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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting perspective, 5 Nov 2009
What's genuinely surprising about this book is the fact that no-one has tackled the subject in any great depth before. Brian John makes such a convincing point and stacks up so much evidence that it makes you wonder why the `bluestone myth' hasn't received a book of its own in the past. That's where this book genuinely stands out, and anyone who has even a humble selection of books on Britain's most famous monument would do well to have a copy of this too.
John's book is broadly focussed on two issues; debunking the human transport theory, and laying out the evidence of glacial transport. The sections on human transport are important because not many books actually tackle the issues with moving these stones such long distances, usually just mentioning it and speculating how it might have been done instead. John really makes you think about how difficult it is to move large chunks of stone several hundred miles across pre tarmac terrain, Added to this, he brings to bear a great deal of geological information that backs up glaciation. The analysis of the actual rock types that make up the Stonehenge Bluestones and their most likely actual origins in South Wales is likely to be a revelation for many. It is again important because so few other books tackle the real identity of the bluestones in any depth and usually just single out one location in Preseli. Add to this the evidence of glaciation south of the Bristol Channel and John starts to stack up a great deal of information that does seriously make you question the likelihood of anything other than natural processes moving the stones into modern day England.
The book might have benefited from a bit more detail on glaciers in general, which would have made the understanding of evidence easier for the non-geologist. A good map of the myriad of place names in Wales would be a bonus too. The book can also feel a bit like an academic paper sometimes and occasionally feels a little bit ranty, especially when John tackles the human transport theory and what he sees as the myths that have grown up around it. Growing from this, John's descriptions of ancient man also come across as a little too cynical at times. While many archaeologists are demonstrating an ancient world far more advanced than we previously give credit for, John seems determined not to give any room for leniency or speculation. For instance, when seeking to discredit the notion that ancient man would have had a desire to source stones from Wales, you get the sense that he is of the opinion that there were no cultural links between Wales and Salisbury Plain at all, even though there is now plenty of evidence of trade and travel across much of Europe. Rather than leaving you to decide how fanciful the human transport theory is, John seems determined to banish any notion of its possibility. He might also occasionally be accused of making some sweeping statements as bad as the ones he is criticising archaeologists for.
Aside from occasionally knocking ancient man, John tends to stick to the geological world he is more familiar with, and doesn't go off at a tangent about what this means for Stonehenge. This is fair enough, but if John is right (and he makes a good case) then this work could lead to some serious re-appraisal of what the monument is all about. Can't wait for a second edition.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Rehash of Tired old Theory, 28 Oct 2009
Ever since Dr Thomas identified the Stonehenge bluestones as coming from Preseli in South Wales in 1923, reiterated by Atkinson in the 1950's and confirmed by recent studies (Ixer) as the established geological provenance of the majority of the spotted dolerites, the method of transportation from source to monument has been disputed.
The author speculates that a long, narrow erratic glacial train from the Irish Sea moving over Preseli would have travelled along the Bristol Channel, crossing the English coast and depositing a string of bluestones at Glastonbury that may have been collected by tribal groups who built the first phases of Stonehenge. Aubrey Burl, amongst others, has referred to the theory of human transportation of the bluestones from Preseli as nothing more than a "fairy tale" as the location of stone circles is governed by the availability of suitable rock; arguing that nowhere else has man transported rock over great distances to erect megalithic monuments. Glastonbury is 45 miles from Stonehenge, so on this reasoning why was the monument not built at Glastonbury or even the stone circle at Stanton Drew in Somerset built of bluestone?
The author's experience of moving bluestones seems to be based on the failed Millennium Stone Project in which it was planned to transport a single block of 3 tonne bluestone from near Mynachlogddu (the closest village to Carn Meini) in Pembrokeshire, to Stonehenge, using the techniques on land and over water that might have been familiar to Neolithic tribal groups, apparently based on the ealier suggestions of Richard Atkinson. However, the author seems to have overlooked the successful movement of massive megaliths around the world; The Sun Temple at Ollantaytambo, Peru, (2,792 metres above sea level) was constructed with six enormous stone blocks of pink granite, weighing about 90 tons each. The stone quarry has been located at Kachiqhata, about 4 km (2.5 miles) away but is the other side of a deep ravine across the Urubamba River. At Puma Puncu (Tiwanaku), Bolivia, buildings were made of stone slabs weighing up to 400 tons. There are many instances around the world of movement of large stone blocks and the daddy of them all a 1000 ton megalith at Baalbeck. Nearer home we find the massive Le Grand Menhir Brisé in Brittany reaching 20.3m in length and estimated to weigh 280 tons. This massive stone was also known as "Men er Hroeg" - the fairy's stone, fairy tales indeed Mr John! No one knows how they moved these stones - but they did!
Moving the Stonehenge sarsens, the largest the Great Trilithon stones estimated at 50 tons, 25 miles from the Marlborough Downs was a significant achievement in its own, therefore moving 4 ton bluestones 160 miles by human effort from South Wales to Sailisbury Plain seems plausible.
The author argues that the total number of rock types found amongst the bluestones is significant evidence of glacial deposits, with debate continuing for the location of the exact quarry sites which he sees as the basic flaw in the argument for human movement of the bluestones. Anyone familiar with the Preseli mountains will be aware that there is ample loose bluestone and would therefore not need to be quarried but simply collected. The bluestone constructions at Stonehenge were built and rebuilt possibly five times over a 400 year period. We do not know if all the bluestones were brought at the same time or not. It is quite conceivable that different working parties, possibly generations apart, collected from different sites in the Preseli mountains.
The author fails to answer the basic problems of bluestone glacial transportation:
Why do we not find bluestone erratics in North Devon and Somerset?
Why glacial till deposits in the Mendips do not contain bluestone?
Why are there no other bluestone erratics on Salisbury Plain?
Why only one Altar Stone was deposited on Salisbury Plain?
I was very disappointed with this book, with the title suggesting a serious look at the bluestones of Stonehenge it comes across as very negative towards the ancient monument. This is no more than the latest rehash of the bluestone glaciation transportation theory based on a hypothetical model the "Greatest British Glaciation" but there is NO geological evidence that Wilsthire experienced glaciation.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Balance of probabilities", 22 Aug 2009
Books on Stonehenge generally fall into two categories; the scholarly and the loony, fortunately this book is amongst the former, the fact that it doesn't try to offer any theory about why Stonehenge was built is testament to this. It does however, present a lucid and often convincing argument against the commonly held belief that the Stonehenge bluestones were moved from Wales to Wiltshire by human effort, in favour of the theory that they were deposited on or close to Salisbury plain by glacial action.
The author approaches the subject from a geological and glaciological viewpoint more than an archaeological one and in doing so has written an interesting and entertaining book which investigates and challenges the origins and development of the 'human transport theory'. In places he vigourously attacks the main proponents of this theory, but he offers what seem to be valid and logical reasons when he does so.
As for his counter-theory, it seems plausible enough, and John is level headed enough to acknowledge the absence of the 'smoking gun' evidence of a proven glacial deposit in the environs of Stonehenge as yet, but does offer several valid reasons for this and the evidence he does offer stands up for itself nevertheless.
To me personally, this book was quite credible and has made me seriously weigh up any attachment I had to the idea of humans transporting the stones from Wales, which in some respect necessarily lessens the mystique and wonder of Stonehenge. Having said that I still don't think this book is the nail in the coffin for human transport theory, as human endeavour of the scale needed does have its precedents and therefore is possible, but to me, as a result of reading this book, much less probable.
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