Stonehenge: Monument of Death?

Ned Potter reports that Stonehenge Riverside Archaeological Project head, Mike Parker Pearson claims the Stonehenge to be Part of Vast Religious Complex. The archaeologists think that Stones Celebrated Death while the Wood Circle nearby celebrated Life. The 4,500 years old English rock formation would most probably a graveyard.

Parker Pearson and other scientists were excavating the site for the last eight years. Stonehenge was built by Neolithic people in Britain. The archaeologists have discovered evidence of a primitive town two miles away from the circle of Stonehenge.This small township was remarkably large for 2,500 B.C. big enough for more than a thousand people. There were also signs of a second circle made of wood. The two great circles were so close to each other, not far from the river Avon in southern England.

"The two circles have very profound architectural similarities, even if they're made out of different materials," said Julian Thomas of the University of Manchester, who has been working with Parker Pearson.


Parker Pearson thinks that the wooden circle could be a celebration of life and perhaps fertility, while Stonehenge would have been a monument to death or the afterlife. The scientists are of the opinion that the wood and stone structures reflect what materials meant to peoples' lives in those days.

Parkinson said, "Wood is something that doesn't last forever, just as our own lives won't last forever. But stone, that's going to be there for eternity."

Cremated remains of some 240 people have been found in the last 75 years at Stonehenge.