254 STONEHENGE AND THE STARS 



and this view is strengthened by the vast number 

 of burials which exist in the immediate vicinity 

 of Stonehenge. Indeed, this part of the Plain may 

 almost be considered to resemble the graveyard 

 which surrounds a country church. 



But if the object was religious, can we go any 

 further and say what was the object of worship ? 

 Sir Arthur Evans, whose opinion on any matter 

 of this kind is worthy of the most careful attention, 

 thinks that the central object of worship in Stone- 

 henge was an oak-tree, " the Celtic image of 

 Zeus " according to Maximus Tyrius. He also is 

 of opinion that the whole edifice is really a kind 

 of enlarged model of the sepulchres of the dead, 

 and is associated, therefore, with the idea of a 

 future life and perhaps with the worship of de- 

 ceased chieftains or relatives. The outer circle of 

 stones is the descendant of the hedge of stones 

 which surrounded the barrow, or was placed just 

 within its outer edge ; the avenue of stones which 

 is imperfect at Stonehenge, but well marked at 

 Avebury and at some other places, represents 

 the underground gallery which in the case of some 

 long barrows, such as those at Uley and West 

 Kennett, leads into the place of sepulture ; whilst 

 the central dolmen, which is wanting at Stone- 

 henge but is present in some other instances, is 

 an actual or perhaps a ritual place of interment. 



Others, and these not all of the present day, 

 have associated Stonehenge and other circles with 

 the worship of the heavenly bodies. One ingenious 

 writer surmised that the Druids had laid out a 

 kind of celestial map on the Wiltshire Downs, in 



