the people of stonehenge
By zteve t evans
Today it is generally agreed that the Stonehenge site was developed by three tribes in a number of phases and sub-phases over many centuries. These builders were the Windmill Hill people, followed by the Beaker people and lastly the Wessex people. Discoveries of human remains in the local area that date from the period of its building all increase our knowledge of Stonehenge life but create new unanswered questions and a few surprises
The discoveries of the burials sites of the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer held the human remains of people who were lived at the same time as it was being worked on or in use. This article will discuss the roles of the three different builders and the possible roles of the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer in Stonehenge life of the time.
The discoveries of the burials sites of the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer held the human remains of people who were lived at the same time as it was being worked on or in use. This article will discuss the roles of the three different builders and the possible roles of the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer in Stonehenge life of the time.
The Windmill Hill people
The Neolithic people who inhabited southern Britain, and in particular the Salisbury Plain region at the time were an agrarian based society. Today they are called the ‘Windmill Hill people‘ after the Neolithic causewayed camp found on a site called Windmill Hill.
Existing evidence of these people includes circular hill-top enclosures and long barrows. Objects such as stone axes and arrowheads have been found. It is also known that they mined flints, grew wheat and had domesticated animals such as dogs, sheep, cattle, and pigs.
They are believed to have had some form of tribal hierarchy and organisation and archaeologists think this is evidenced by ‘henge monuments.’ These are embanked circular enclosures similar to the bank at Stonehenge differing only in that the ditches are found on the inside. The purpose of these henges is not known. Many archaeologists think they may have been gathering places for religious purposes, or for governing, or used as market places. It may have been all three or some other unknown purpose.
Importantly, there has been a group of these found with the bank and ditch laid out as it is at Stonehenge but supplemented by a ring of pits filled with cremated human remains. This gives weight to the belief that the Windmill Hill people played major parts in the first development of Stonehenge.
This first Stonehenge was thought to probably have been around 3100 BC and was a circular earthwork surrounded by a ditch and possibly with a wooden structure inside. There was also a circle of Aubrey holes 284 feet in diameter.
Archaeologists have found shovels and picks made from the shoulder blades of oxen, wood and the antlers of Red deer on site which they think were used to for the construction work. For unknown reasons on reaching this stage it was then abandoned and not touched for over 1,000 years.
The Neolithic people who inhabited southern Britain, and in particular the Salisbury Plain region at the time were an agrarian based society. Today they are called the ‘Windmill Hill people‘ after the Neolithic causewayed camp found on a site called Windmill Hill.
Existing evidence of these people includes circular hill-top enclosures and long barrows. Objects such as stone axes and arrowheads have been found. It is also known that they mined flints, grew wheat and had domesticated animals such as dogs, sheep, cattle, and pigs.
They are believed to have had some form of tribal hierarchy and organisation and archaeologists think this is evidenced by ‘henge monuments.’ These are embanked circular enclosures similar to the bank at Stonehenge differing only in that the ditches are found on the inside. The purpose of these henges is not known. Many archaeologists think they may have been gathering places for religious purposes, or for governing, or used as market places. It may have been all three or some other unknown purpose.
Importantly, there has been a group of these found with the bank and ditch laid out as it is at Stonehenge but supplemented by a ring of pits filled with cremated human remains. This gives weight to the belief that the Windmill Hill people played major parts in the first development of Stonehenge.
This first Stonehenge was thought to probably have been around 3100 BC and was a circular earthwork surrounded by a ditch and possibly with a wooden structure inside. There was also a circle of Aubrey holes 284 feet in diameter.
Archaeologists have found shovels and picks made from the shoulder blades of oxen, wood and the antlers of Red deer on site which they think were used to for the construction work. For unknown reasons on reaching this stage it was then abandoned and not touched for over 1,000 years.
The Beaker people
Archaeologists thought the Beaker people were invaders from Europe but recent archaeological finds such as the Amesbury Archer lead many experts to think that it was more a spreading of commerce and culture than a war-like invasion. There was known to be movement of people and immigration and the Amesbury Archer has been proven to have originated from a region of the Alps thought to be or near Switzerland.
The Beaker people were present on Salisbury Plain around the end of the Neolithic Period about 2,000 BC. They are named because of their tradition of burying pottery beakers, or cups with the dead. They showed great respect for their dead and buried them in a more personalised way using smaller graves with usually only one, or two family members buried alongside.
Beaker society was ruled by chieftains and was very well organised with people living in a more communal way. They were known to use mathematics and to be able to work metals.
The Beaker folk were thought to worship the sun and they are believed to have re-aligned the stones more accurately to solar events such as the summer and winter solstices. This phase of building Stonehenge is thought to overlap the ending of the Neolithic Age with that of the Bronze as fragments of Beaker pottery were found on levels corresponding to the construction of the double circle of bluestones.
The Wessex people
The third tribe involved with building Stonehenge were the Wessex people. As with the other tribes before them they left little that could reveal their lifestyle. Artefacts have been found in burials which indicate commercial links with central Europe. For example, finds of amber necklaces that may have originated there.
During this era they are seen as one of the most progressive societies outside the Mediterranean area. They were well organised and situated their settlements strategically along ancient ridgeways, roads and crossroads giving them control of trade through much of the southern parts of Britain. Evidence of their part with the development of Stonehenge are the numbers of their graves in the vicinity which experts believe shows their involvement in the construction.
Although many graves have been found in and around Stonehenge there are three that stand out that may contain the remains of people who may have helped build Stonehenge, or had some kind of role to play with it. These are the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer.
The Amesbury Archer
There has been much speculation in the press with the discovery of the burial site of the Amesbury Archer that the ‘King of Stonehenge’ had been found. Many serious archaeologists think this unlikely.
The burial trove of the Amesbury Archer was certainly the richest Bronze Age example found in Britain of its time to date, but that cannot be seen as proof that he was the King of Stonehenge or anywhere else.
The Archer certainly resided near Stonehenge when it was still being built or soon after it was finished. He may have had some kind of managerial role but that cannot be proved and it may be that he chose to stay in the Stonehenge vicinity for other reasons.
Some experts believe Stonehenge may have been a place of healing and it is this that they think is the reason the Archer came to the area. The bluestones used in parts of its construction from Wales were thought to have healing properties which maybe why so much effort was put into bringing them to Stonehenge.
Examination of the Archer’s bones had shown that he had suffered a serious knee injury that had disabled him and must have caused him great pain and suffering. Some archaeologists think this is the reason he was at Stonehenge, but that cannot be proved for definite. It may be he saw Stonehenge as such an important and busy site and a good place to set up his trade. Perhaps there was a demand for artefacts he made.
We will probably never know but what the Archer’s presence at Stonehenge does signify is that for unknown reasons someone with rare and sought after skills had travelled from his land of birth across Europe and across the sea to Stonehenge. The physical condition he was in shows that he must have had very good reason as this was not an easy journey at that time.
Archaeologists thought the Beaker people were invaders from Europe but recent archaeological finds such as the Amesbury Archer lead many experts to think that it was more a spreading of commerce and culture than a war-like invasion. There was known to be movement of people and immigration and the Amesbury Archer has been proven to have originated from a region of the Alps thought to be or near Switzerland.
The Beaker people were present on Salisbury Plain around the end of the Neolithic Period about 2,000 BC. They are named because of their tradition of burying pottery beakers, or cups with the dead. They showed great respect for their dead and buried them in a more personalised way using smaller graves with usually only one, or two family members buried alongside.
Beaker society was ruled by chieftains and was very well organised with people living in a more communal way. They were known to use mathematics and to be able to work metals.
The Beaker folk were thought to worship the sun and they are believed to have re-aligned the stones more accurately to solar events such as the summer and winter solstices. This phase of building Stonehenge is thought to overlap the ending of the Neolithic Age with that of the Bronze as fragments of Beaker pottery were found on levels corresponding to the construction of the double circle of bluestones.
The Wessex people
The third tribe involved with building Stonehenge were the Wessex people. As with the other tribes before them they left little that could reveal their lifestyle. Artefacts have been found in burials which indicate commercial links with central Europe. For example, finds of amber necklaces that may have originated there.
During this era they are seen as one of the most progressive societies outside the Mediterranean area. They were well organised and situated their settlements strategically along ancient ridgeways, roads and crossroads giving them control of trade through much of the southern parts of Britain. Evidence of their part with the development of Stonehenge are the numbers of their graves in the vicinity which experts believe shows their involvement in the construction.
Although many graves have been found in and around Stonehenge there are three that stand out that may contain the remains of people who may have helped build Stonehenge, or had some kind of role to play with it. These are the Amesbury Archer, the Boscombe Bowmen and the Stonehenge Archer.
The Amesbury Archer
There has been much speculation in the press with the discovery of the burial site of the Amesbury Archer that the ‘King of Stonehenge’ had been found. Many serious archaeologists think this unlikely.
The burial trove of the Amesbury Archer was certainly the richest Bronze Age example found in Britain of its time to date, but that cannot be seen as proof that he was the King of Stonehenge or anywhere else.
The Archer certainly resided near Stonehenge when it was still being built or soon after it was finished. He may have had some kind of managerial role but that cannot be proved and it may be that he chose to stay in the Stonehenge vicinity for other reasons.
Some experts believe Stonehenge may have been a place of healing and it is this that they think is the reason the Archer came to the area. The bluestones used in parts of its construction from Wales were thought to have healing properties which maybe why so much effort was put into bringing them to Stonehenge.
Examination of the Archer’s bones had shown that he had suffered a serious knee injury that had disabled him and must have caused him great pain and suffering. Some archaeologists think this is the reason he was at Stonehenge, but that cannot be proved for definite. It may be he saw Stonehenge as such an important and busy site and a good place to set up his trade. Perhaps there was a demand for artefacts he made.
We will probably never know but what the Archer’s presence at Stonehenge does signify is that for unknown reasons someone with rare and sought after skills had travelled from his land of birth across Europe and across the sea to Stonehenge. The physical condition he was in shows that he must have had very good reason as this was not an easy journey at that time.
The Boscombe Bowmen
The discovery of skeletons in a mass grave unearthed by road works gives archaeologists belief that they may have discovered the graves of some of the workers who dragged the bluestones 250 km from the Preseli Hills in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Stonehenge. The burial was found at Boscombe Down near Stonehenge.
The skeletons date back to the Bronze Age and analysis of their tooth enamel shows that they were almost certainly born in an area of Wales close to the Preseli Hills where the bluestones originated. Archaeologists believe that the mass grave possibly contains the remains of one of the families who helped with the transporting of the bluestones from the Preseli Hills to Stonehenge.
It is considered rare to find a mass grave from this period and most finds had only one or two bodies. The grave contained the remains of seven people in total. There were three men, a teenage male, and three children. Similarities in the shape of their skulls lead experts to think that they possibly belonged to the same family.
Many archaeologists think that it would be too great a coincidence to find the remains of men who originated from the same place in Wales as the bluestones without them having played some part in their transportation from Wales to Stonehenge.
In a press release Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: ‘In medieval times, people believed that the stones could only have been brought to Stonehenge by Merlin the Wizard. For the first time we have found the mortal remains of one of the families who were almost certainly involved in this monumental task.’
Other experts have argued that the bluestones were moved from Wales by glaciers and simply left nearby when the ice receded. However there has been no evidence found that glaciations could have occurred in Wessex leaving no other evidence than the bluestones.
According to Dr Fitzpatrick: ‘The Boscombe Bowmen, a band of brothers, must almost certainly be linked with the bringing of the bluestones to Stonehenge.’
Whether they were dragged, rolled, came by water or other means we may now have evidence of human involvement in the delivery of the bluestones from Wales to Stonehenge, putting a human face to a monstrous task.
The Boscombe Bowmen who lived and died around the same time as the Amesbury Archer may be the best candidates found so far for people who actual worked on the building of Stonehenge or contributed towards it, although there is another candidate who was found in 1978 by Richard Atkinson and John G. Evans.
The discovery of skeletons in a mass grave unearthed by road works gives archaeologists belief that they may have discovered the graves of some of the workers who dragged the bluestones 250 km from the Preseli Hills in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Stonehenge. The burial was found at Boscombe Down near Stonehenge.
The skeletons date back to the Bronze Age and analysis of their tooth enamel shows that they were almost certainly born in an area of Wales close to the Preseli Hills where the bluestones originated. Archaeologists believe that the mass grave possibly contains the remains of one of the families who helped with the transporting of the bluestones from the Preseli Hills to Stonehenge.
It is considered rare to find a mass grave from this period and most finds had only one or two bodies. The grave contained the remains of seven people in total. There were three men, a teenage male, and three children. Similarities in the shape of their skulls lead experts to think that they possibly belonged to the same family.
Many archaeologists think that it would be too great a coincidence to find the remains of men who originated from the same place in Wales as the bluestones without them having played some part in their transportation from Wales to Stonehenge.
In a press release Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: ‘In medieval times, people believed that the stones could only have been brought to Stonehenge by Merlin the Wizard. For the first time we have found the mortal remains of one of the families who were almost certainly involved in this monumental task.’
Other experts have argued that the bluestones were moved from Wales by glaciers and simply left nearby when the ice receded. However there has been no evidence found that glaciations could have occurred in Wessex leaving no other evidence than the bluestones.
According to Dr Fitzpatrick: ‘The Boscombe Bowmen, a band of brothers, must almost certainly be linked with the bringing of the bluestones to Stonehenge.’
Whether they were dragged, rolled, came by water or other means we may now have evidence of human involvement in the delivery of the bluestones from Wales to Stonehenge, putting a human face to a monstrous task.
The Boscombe Bowmen who lived and died around the same time as the Amesbury Archer may be the best candidates found so far for people who actual worked on the building of Stonehenge or contributed towards it, although there is another candidate who was found in 1978 by Richard Atkinson and John G. Evans.
The Stonehenge Archer
That candidate is called the Stonehenge Archer. His remains were found in the outer ditch of Stonehenge and unusually for burials found there he was not found in a barrow. Instead he appears to have been purposely and diligently been buried in the ditch.
From analysis of his bones he is believed to have been a local man who died when he was about 30 years old. Results from radiocarbon dating indicated his death occurred about 2300 BC which is round about the time of the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen.
He was found with a stone wrist guard such as archers wear to protect their wrists from the recoil of the bow string and several arrow heads. Some of these were found in his bones which may imply he was shot to death with arrows.
Dennis Price puts forward theory writing on ‘The Eternal Idol’ blog that is intriguing. He theorizes that the Stonehenge Archer may have been a sentinel or guard of Stonehenge and may have been involved in guarding the monument rather than building it.
It may have been that the Stonehenge Archer was no more than a security guard such as are stationed in important buildings today to prevent theft and vandalism. He may have been guarding tools or materials during construction, or sacred items used for its true function. Or it may have been something more.
The position of sentinel may have been a special, or sacred position and only achievable by killing the incumbent sentinel. This would place an incumbent sentinel permanently on their guard against their own possible murder.
From his remains the Stonehenge Archer can be determined as having a strong and muscular physique and he would have stood around five feet 10 inches tall. He is thought to have been about 25-35 when he died about 2,300 BC, the time in which Stonehenge was still being built or had just been completed and was functioning in its designated, but still unknown purpose
The Stonehenge workforce
It may well be that when they began the development of Stonehenge the Windmill Hill people knew what they wanted for themselves which may well have been a different function from that of the Beaker people and the Wessex people, both of whom probably had their own ideas of what they wanted Stonehenge to be.
A project the size of Stonehenge would have required many different levels of management, planning, organising and supervising when being built and after construction was finished and it was functioning as it had been planned. The workforce may have comprised of different types labourers and craftsmen.
There may well have been other tasks associated with it such as making and supplying ropes, wooden rollers, or skids. The workforce would have to have been fed and housed and the area may have undergone an economic boom thanks to Stonehenge.
The real mystery of Stonehenge is not so much the building but the people who built it. One can hardly begin to fathom the strength of faith and belief that would fortify them through each mammoth phase of the project.
© 02/12/2013 zteve t evans
That candidate is called the Stonehenge Archer. His remains were found in the outer ditch of Stonehenge and unusually for burials found there he was not found in a barrow. Instead he appears to have been purposely and diligently been buried in the ditch.
From analysis of his bones he is believed to have been a local man who died when he was about 30 years old. Results from radiocarbon dating indicated his death occurred about 2300 BC which is round about the time of the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen.
He was found with a stone wrist guard such as archers wear to protect their wrists from the recoil of the bow string and several arrow heads. Some of these were found in his bones which may imply he was shot to death with arrows.
Dennis Price puts forward theory writing on ‘The Eternal Idol’ blog that is intriguing. He theorizes that the Stonehenge Archer may have been a sentinel or guard of Stonehenge and may have been involved in guarding the monument rather than building it.
It may have been that the Stonehenge Archer was no more than a security guard such as are stationed in important buildings today to prevent theft and vandalism. He may have been guarding tools or materials during construction, or sacred items used for its true function. Or it may have been something more.
The position of sentinel may have been a special, or sacred position and only achievable by killing the incumbent sentinel. This would place an incumbent sentinel permanently on their guard against their own possible murder.
From his remains the Stonehenge Archer can be determined as having a strong and muscular physique and he would have stood around five feet 10 inches tall. He is thought to have been about 25-35 when he died about 2,300 BC, the time in which Stonehenge was still being built or had just been completed and was functioning in its designated, but still unknown purpose
The Stonehenge workforce
It may well be that when they began the development of Stonehenge the Windmill Hill people knew what they wanted for themselves which may well have been a different function from that of the Beaker people and the Wessex people, both of whom probably had their own ideas of what they wanted Stonehenge to be.
A project the size of Stonehenge would have required many different levels of management, planning, organising and supervising when being built and after construction was finished and it was functioning as it had been planned. The workforce may have comprised of different types labourers and craftsmen.
There may well have been other tasks associated with it such as making and supplying ropes, wooden rollers, or skids. The workforce would have to have been fed and housed and the area may have undergone an economic boom thanks to Stonehenge.
The real mystery of Stonehenge is not so much the building but the people who built it. One can hardly begin to fathom the strength of faith and belief that would fortify them through each mammoth phase of the project.
© 02/12/2013 zteve t evans
References and Attributions
Copyright December 2, 2013 zteve t evans
Copyright December 2, 2013 zteve t evans
- Bradshaw Foundation - When was Stonehenge Built?
- Windmill Hill culture From Wikipedia
- the Mystica - The Beaker People
- Smithsonian.com - Mystery Man of Stonehenge
- Stone Pages - Archaeo News - Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins
- The Megalithic Portal
- Wessex archaeology online - Builders of Stonehenge Found
- English Heritage - A story of Stonehenge and its European Connections
- Eternal Idol