April i, 1922] 



NA TURE 



41 I 



Colt Hoare opened the northern mound (No. 94), 

 and in it found " a simple interment of burned 

 bones." He also opened the southern mound (No. 92) , 

 " but found nothing in it " (" Ancient Wilts, i. pp. 

 144 and 145). 



From the fact that a cremated interment has been 

 found in mound No. 94 it has been assumed that 

 both the mounds are barrows, and that they are 

 moreover of the same period as the Round Barrows 

 in the neighbourhood. On this assumption it is 

 concluded that Stonehenge was constructed during 

 the Bronze AgB period or perhaps later. The argu- 

 ments for this conclusion may be briefly summarised 

 as follows : — 



(a) In mound No. 94 was found a cremated inter- 

 ment. 



' ' The stones were certainly not standing when 

 Round Barrows were first erected on Salisbury 

 Plain ; for one is contained within the vallum, 

 which, moreover, encroaches on another " 

 (" Ancient Britain," p. 476). 

 It will be observed that the whole of this argument 

 is based on the assumption that mound No. 94 is 

 really a Bronze Age Barrow. The mere fact that in 

 it was found a cremated interment is, however, in- 

 conclusive, as we know that the Round Barrow people 

 had a cuckoo-like habit of depositing a cremation 

 in an existing hole or position originally intended for 

 some other purpose. Col. Hawley's recent discoveries 

 in connection with the " Aubrey Holes " furnish 

 examples of this practice. 



On Colt Hoare's plan the positions of the two 

 stones and of the two mounds are not correctly 



Ho. 92 



MOUN 



The two stones and the two mounds 

 are symmetrically placed with reference 

 to each other and to the main axis of the 

 structure. Their centres are moreover 

 all on the same radius, and their centre 

 lines make an angle with each other cf 

 45 degrees. 



Fig. I.— Plan of Stonehenge. Scale— 120 feet to i inch. 



The two mounds are therefore barrows, and are 

 of Bronze Age date, 

 {b) As barrows they would originally have been 

 isolated constructions of circular bowl -shaped 

 form. This [supposed] original form has been 

 partly infringed upon by the bank of the main 

 surrounding earthwork. 



The circular earthwork surrounding Stonehenge 

 is therefore of later date than the mounds, and is 

 therefore also of later date than the neighbouring 

 Round Barrows. 

 it] The Stonehenge stone structure was erected 

 after the surrounding earthwork. 



Stonehenge is therefore of later date than the 

 neighbouring Round Barrows, and was probably 

 constructed near the end of the Bronze Age or per- 

 haps later. 

 By some archaeologists this. argument is considered 

 absolutely conclusive. Rice Holmes, for example, 

 remarks : 



NO. 2735, VOL. 109] 



shown, and from that plan it would not appear that 

 they had any particular relation to each other or to 

 the general scheme of Stonehenge. 



But if the carefully made measurements by Flinders 

 Petrie be correctly plotted to a large scale some very 

 significant facts concerning these Four Stations at 

 once becoijje apparent, e.g. : — 



{a) The four positions (Nos. 91, 93, 92, 94) are 

 absolutely symmetrical in reference to each other 

 and to the general plan of Stonehenge. 

 (6) They are all four on the same circle, i.e. their 

 centres are all at the same distance from the 

 centre of the structure. 



(c) If a line be drawn through the centres of the 

 two stones (91 and 93), and another line be 

 drawn through the centres of the two mounds 

 (92 and 94), these lines will intersect at the 

 centre of Stonehenge. 



(d) The two lines drawn as specified under (c) are 

 at an angle of 45° (or an eighth of a circle) with 



