The Age of Stonehenge: A Criterion

Abstract

It has long been understood that if any definite connexion could be proved between Stonehenge and the barrows of admittedly Bronze Age date which surround it, an approximate dating would be possible of Stonehenge itself. The common, first-sight belief that the barrows and the monument represent a necropolis encircling its sanctuary has been opposed on the ground of the irregular grouping and distances of the barrows. It may, however, be suggested in passing that if the Plain was parcelled out among clans or families into territories nearer and further and of varying sizes, and if the known custom obtained of burying the important dead where they had lived, this irregularity is explicable.