248 STONEHENGE AND THE STARS 



stones of the outer circle and the lintel thereof 

 fell to the ground, and this fact coupled with the 

 obviously insecure condition of some of the other 

 stones and the recent formation of a great military 

 camp in the immediate vicinity of the monument 

 led to steps being taken to secure Stonehenge from 

 further damage and to make good that which had 

 recently occurred. The work was carried out under 

 the immediate direction of Professor Gowland, 

 than whom no more competent person could 

 possibly have been found, and the results which 

 have been obtained from the necessary excava- 

 tions have certainly thrown much light upon the 

 period when these stones were set up. Before 

 mentioning what these are, it may be well, for the 

 sake of those unfamiliar with the subject, to call 

 attention to two points peculiar to this monument. 

 In the first place, then, whilst it resembles in 

 certain respects other and smaller circles in differ- 

 ent parts of the island, it differs from all of them in 

 the fact that its stones have been shaped whilst all 

 the others are constructed with rough, undressed 

 pillars. Moreover, the lintels which surmount the 

 trilithons, which may roughly be described as a 

 species of stone doorways, are not merely laid on 

 the tops of the stones which support them, but 

 are fitted thereto by means of a kind of mortice 

 and tenon joint, for on the top of each upright 

 there is a stone peg which fits or fitted into a 

 corresponding recess on the under surface of the 

 lintel. This superior workmanship has always been 

 held to have been a proof that Stonehenge was 

 later in erection than the other monuments of a 



