandstone of South Wales) which crop out on the shores of Milford Haven, further south in the same county.

No other stone composed of this rock is known at Stonehenge, though occasional fragments of it, very probably detached from the Altar Stone itself, have been found in the soil of the site.

Significantly, chips of an entirely different grey-green micaceous sandstone have also been collected on the site, and have been identified with a particular outcrop of the Cosheston Beds at Mill Bay on the south shore of Milford Haven, about 2.5 miles above the ferry at Pembroke Dock.

Tumulus as marked on 1900 O.S. 25” map but not visible to O.G.S. Crawford in 1932 as listed on Ordnance Survey Record Card 001.

Rear view of Pierre-aux-Dames showing concrete base and stand pipe for garden tap – Fertility forever

Detail of Pierre-aux-Dames

Detail of Pierre-aux-Dames

Pierre-aux-Dames surrounded by Roman masonry

Pierre-aux-Dames surrounded by Roman masonry

Pierre-aux-Dames in the inner courtyard of the Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva

This stone on the corner of South Street and Frog lane in Avebury Trusloe is thought to be one of the few surviving stones of the original Beckhampton Avenue.

This stone on the corner of South Street and Frog lane in Avebury Trusloe is thought to be one of the few surviving stones of the original Beckhampton Avenue.

South Street cottage in Avebury Trusloe showing the sarsen blocks made by the iron tools of the stone masons’.

South Street in Avebury Trusloe showing sarsen blocks, part of the remains of Beckhampton Avenue.
The irregular size of these blocks would suggest they pre-date the 1840’s stone masons’ blocks.

Pendant made from a bear tooth. Lattringen, Switzerland. On display in Ashmolean museum, Oxford

Axe head. Polished stone axe still set in an antler socket. The socket would have slotted into an axe handle. Lattringen, Switzerland. On display in Ashmolean museum, Oxford

Hand tools. Small stone tools with surviving antler handles: Chisel and scraper from Luscherz, Switzerland; chisel from Lattringen, Switzerland. On display in Ashmolean museum, Oxford

Model of a late Neolithic alpine lakeside village, based on archaeological evidence from a waterlogged settlement on the shores of Lake Constance dating to about 3200 BC.

Model of a late Neolithic alpine lakeside village, based on archaeological evidence from a waterlogged settlement on the shores of Lake Constance dating to about 3200 BC.

Model of a late Neolithic alpine lakeside village, based on archaeological evidence from a waterlogged settlement on the shores of Lake Constance dating to about 3200 BC.

Model of a late Neolithic alpine lakeside village, based on archaeological evidence from a waterlogged settlement on the shores of Lake Constance dating to about 3200 BC.

View of Old Sarum during the Bronze Age in 1500 BC showing burial mounds of local chieftains

View of Old Sarum during the Neolithic period in 3000 BC showing the settled communities that had developed around the hill

View looking north showing the original Neolithic outer ditch

View from the site of the Norman Abbey looking towards the side of the Norman mound

View looking towards the side of the Norman mound

View looking towards Salisbury from the original Neolithic outer ditch

View looking towards Salisbury from the original Neolithic outer ditch

View looking north showing the side of the Norman mound

View looking towards the barrow from the reservoir

The barrow stands about 2.5m high and is about 20m in diameter. Three mature trees now top the barrow

The barrow is made up of compacted soil and local stone

The barrow stands about 2.5m high and is about 20m in diameter. The remains of the surrounding ditch can be seen in the foreground.

Overall view of site. The lone barrow lies at the left of the line of trees with the reservoir stretching from the hedge line.

In 1860 this small “guesthouse” was constructed, which Emil Bächler used during his excavations. In 1972 it became a museum displaying small finds from the site.

View looking down the mountain path. The cave system is closed off to tourists with a trail created around the side of the mountain. The wooden shack covers one of the natural cave entrances.

View looking up from the mountain path towards the bell tower of the chapel.

General view of the south east flank of Ebenalp Mountain showing the museum and the bell tower of the chapel from the cable car.

View of the mountain trails from the top of the mountain

Weathered sign to the complex from the 1940’s

Information signs with distances and hiking times

Emil Bächler with the bones of cave bears during his excavations in the early 1900’s

View from the chapel over the mountain range