Stonehenge find – Religious Significance

Though the Druids undoubtedly existed, their place in our history is now

Druids at Stonehenge

more legendary than factual, as so few records or artefacts exist to throw light on who they were and what they did. The Romans , who regarded them as enemies of the Roman state and who were horrified by the human sacrifices supposedly made by the Druids, attempted to wipe them out. The Christians too attacked them for their obviously non-Christian beliefs – one of the few things we can be truly sure about the Druids is that they held certain oak and hazel groves sacred, as both Romans and Christians were at pains to chop them down and burn the wood.

From the Roman and Greek sources, however, we can be fairly sure of a few basic facts about the Druids and their place in Celtic life (across Gaul and beyond as well as in Britain).

First and foremost they were a class, although not a hereditary class but one open to those of ability willing to undergo a long training period – perhaps as long as 20 years. They formed a learned class within the Celtic people, a mixture of judge, scholar, counsellor, doctor, diplomat and priest in one. Part of their demise has been put down by some writers as due to the antipathy of tribal chiefs and regional kings whose power would be lessened by the influence of Druids, said to have the right to speak before them in tribal gatherings, and able to intervene in and stop conflicts of which they did not approve.
It seems that as well as oak and hazel, mistletoe played a part in their worship practises, as did reverence for sacred sites such as hills and rivers, and fire. Theirs was a polytheistic religion. From the Romans we can be fairly sure they used sacrifice in their worship, and possibly in divination, these sacrifices being both animal and human – tales of blood gushing from hearts stabbed with sacred daggers if not strictly true still make interesting reading.

The training of a Druid was lengthy, and in all likelihood carried out away from prying eyes, or more significantly eavesdropping ears – much of it was concerned with learning sacred verses by heart.

Although some aspects of Druidism may have survived into medieval times and even beyond – the bardic culture of Wales is surely linked in some ways – as a power they were to a great extent finished by the Roman attack on Anglesey in AD61 (an attack that Boudicca took advantage of, rebelling in the East while the Romans were engaged in Wales).

Modern Druidism is a mixture of surmise, romantic imagination, and the gathered misconceptions of writers from recent centuries, a creative version of something about which few facts remain, or more kindly a sincere religious faith to which the perhaps ill-fitting label Druidism has been attached. This ‘creativity’ is perhaps seen most clearly in the use of Stonehenge , which long predates Druidism, as a sacred site for some Neo-Druids.

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LONDON — The discovery of a small prehistoric circle of stones near Stonehenge may confirm the theory that the mysterious monument in southwest England was part of a massive funeral complex built around a river, researchers said Tuesday.

The new find shows that the second stone circle — dubbed “Bluehenge” because it was built with bluestones — once stood next to the River Avon about 1.75 miles from Stonehenge, one of Britain’s best loved and least understood landmarks.

The find last month could help prove that the Avon linked a “domain of the dead” — made up of Stonehenge and Bluehenge — with an upstream “domain of the living” known as Durrington Wells, a monument where extensive signs of feasting and other human activity were found, said Professor Julian Thomas, co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project.

Project director Mike Parker Pearson said it is possible that Bluehenge was the starting point of a processional walk that began at the river and ended at Stonehenge, the site of a large prehistoric cemetery.

“Not many people know that Stonehenge was Britain’s largest burial ground at that time,” he said. “Maybe the bluestone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself.”

There were very few signs of human life found around Stonehenge and Bluehenge, researchers said, lending credence to the idea that it was used as a funeral site, especially since there were signs that many human beings were cremated there.

A five-university team has been excavating the greater Stonehenge site since 2003 in a bid to unravel its meaning and use.

“This find certainly confirms the idea we’ve put forward that the river is of fundamental importance and links everything,” Thomas said. “Everything is related to the river. That suggests that even before Neolithic time it may have had spiritual or religious significance. This find enhances the idea that all the monuments in this landscape are linked in various ways.”

Researchers did not find the actual stones used to mark the smaller circle found by the river, but they did find holes left behind when the stones were removed.

The scientists believe the massive stones used for Bluehenge were dragged from the Welsh mountains roughly 150 miles away. There were clear indications that the gigantic stones from the Bluehenge site were later removed whole for use in the construction of Stonehenge, Thomas said.

They hope to use radiocarbon dating techniques to better pinpoint construction dates.

Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a favorite with visitors from throughout the world and has become popular with Druids, neo-Pagans and New Agers who attach mystical significance to the strangely-shaped circle of stones, but there remains great debate about the actual purpose of the structure.

Rare excavation work at the actual Stonehenge site was begun last year in a coordinated effort to unearth materials that could be used to establish a firm date for when the first set of bluestones was put in place there.