Henge - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

There are three related types of Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

earthwork which are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three types is that they feature a ring bank and ditch but with the ditch inside the bank rather than outside. Because of the defensive impracticalities of an enclosure with an external bank and an internal ditch, henges are not considered to have served a defensive purpose (cf. circular rampart

Circular rampart

A circular rampart is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering....

). The three types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area:

Henge (≥20 m). The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork of the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

period, typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area of 20 m or more diameter. There is typically little if any evidence of occupation in a henge, although they may contain ritual structures such as stone circles, timber circles and coves
Cove (standing stones)
Cove is a term used to describe a tightly concentrated group of large standing stones found in Neolithic and Bronze Age England. Coves are square or rectangular in plan and seem to have served as small enclosures within other henge, stone circle or avenue features. They consist of three or four...

. Henge monument is sometimes used as a synonym for henge. Henges sometimes, but by no means always, featured stone or timber circles, and circle henge is sometimes used to describe these structures. The three largest stone circles in Britain Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...

, the Great Circle at Stanton Drew stone circles
Stanton Drew stone circles
The Stanton Drew stone circles are at just outside the village of Stanton Drew, Somerset. The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 m in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain...

and the Ring of Brodgar
Ring of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...

, are each in a henge. Examples of henges without significant internal monuments are the three henges of Thornborough Henges
Thornborough Henges
The Thornborough Henges is an unusual ancient monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. The complex is located near the village of Thornborough, close to the town of Masham in North Yorkshire, England. The complex includes many large ancient structures...

. Although having given its name to the word henge, Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

is an atypical henge in that the ditch is outside the main earthwork bank.
Mini henge (<20 m). Like an ordinary henge, except the central flat area is less than 20 m in diameter. Hengiform monument and Dorchester henge are sometimes used as synonyms for a mini henge. An example is the Neolithic site at Wormy hillock henge
Wormy Hillock Henge
Wormy hillock henge is a small henge in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument located in the Clashindarroch Forest. It is a low, circular bank in diameter which almost surrounds a wide platform in the centre...

.
Henge enclosure (>300 m). A Neolithic ring earthwork with the ditch inside the bank, with the central flat area having abundant evidence of occupation and being more than 300 m in diameter. Some true henges are as large as this (e.g., Avebury), but lack evidence of domestic occupation. Super henge is sometimes used as a synonym for a henge enclosure. Examples of henge enclosures are Durrington Walls
Durrington Walls
Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. It is 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury...

and Mount Pleasant Henge
Mount Pleasant henge
Mount Pleasant henge is a Neolithic henge enclosure in the English county of Dorset.Rather like other 'superhenge' sites such as Durrington Walls much of the earthworks have been ploughed or weathered away and it was not rediscovered until Stuart Piggott and his wife Peggy Guido visited the area in...

.

Etymology

The word henge is a backformation from Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

, the famous monument in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

. Stonehenge is not a true henge as its ditch runs outside its bank, although there is a small extant external bank as well. The term was first coined in 1932 by Thomas Kendrick

T. D. Kendrick

Sir Thomas Downing Kendrick KCB was a British archaeologist and art historian.Kendrick was born in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham, England, and educated at Charterhouse School and Oriel College, Oxford for a year before World War I, during which he was wounded, and rose to the rank of...

, who later became the Keeper of British Antiquities at the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

Forms

Henges may be classified as follows:

Class I henges have a single entrance created from a gap in the bank;
Class II henges have two entrances, diametrically opposite each other;
Class III henges have four entrances, facing each other in pairs.

Sub groups exist for these when two or three internal ditches are present rather than one. Henges are usually associated with the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and especially with the pottery of this period: Grooved Ware, Impressed Wares (formerly known as Peterborough Ware) and Beakers. Sites such as Stonehenge

Stonehenge

also provide evidence of activity from the later Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

Wessex culture

The Wessex culture is the predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern Britain during the early Bronze Age, originally defined by the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938...

.

Henges often contain evidence of a variety of internal features, including timber or stone circles, pits or burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

s, which may pre- or post-date the henge enclosure. A henge should not be confused with a stone circle within it, as henges and stone circles can exist together or separately. At Arbor Low

Arbor Low

Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. Arbor Low is located in the White Peak zone of the Peak District in Derbyshire . The White Peak is a Carboniferous Limestone plateau lying between approximately 200-400m OD...

in Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, all the stones except one are laid flat and do not seem to have been erected, as no stone holes have been found. Elsewhere, often only the stone holes remain to indicate a former circle.

Some of the finest and best-known henges are at:

Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...

, about 20 miles (32.2 km) N. of Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

on Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...

in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

;
The Ring of Brodgar
Ring of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...

in Orkney;
Thornborough Henges
Thornborough Henges
The Thornborough Henges is an unusual ancient monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. The complex is located near the village of Thornborough, close to the town of Masham in North Yorkshire, England. The complex includes many large ancient structures...

complex in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

;
Knowlton Circles
Knowlton, Dorset
Knowlton is a small area in Dorset, England, UK. Its most recognizable features are a ruined Norman church, built within a neolithic henge monument. This site is maintained by English Heritage....

henge complex in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

;
Maumbury Rings
Maumbury Rings
Maumbury Rings is a Neolithic henge in the south of Dorchester town in Dorset, England. It is a large circular earthwork, 85 metres in diameter, with a single bank and internal ditch and an entrance to the north east. The ditch was created by digging a series of funnel-shaped shafts, each 10...

in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

(later reused as a Roman amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

and then a Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

fort).
Mayburgh Henge
Mayburgh Henge
Mayburgh Henge is a large prehistoric monument in the county of Cumbria in northern England. Mayburgh Henge is just outside the village of Eamont Bridge close to the confluence of the Rivers Eamont and Lowther around 1 mile south of Penrith, just a few hundred yards from the M6 motorway.Mayburgh...

in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

;

Henges sometimes formed part of a ritual landscape or complex with other Neolithic

Neolithic

and Bronze Age

Bronze Age

monuments inside and outside the henge. Earlier monuments associated with a later henge might include Neolithic monuments such as a cursus

Cursus

thumb|right|250px|[[Stonehenge Cursus]], Wiltshirethumb|right|250px|[[Dorset Cursus]] terminal on Thickthorn Down, DorsetCursus was a name given by early British archaeologists such as William Stukeley to the large parallel lengths of banks with external ditches which they thought were early Roman...

(e.g., at Thornborough Henges the central henge overlies the cursus) or a long barrow such as the West Kennet Long Barrow

West Kennet Long Barrow

The West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge, near Silbury Hill, one-and-a-half miles south of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. The site was recorded by John Aubrey in the 17th century and by William Stukeley in the 18th century.Archaeologists...

at Avebury, Wiltshire, or even, as in the case of Stonehenge, Mesolithic

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....

post holes. Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age cairns as at Arbor Low

Arbor Low

. Examples of such ritual landscapes are:

Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by nearly , rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listings in 1986....

, the UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.
Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Heart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of Neolithic monuments found on the Mainland, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in 1999....

, the UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Mainland
Mainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...

, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

;
Balfarg
Balfarg
Balfarg is a prehistoric monument complex in Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland .The Balfarg henge is part of a larger prehistoric ceremonial complex...

in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

;
Dunragit archaeological excavation site in Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown is a registration county in the Southern Uplands of south west Scotland. Until 1975, the county was one of the administrative counties used for local government purposes, and is now administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway...

;
already mentioned: Thornborough Henges
Thornborough Henges
The Thornborough Henges is an unusual ancient monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. The complex is located near the village of Thornborough, close to the town of Masham in North Yorkshire, England. The complex includes many large ancient structures...

, Knowlton Circles
Knowlton, Dorset
Knowlton is a small area in Dorset, England, UK. Its most recognizable features are a ruined Norman church, built within a neolithic henge monument. This site is maintained by English Heritage....

, Stanton Drew stone circles
Stanton Drew stone circles
The Stanton Drew stone circles are at just outside the village of Stanton Drew, Somerset. The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 m in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain...

, Arbor Low
Arbor Low
Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. Arbor Low is located in the White Peak zone of the Peak District in Derbyshire . The White Peak is a Carboniferous Limestone plateau lying between approximately 200-400m OD...

;

Burials have been recorded at a number of excavated henges, both pre-dating the henge and as a result of secondary reuse. At Avebury, at least two very disturbed inhumations were found in the central area. At King Arthur's Round Table, Cumbria

King Arthur's Round Table, Cumbria

King Arthur's Round Table is a Neolithic henge in the village of Eamont Bridge within the English county of Cumbria, around 2 km south east of Penrith. The site is free to visitors and is under the control of English Heritage....

, a cremation trench lay within the monument. At Woodhenge

Woodhenge

Woodhenge is a Neolithic Class I henge and timber circle monument located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. It is north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury.-Discovery:...

, a central burial of a child was interpreted by its excavators as a dedicatory offering. Phosphate surveys at Maxey henge suggested that burials may also have been present within this monument. Cairnpapple and North Mains

North Mains

North Mains is a henge in Strathearn on Strathallan Estate between Crieff and Auchterarder in Perthshire, Scotland . It was excavated in 1979 and the final report was published in 1983....

both had burials before the henge, as well as after.

Origin and distribution

Efforts to provide a direct lineage for the henge from earlier enclosures have not been conclusive. Their chronological overlap with older structures makes it difficult to classify them as a coherent tradition. They seem to take the concept of creating a space separate from the outside world one step further than the causewayed enclosure, and they focus attention on an internal point. In some cases, the construction of the bank and ditch was a stage that followed other activity on the site. At Balfarg

Balfarg

Balfarg is a prehistoric monument complex in Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland .The Balfarg henge is part of a larger prehistoric ceremonial complex...

, North Mains

North Mains

North Mains is a henge in Strathearn on Strathallan Estate between Crieff and Auchterarder in Perthshire, Scotland . It was excavated in 1979 and the final report was published in 1983....

and Cairnpapple, for example, earlier cremation

Cremation

Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

s and deliberate smashing of pottery predate the enclosure.

Concentrations of henges occur over much of Britain. Orkney (Cunliffe 2001) and Wessex

Wessex

The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...

(Burl 1969) have both been suggested as the original provenance

Provenance

Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...

of the monument type; however, others remain unconvinced (Barclay 2005). Unlike earlier enclosure monuments, henges were not usually built on hilltops but on low-lying ground, often close to watercourses and good agricultural land.

Some scholars, such as the editors of the 1982 edition of the Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology (Bray and Trump, 1982), have claimed that henges are unique to the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

. They state that similar, much earlier, circles on the Continent, such as Goseck circle

Goseck circle

The Goseck circle is a Neolithic structure in Goseck in the Burgenlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It consists of a set of concentric ditches 75 metres across and two palisade rings containing gates in defined places. It is considered the earliest sun observatory currently known in...

(which has no bank in any case), and later ones such as Goloring

Goloring

The Goloring is an ancient earthworks monument located near Koblenz, Germany. It was created in the Bronze Age era, which dates back to the Urnfield culture . During this time a widespread solar cult is believed to have existed in Central Europe....

are not proper "henges". But The Penguin Archaeological Guide (Bahn, 2001) does not comment on geographical locations for henges.

Julian Cope

Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...

's book The Megalithic European proposes that the henge was a regional development from the Europe-wide causewayed enclosure

Causewayed enclosure

A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. More than 100 examples are recorded in France and 70 in England, while further sites are known in Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Slovakia.The term "causewayed enclosure" is...

. He notes it appeared following a cultural upheaval in around 3000 BC, which inspired the peoples of Neolithic Europe to develop more independently. He notes the 'rondel enclosure

Rondel enclosure

A rondel or roundel enclosure is a type of circular prehistoric earthworks enclosure found in Europe. Since being discovered in the 19th century, three types have been distinguished. One type consists of two semicircular ditches forming a circle and separated by causeways at opposing entrances...

s' of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

's Isar Valley, which according to investigations by the German archaeologist R. A. Maier, "drew comparisons with the henge monuments and causewayed enclosures of the British Isles." Although still with a multiple-causewayed ditch and entrances at cardinal points, the roundels are described by John Hodgson (2003) as not being positioned with defensive aims in mind. The largest, at Kothingeichendorf, appeared to be "midway between a henge and a causewayed enclosure".

Alasdair Whittle

Alasdair Whittle

Alasdair W. R. Whittle FLSW FBA is Distinguished Research Professor in Archaeology at Cardiff University, specialising in the Neolithic period.He is also a Founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.- Publications :...

(2005) also views the development of the henge as a regional variation within a European tradition that included a variety of ditched enclosures. He notes that henges and the grooved ware

Grooved ware

Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have developed in Orkney, early in the 3rd millennium BC, but...

pottery often found at them are two examples of the British Neolithic not found on the Continent. Caroline Malone

Caroline Malone

Caroline Malone is a British academic and archaeologist currently Director of Education and Reader in Prehistoric Archaeology at Queen's University, Belfast School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/gap/, and formerly Senior Tutor of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, UK...

(2001) also states that henges did not occur in the rest of Western Europe, but they developed from a broader tradition of enclosure to become "a phenomenon of the British Isles, a native tradition with sophisticated architecture and calendrical functions."

Interpretation

Henges may have been used for ritual

Ritual

A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....

s or astronomical observation

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

rather than day-to-day activity. That their ditches are located inside their banks indicates that they were not used for defence, and that the barrier of the earthworks was more likely symbolic than functional. Following arguments presented for Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

enclosures, Barclay suggested that they are 'defensive': that the ditch and bank face something 'dangerous' inside the enclosure. He has also suggested that the considerable range of things surrounded by the earthworks, and the very long date range, are because henges were designed mainly to enclose pre-existing ceremonial sites that were seen as 'ritually charged' and therefore dangerous to people. It has been conjectured that whatever took place inside the enclosures was intended to be separate from the outside world and perhaps known only to select individuals or groups.

The alignment of henges is a contentious issue. Popular belief is that their entrances point towards certain heavenly bodies. But henge orientation is highly variable and may have been more determined by local topology than by desire for symbolic orientation. Statistical analysis showed that Class I henges have a slight tendency to have an entrance set in the north or north-east quarter. Class II henges generally have their axes aligned approximately south-east to north-west or north-east to south-west.

It has been suggested that the stone and timber structures sometimes built inside henges were used as solar declinometers to measure the position of the rising or setting sun. These structures by no means appear in all henges and often considerably post-date the henges. Thus they are not necessarily connected with the henge's original function. It has been conjectured that they could have been used to synchronize a calendar to the solar cycle for purposes of planting crops or timing religious rituals. Some henges have poles, stones or entrances that indicate the position of the rising or setting sun during the equinox

Equinox

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...

es and solstice

Solstice

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...

s, while others appear to frame certain constellations. Additionally, many are placed so that nearby hills either mark or do not interfere with such observations. Finally, some henges appear to be placed at particular latitudes. For example, a number are placed at a latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

of 55 degrees north, where the same two markers can indicate the rising and setting sun for both the spring and autumn equinoxes. But as henges are present from the extreme north to the extreme south of Britain, their latitude could not have been of great importance.

Formalisation is commonly attributed to henges; indications of the builders' concerns in controlling the arrival at, entrance to, and movement within the enclosures. This was achieved through placing flanking stones or avenues

Avenue (archaeology)

British Archaeologists refine the general archaeological use of avenue to denote a long, parallel-sided strip of land, measuring up to about 30m in width, open at either end and with edges marked by stone or timber alignments and/or a low earth bank and ditch...

at entrances of some henges, or by dividing up the internal space using timber circle

Timber circle

In archaeology, timber circles are circular arrangements of wooden posts interpreted as being either complexes of freestanding totem poles or as the supports for large circular buildings-British Isles:...

s. While some were the first monuments to be built in their areas, others were added to already important landscapes, especially the larger examples.

The concentric nature of many of the internal features, such as the five rings of postholes at Balfarg or the six at Woodhenge, may represent a finer distinction than the inside-out differences suggested by henge earthworks. The ordering of space and the circular movement suggested by the sometimes densely-packed internal features indicates a sophisticated degree of spatial understanding.

Mini henge

Mini henges are distributed throughout England and mainland Scotland (with examples as far north as Caithness), though no examples have been found in Wales. Pits, cremations

Cremation

Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

, postholes, stone-sockets and graves have been found within them, and postholes and cremation pits have also been found to be present close to the site in some cases. They typically have either one entrance or two opposing entrances. In plan, a mini henge can be mistaken for a ploughed-out round barrow

Round barrow

Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....

, although the former tend to be slightly larger and their earthworks more substantial. As with ordinary henges, they are thought to have served ritual purposes and are thought to be of late Neolithic date.

Henge enclosure

Henge enclosures often contain or lie close to one or more ordinary henges. Finds of animal bone, grooved ware

Grooved ware

pottery and evidence of dwellings have been found and coupled with the time and energy needed to build them, it is considered that they must have been important social centres analogous to tribal capitals. Two or four evenly spaced entrances lead through the earthwork to the centre.

External links

English Heritage website: "henge" defined
Henge search results from The Megalithic Portal
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com
http://henges.no.sapo.pt New Henge Theory - Engineering in Prehistory
Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Structures
Henge monuments at Digital Digging

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