Ancient Scots link to Stonehenge
Submitted by vicky on Monday, 17 November 2003 Page Views: 2412
Neolithic and Bronze Age
Research into the discovery of a series of enigmatic axe carvings at the Wiltshire site and one in Argyll has hinted that the country's ancient magnates were proto-capitalists who ruled a powerful monopolistic dynasty.
Dr Alison Sheridan, assistant keeper of archaeology at the National Museums of Scotland, said there was also evidence that the people around Stonehenge must have been in contact with Scotland.
She said: "These people were very sophisticated with wide-ranging links. It is nonsense to say these people were barbarians. They were very savvy.
"In both areas, they had a good grasp of getting power by monopolising the flow of valuable resources. The axehead carvings represent symbols of power. They were like a way of saying Kilroy was here or in this case, King Kilroy was here."
The links between Stonehenge and a site in Kilmartin valley, Argyll, were discovered after a team of computer experts from Glasgow used laser scanning on the stones at the Wiltshire site, erected about 2300 BC, for the first time, and discovered carvings of two bronze axeheads, thought to date from around 1800 BC.
Archaeologists have found connections with carvings on other monuments from this time which are associated with burials, such as the seven axes found on a stone burial cist in Argyll.
Dr Sheridan said the prehistoric symbols could indicate that sites in Scotland and Stonehenge were commemorative places to mark the death of prestigious members of society.
She said: "This burial (in the Kilmartin valley) was very special as it was bigger and fancier than most Bronze Age burials. The monument's grandness, and the axehead carvings seen on only two other cists, both around Kilmartin, underline the importance of the person buried there.
"The Kilmartin valley is at a crucial position with regard to the importation of Irish metal and finished metal objects. It is likely the people buried there were entre-preneurs who controlled the flow of these resources to the rest of Scotland.
"The elite around Stonehenge would have controlled the flow of tin to Europe. These axe carvings at both sites were symbols of power and prestige."
The side of the Nether Largie North cist as the Kilmartin site is known is covered with carvings of images of axe-heads superimposed on earlier cup shaped marks.
These cup carvings were on a stretch of living rock, probably for ceremonies relating to the "otherworld". Then, around 2200-2000 BC, the cist builders cut a rectangular slab from this sacred rock to use in the cist, and added the axehead designs.
Little is known about the people who constructed Stonehenge and Nether Largie North cist as they existed some 2000 years before writing came to Britain. However, those buried at both sites would have been from the upper echelons of society, the equivalent of the aristocracy, and were indigenous British people.
Dr Sheridan said: "We can tell a lot from their bodies. They were about the same height as us and just as intelligent, if not more so. It is a myth that people in the past were always smaller."
Dr Caroline Sleith, director of Archaeoptics, a Glasgow-based 3D laser-scanning bureau operating in the archaeology and heritage sector, carried out the work at Stonehenge. She was hopeful that the carvings could lead to further investigations across Scotland.
"There are a lot of sites in Scotland that are just as mysterious as Stonehenge. There are dozens of stone circles across Scotland, such as Callanish on Lewis.
"They are overlooked. We would love to do a similar laser scanning project there. We have the expertise and if the funding was forthcoming, we would be delighted to do it."
Carvings of axes and a dagger were first found at Stonehenge 50 years ago, but they have never been fully surveyed or studied. The team scanned some of these known carvings and by comparing visually their results with a photograph taken in 1953 they suspect the carvings may have eroded since they were first found, possibly because of people touching them.
The first recognised and best-known carvings at Stonehenge, a dagger and 14 axes, were found by Richard Atkinson in 1953, on the inner face of Sarsen number 53.
Source: The Herald 17/11/2003
See photos of the Stonehenge laser scans in the eGallery
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