1922] WEST, STONEHENGE 145 



are flat on the other. This class of tool, shown in figure 85, was used 

 in dressing the stones at Stonehenge. 



A small copper stain found, seven feet below the surface of tht 

 ground, on one of the stones, is the only evidence that bronze may have 

 been known to its builders. Of course, the use of bronze was not nec- 

 essary in its construction, but if built during the bronze age, it is reason- 

 able to suppose that some ornament, implement or weapon would have 

 been lost there. Excavations have been made in and about these ruins 

 to a considerable extent, and are being carried on in a scientific manner 

 at the present time, but no bronze has thus far been discovered. Time 

 and future excavations may, however, solve the problem. 



Stone implements to the number of one hundred and fifteen have 

 been found. Picks of stag horn, such as that shown in figure 86, used 

 in digging trenches and holes in the chalk rock in which to set the up- 

 right stones, are frequently recovered. Six .or eight coins, ranging 

 from Roman to recent times, have been unearthed near the surface, 



Fig. 86. — Stag-horn pick used in digging trenches and 

 holes in the chalk rock in which to set the upright stones 

 of Stonehenge. Drawing by the author. 



none deeper than ten inches. All of the one hundred and fifteen stone 

 implements "were found scattered through the excavations at all depths, 

 and even under the foundations of one of the foreign stones." 



THE ANTIQUITY OF STONEHENGE 



The generally accepted theory is that Stonehenge was a solar tem- 

 ple. By the careful observations of eminent astronomers, by means of 

 the "Hele Stone," its two associates and the so-called "Altar Stone," 

 it has been determined that the structure at this time is 3602 years old. 

 This result was arrived at by means of the shift of the sun, it being 

 found that the sun has, so to speak, moved about tw,o diameters since 

 the planting of these stones. 



The late Sir John Evans stated that the Bronze Age in England 

 might be set at 1400 B. C. Other authorities set this age in Europe at 

 2000 B. C. As the flow of civilization was from east to west, it can 



