!■ i-.iii<iiAK'\ 9, 1905] 



NATURE 



345 



NOTKS ON STONE HENGE.^ 



II.-- ARClliliOI.OCK AL OlihliRVATIONS AT StONEHRNOE, 

 I90I. 



COON afler Mr. I'(;nros(; and mysflf had made our 

 '^ astronomical survey of Stonehcnf,'e in 1901, some 

 Mrc Ii.xological rcsulls of the highesl iinporlaiice were 

 (.hl.rnicd by I'rof.' (Jowland. The oprralions which 

 si( lucd Ihcm were dcsif^ned and carried out in order 

 to rc-crect the k-.-min^f stone which llircalciicd to fall, 

 a piece of work re(omnionded to Sir luluuuid Anirobus 

 by the Society oi Ajiliquaries and ollur le.irjud bodies, 

 and conducted at his desire and expi-nse. 



They were ne(i",s;irily on a large scale, for the great 

 iiKMuililh, " the le.Tninjr stone," is the largest in Eng- 

 I.Mid, Cleopalra's Needle excepted. It slood behind 

 the altar stone, over which it leant at an angle of 

 ''.i degrees, resting at one point against .1 small 

 sione of syenili-. Half-way up it had a fracture one- 

 ihird across il ; llw wei}fht of stone above this frac- 



The method employed by Prof. Gowland in the 

 excavation should be a model for all future work of 

 the kind. I have to express my tli.inks to the council 

 of th(! Society of Antiquaries and Prof. Gowland for 

 pifrmission to use the accompanying illustrations show- 

 ing the operations and results. 



Above each space lo be excavated was placed a 

 frame of wood, bearing on i(s long sides the letters 

 A lo li, and on its short sides the letters R M L, each 

 lefter being on a line one foot distant from the next. 

 Uy this means the area to be excavated was divided 

 into squares, each having the dimension of a square 

 f<K)t. A long rod divided into 6-inch spacis, num- 

 bered from I (o 16, was also provided for indicating 

 the depth from the dalinn line of anything found. 

 In this way a letter on the long sides of the frames, 

 (i)gelher wilh one on the short sides, and a number 

 on the verlical rod, ijidiratcd the fjosition of any 

 iihjert found in any p.'irt of the excavation. 



ture was a dangerous strain on it, so that both 

 powerful machinery and great care and precautions 

 had to be used. I'rof. Gowland was charged by 

 the Society of Antiquaries with the conduct of the 

 excavations necessary in the work. The engineering 

 operations were planned by Mr. Carruthers, and 

 Mr. Detmar Blow was responsible for the local super- 

 intendence. Mr. Hlow thus describes the arrange- 

 ments (Journal Insiitute of British Architects, 3rd 

 scries, ix., January, 1902) : — 



" A strong cradle of 12-inch square baulks of timber 

 was bolted round the stone, with packing and felt, to 

 prevent any marking of the stone. To the cradle were 

 fixed two i-inch steel eyebolts to receive the blocks 

 for two six-folds of 6-inch ropes. These were secured 

 and wound on to two strong winches fifty feet away, 

 with four men at each winch. When the ropes were 

 (horoughly tight, the first excavation was made as 

 I he stone was raised on its west side." 



' Conlinijcd from p. 300. 



NO. 1 84 1, VOL. 7l'| 



Excavations were necessary because to secure the 

 stone for the future the whole of the adjacent soil 

 had to be removed down to the rock level, so that it 

 could be replaced by concrete. 



All results were registered by Prof. Gowland in rela- 

 tion lo a datum line 3374 feet above sea level. The 

 material was removed in buckets, and carefully sifted 

 through a series of sieves i-inch, J-inch, i-inch, and 

 J-inch mesh, in order that the smallest object might 

 not be overlooked. 



From the exhaustive account of his work given by 

 Prof. Gowland to the Society of Antiquaries (Archaeo- 

 logia, Iviii.), I gather three results of llie highest 

 importance from the point of view I am considering. 

 These were, first, the finding of an enormous number 

 of implements; secondly, the disposition and relative 

 quantities of the chippings of the sarsen and blue 

 stones; and thirdly, the discovery of the method by 

 which the stones were originally erected. 



I will take the implements first. This, in a con- 



