Secrets of the Avebury Stones: Britain's Greatest Megalithic Temple (Paperback)

As with his previous books the subject of sexual symbolism is an important theme. Male and female stones, earth mother and sky father, specially chosen stones with triangular and cleft shapes. Again he takes a not-quite-new theory touched upon by other authors and explores it in his well-researched and relatively level headed style.

So the 'secret' is that there are dozens of faces in the stones, created by taking advantage of natural irregularities in stone and in some cases augmented by subtle carving. Most represent left facing human profiles, although Meaden also provides photographs of a convincing sheep's head inside West Kennet Long Barrow, and several more stones that show parallels with the Yoni symbolism of the Hindu/Tantric religion, namely having deep slits on display.

Some faces and heads are inescapable, but many rely on shadows at a particular angle to show them clearly. Meaden counters the obvious 'staring at ink blots' criticism by claiming that 50 profiles are left facing, and only nine face to the right. Others can only test whether he has found more left than right through the phenomenon of seeing what one expects to see. I would liked to have seen some evidence that any of these features had been augmented by carving; surely there must be clues to be found in the surface of the stones? I would be more convinced by some independently taken or previously published photographs of the stones showing faces visible. I find the female symbolism in the stones presented more engaging than the faces, perhaps the greater level of abstraction helps.

Terence Meaden gave members of the Stones Mailing List a guided tour of Avebury on the 7th August 1999, just before the solar eclipse ...

Meaden, who lives not far away in Bradford on Avon has a close personal connection to Avebury, and has put a huge amount of work into this book. Whilst not especially long at 150 pages, his style is succinct and to the point. It is a welcome change that he does not spend half a book re-hashing old ground, and overlapping with the contents of his other books, like some writers in this field I could mention. He lays out the background and history in a few paragraphs and then gets stuck in. He gives a nod to the other authors who have studied Avebury: Drs Burl and Isobel Smith (who wrote up Keiller and Piggot's excavations), Paul Devereux, Michael Dames, and as if to mark a patch of territory he makes a point of correcting one of Burl's observations.

Some of the material, such as the reconstruction of the tall obelisk stone and the shadow it cast is an extension of the Yorkshire TV documentary "Secrets of Stonehenge", first shown on Channel 4 and the Discovery channel in New Year 1999. It seems odd that the book wasn't released in time to tie in with the repeat and the general solstice furore in June.

The most interesting part of the book for me is where Terence brings together information about the obscure sites in the vicinity of Avebury that has previously been scattered amongst various archaeological sources, or found by his own extensive study of the area. As someone who has tracked down some of these sites with Megalith Map co-author Alastair McIvor, including staring incredulously at a square patch of scrub in the corner of a field (The Broadstones stone circle), this is fascinating. It shows how many sites are out there to be found, even in this well-explored area of the country. The book also sadly illustrates just how many stones have been damaged and destroyed in the last thirty years, and it appears stones are still being removed from this World Heritage site.

Stone circle completists will be pleased to see details of a site Meaden has re-discovered on Harestone Down. Archaeologist Michael Pitts visited the site, and has an open mind, saying that an excavation will be the only way to resolve the question. He challenges Channel 4 TV's Time Team to explore the site, a sentiment I can only echo here.

A simple factor in favour of this book is how much publishing technology has moved on since the Avebury books of the 1970s. The quantity and quality of the photographic reproductions is worth £12.99 in itself to stones lovers.

So whilst I'm still a little sceptical on the quantity of faces presented, Meaden must be applauded for the fresh challenges he presents. 'Secrets of the Avebury Stones' follows the spirit, if not the style or eccentricity of 'The Modern Antiquarian' - there are eight figure grid references for many stones, and precise dates and times of the images. This will give hours of amusement for some in tracking down and identifying the faces and obscure stones featured.

Meaden's arguments are convincing enough to open a new avenue in the study of Neolithic carving in Britain and I'm sure even the sceptical who visit Avebury having read this book will see the stones there in a new light, if only to take a second look, tilt their head, and think 'that looks nothing like a head...but hang on a minute, perhaps...'

Review by Andy Burnham

His thesis is that the stone monuments at Avebury are the symbols of an intense Neolithic fertility cult. The shapes of the stones, their various surface irregularities and their "orientation" all represent devotion to a goddess cult. Filled with speculation, vivid photographs, even more vividly interpreted, the book is a testament to what imagination can produce. Meaden states that "left-facing" stones represent Neolithic "femininity," while the "right-facing" ones are "male." There are breasts, vulvas, various orifices, phallic stones and their shadows. It's a provocative parade of lithic seduction. Evidence for his interpretations relies on his own, earlier, work. No other supportive material is provided - except for his portfolio of carefully situated photographs.

While the maps and diagrams are useful, the photographs belie Meaden's attempts to show us something any geologist can explain. The profile of the human face is not a complex shape. A long curve, broken only by a couple of protrusions - the eyebrow, nose and lips. In stone profiles, the chin is nearly universally absent. A face of rock, irregular to start with, is subject to many forms of weathering. A little water, winter-frozen in a cleft, breaks off, leaving a recess with outcrops above and below. Voila! We now have the eyebrow and nose of a "face" seen from the side. Usually, the form can be detected only during certain times of the day when the shadows are longer, leaving the shapes more distinct. Meaden's collection of photographs beautifully depict how this erosion is revealed.

One should always be cautious opening a book with the words "the secrets" in the title. The implication is almost always that the author has made a revolutionary discovery the rest of us dullards have not. This book is an excellent example. While it would be delightful to learn someone has truly revealed a major aspect of Neolithic society, that breakthrough hasn't been achieved here. Perhaps this book stands as a major contribution to the idea of Neolithic "political correctness." It is certainly not a work of scholarship. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

The author's enthusiasm and understanding keep shining through the pages; enough to impress critics such as Ludovic Kennedy. If you've ever been curious about standing stones, this book will answer a lot of your questions. But, in the tradition of good reference books,it will encourage you to think of a few more.