Stonehenge Ritual and Sacred Landscape

The area surrounding Stonehenge was a major sacred place, as the map below shows.

Although unimpressive today, Neolithic Durrington Walls was a truly massive henge with a diameter of 500 metres.

Woodhenge, an earlier monument, lies close to Kings Barrow ridge and the post-holes are marked with small concrete pillars.

The Cursus, so named as it seemed to look like a race-course to early archaeologists, was a massive earthworks with commanding views over the Stonehenge landscape. If you did not know it was there, you would easily miss it on the ground now. In the picture to the right, part of the cursus is shown in the immediate foreground. Stonehenge is a bright patch toward the centre of the image here.

Moving closer, along Kings Barrow Ridge, the henge becomes very obvious, and located within a natural bowl. The Avenue passes in front of this view and most likely at special events the whole are would be full of people. Interestingly, there is little or no evidence to show that anyone lived in this area or that feasts, etc., were held. In common with modern practice, maybe the ceremonies were held here but the celebrations elsewhere. (You don't tend to feast in churches now, after all.

Kings Barrow Ridge

This ridge overlooks the large Stonehenge bowl and must have been hugely significant.

This gate is where the Avenue crosses into the ridge.

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