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Laser Scan uncovers Stonehenge secrets

Submitted by vicky on Tuesday, 21 October 2003  Page Views: 4594

Stonehenge

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Stonehenge.
Stonehenge. submitted by Archaeoptics : Stonehenge Laser Scans 2003. Chris Brayne of Wessex Archaeology illuminates Stone 3 as Alastair Carty of Archaeoptics Ltd scans the carvings. (Vote or comment on this photo)
High-tech lasers have been used to unlock the secrets of Stonehenge. The work at the ancient site in Wiltshire has already uncovered two carvings which are invisible to the naked eye. The carvings of bronze axe heads are between four and six inches long.

Similar markings were found at the site in the 1950s, but archaeologists say these are now too badly eroded to be seen.

The laser uses a low-powered beam to scan the stones without causing damage to the structure.

Three stones have been scanned to date, and the investigating team insists a full survey of all 83 would probably reveal more carvings.

Similar carvings have been found at a burial site in Scotland.

Source: BBC News 16/10/2003




Note: See more photos in the eGallery. Alastair Carty (Alligator) is a founder member of the Stones Mailing List, with which the Portal is closely associated. He also pioneered in 1996 the idea of using a computer database to hold images and site data when the rest of us were making web pages the old-fashioned way. He went from 2D data sets to 3D, set up Archaeoptics and the rest, as they say, is history. We all congratulate him and the team on the discoveries.
Contributor Bio for vicky: Ex Megalithic Portal Editor, Co-author of 'Rock Around the Peak - Megalithic Monuments of the Peak District' and... More

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"Laser Scan uncovers Stonehenge secrets" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: Lasers uncover Stonehenge secrets by PaulM on Saturday, 18 October 2003
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This is from The Guardian 18 October 2003. Towards the end Mike Pitts, the editor of British Archaeology, is referred to as "Mike the Pitts". This The Guardian's error - not ours!

Lasers reveal Stonehenge's 'art gallery'

Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Saturday October 18, 2003
The Guardian

Enigmatic carvings of bronze axe heads, that are invisible to the naked eye, on one of the weathered stones at Stonehenge have been revealed by laser scanning.

The stones, moved into their final positions in one of the world's most famous ancient monuments some 4,300 years ago, would already have been 500 years old when the axes were carved. Bronze tools and weapons were only introduced centuries after the Wiltshire farmers made the giant stone and earth circles using antler picks and cow bone shovels.

The purpose of the newly revealed carvings is another of Stonehenge's mysteries, although similar carvings are associated with burial sites in other parts of the country. It has been suggested that whatever Stonehenge's original function, it was later used for burials and became a memorial to the dead.

The team of scientists and archaeologists has scanned only three of the 83 surviving stones, and believes a whole gallery of prehistoric art is waiting to be discovered on other stones in the circle.

Carved axe heads and a dagger were first recorded on another of the stones in 1953, but they have weathered so much since then - possibly from curious people running fingers along the outline of the carvings - that they are now barely visible.

The stones were scanned with low-powered laser beams, and the data analysed and computer-enhanced by a joint team from Archaeoptics of Glasgow and Wessex Archaeology. The archaeology unit has recently made spectacular discoveries in the Stonehenge region, including the Archer with his wealth of Bronze Age grave goods. The technique has been used before on stone monuments, but never to recover such faint details as in the Stonehenge carvings.

Mike the Pitts, editor of British Archaeology and an expert on the history of the site, said: "It is extraordinary that these carvings, the most significant art gallery from ancient Britain, have still not been properly studied 50 years after their first discovery."

A full description of the experiment is in this week's issue of the journal.
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Re: Lasers uncover Stonehenge secrets by Vicky on Thursday, 16 October 2003
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Further information from The Council for British Archaeology Press Release:

HI-TECH LASERS THROW NEW LIGHT ON STONEHENGE

Computer experts and archaeologists have used laser scanning on the stones of Stonehenge for the first time and discovered carvings of ancient axe heads.

The most hi-tech investigation of the monument to date was carried out in 2002-3 by a team from Wessex Archaeology of Salisbury, near Stonehenge, and Archaeoptics Ltd of Glasgow. A full account of their work is featured in Thursday's edition of 'British Archaeology'.

The axes, both on one stone, are badly eroded and can not be seen with the naked eye. But by sweeping low-powered laser beams at the stones and analysing the data closely, a picture emerged.

The team scanned only part of three of the sarsen stones and believe that a full scan of all the surviving 83 stones would reveal more ancient carvings.

Carvings of bronze or copper axes and a dagger were first found at Stonehenge 50 years ago, but they have never been fully surveyed or studied. Comparison of a 1953 photograph with the new scans shows carvings seem to have eroded since first found, possibly because of
people touching them.

The first newly-discovered carving is about 15 cm (6 inches) square and may possibly be two axes, one on top of the other; the other is about 10 cm (4 inches) by 8 cm (3 inches).

The stones at Stonehenge were erected in about 2,300 BC. The axes are of types made around 1,800 BC, so the carvings are likely to be five centuries younger than the stones. Their purpose is a mystery.

Axe carvings on other monuments from this time are associated with burials, such as the seven axes found on a stone burial cist (a box shaped stone structure) in Argyll, Scotland. This could indicate that Stonehenge was a place where the dead were commemorated, a theory backed
by the many burial mounds found near the monument.

"The laser scanning has opened up a whole new way of seeing Stonehenge," said Tom Goskar of Wessex Archaeology. "We spent an hour recording the data at the stones and we were astounded to discover two new carvings as a result. With more time we could uncover many more and make plainer the outline of some known carvings that are difficult to see.

"This would give us a much better idea of the extent of the carvings and help us achieve a greater understanding of the monument.

"It is exactly 50 years since the carvings on Stonehenge were first documented, and the new laser scanner is a fascinating way of using state-of-the-art technology to shed light on an ancient wonder."

Alistair Carty of Archaeoptics said: "We have used 3D scanning previously to enhance badly weathered carvings on monuments, but never on details as fine as the Stonehenge axeheads. The possibility that other unknown carvings exist on the other stones is very exciting and
may hopefully lead to a more complete interpretation of Stonehenge."

Mike Pitts, editor of 'British Archaeology' and a leading expert on Stonehenge, said: "It is extraordinary that these carvings, the most significant art gallery from ancient Britain, have still not been properly studied 50 years after their first discovery. The laser scanning process makes recording and studying possible, and can be used
to reveal the nearly invisible carvings for all".

The Stonehenge Laser Scans website (www.stonehengelaserscan.org) goes
live on Thursday, with variable-light animations of the carvings.
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Re: Lasers uncover Stonehenge secrets by Tag on Thursday, 16 October 2003
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See http://www.stonehengelaserscan.org/ for more info, images, and animations...
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