The world of Stonehenge

‘A simply outstanding book’, ‘Astonishing’, ‘A rich treasure-trove of photographs of objects’, ‘The book truly is a delight, and is a ‘book of the ancestors’ in a very real sense’. ‘Highly recommended.’ Sacred Hoop Magazine, March 2022. Stonehenge is one of the best known, but most misunderstood, monuments in the world. Contrary to common belief, it was not a static, unchanging structure built by shadowy figures or druids. Through a new study of the enigmatic and beautiful objects made and circulated during the age of Stonehenge, connections are charted in the shared religious practices and beliefs of communities from across Britain, Ireland and continental Europe. The presence of other stone and wooden circles hundreds of miles from Salisbury Plain – including Seahenge, discovered on a beach in Norfolk in 1998 – is further evidence of these shared ways of thinking. At a critical moment in the narrative of Stonehenge, around 2,500 BCE, the significance of the cosmos and the heavens expressed through the construction of stone circles and megalithic passage tombs began to wane and portable objects gained increasing importance. This key transformation is demonstrated by a highlight object from Germany: the Nebra Sky Disc, a bronze disc inlaid with gold symbols believed to represent the sun, a crescent moon and the Pleiades constellation. More modest items found in tombs, burials and settlements are no less important in shedding light on the development of ideas relating to identity, religious practices, and relationships between the living and dead. Monuments such as Stonehenge cannot be understood in isolation. Stonehenge was not always a static, monolithic structure: over generations it was adapted and added to by communities that changed and developed the landscape on which it still stands today. —- ISBN: 9780714123493 | ISBN10: 0714123498 | ISBN-13: 978-0714123493