460 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940 



and Z holes lies immediately behind each of the Sarsen uprights of 

 the circle. 



It is known that they were dug after the erection of the uprights in 

 the circle, because in one case the hole has been dug through the 

 incline used in the erection of the upright. But the irregularity of 

 the circles is most striking. They entirely lack the precision of the 

 setting out of the stone circle. The holes are 3 feet deep and between 

 11/^ to 2 feet wide at the bottom. Can they by any chance have been 

 "constructional" and in some way connected with the raising of the 

 lintel stones? At the moment no definite suggestion has been made 

 as to their use. 



THE CIRCLES AND HORSESHOES OF STONEHENGE 



After this review of the earthworks and stones outside the circle, 

 the central monument now claims attention. 



It begins with the outer circle of Trilithons, which are all of the 

 local Sarsen stone already described. Many of the stones have fallen, 

 but a very fair idea of what the circle was like when complete may 

 be obtained by looking at the group of Trilithons standing between 

 the Altar Stone and the Friar's Heel. The original number of the 

 uprights was 30, and the average weight of each would have been 26 

 tons. Nine of these have fallen, and five have disappeared. They 

 were very accurately arranged in a perfect circle at equal distances 

 apart, and stood 13i/^ feet above the ground level. On the top of 

 them was a continuous row of lintel stones, two lintels resting on 

 each upright. These are somewhat smaller than the uprights, averag- 

 ing 101/2 feet in length and weighing rather under 7 tons. 



A feature of these lintel stones, not generally noticed, is that they 

 are not perfectly rectangular blocks, for the inner face has been care- 

 fully dressed to the curve of the circumference of the circle, a work 

 demanding considerable skill. 



This arrangement of lintel stones is most uncommon, and, so far 

 as our knowledge of stone circles in Britain is concerned, is unique. 



But there is yet another feature which calls for comment, and that 

 is the way in which the lintel stones are secured to the uprights by 

 a series of mortise and tenon joints, and to one another by toggle 

 joints. The uprights of the outer circle have each two tenons on 

 their summit, one near each end, and the lintels have corresponding 

 sockets or mortises which fit over them. The dressing of these must 

 have been a delicate matter. The toggle joints on the lintels con- 

 sisted of a groove at one end of the stone and a projection on the 

 other. Colonel Hawley, who had actual experience of lifting and 

 replacing more than one of these lintels, is of opinion that the tops 

 of the uprights were dressed after they were erected. Owing to their 



