376 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. x. 



ence of some strong religious feeling; and a peculiar 

 value must have been attached to the material, since 

 the stone of the neighbourhood would have satisfied all 

 the purposes of a monument. 



"If Stonehenge," writes Mr. Stevens, "was erected 

 at two distinct periods, the horseshoe and circle of foreign 

 stone (Figs. 143, B D, and 145) probably formed the earlier 

 temple. It may even have been erected elsewhere at 

 some former period, and then transported to Salisbury 

 Plain and again set up. An intrusive and conquering 

 people may have brought these hallowed stones with 

 them, and have added to the impressive appearance of 

 their old temple, in its new situation, by repeating its 

 features on a far larger scale, using local stone for the 

 purpose." The buildings surrounding the shrine of the 

 Kaaba at Mecca, and the Casa Santa at Loreto, are 

 modern examples of ancient shrines encased in later 

 and more magnificent temples. 



The date of both of these temples 1 is indicated by 

 the surrounding tombs. According to Dr. Thurnam, 

 barrows of the Bronze age cluster thickly around Ave- 

 bury, 106 being still to be seen in the sixteen square 

 miles near it ; while round Stonehenge Sir Kichard Colt 

 Hoare counted 300 within twelve square miles, and in the 

 days of Stukeley 128 were visible from a hill close by. 2 



These two great temples of an unknown worship 

 represent the Canterbury Cathedral or Westminster 

 Abbey of the period, while the smaller circles to be 



1 I am unable to accept the views of Mr. Fergusson that these are post- 

 Roman. On this point see Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, c. v. ; British 

 Quarterly Review, Oct. 1872. "The Present Phase of Prehistoric Archae- 

 ology," Edinburgh Review, April 1878, The Age of Bronze. 



2 Arcliceologia, xliii. p. 305. 



