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Analysis of the Architecture of the Construction of Stonehenge
This essay analyses the Architecture of the construction of Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Method
The following are examined and co-related on a spread sheet to analyse the construction of Stonehenge.
The need for Stonehenge.
The choice of location for Stonehenge.
The climate influence on Stonehenge.
The shape of Stonehenge.
The nature of the builders
The nature of the materials for Stonehenge
Phase analysis
Total construction time.
Total number of people.
Total support resources needed for construction
Land analysis
The materials of Stonehenge.
The phases of the construction.
The dates of the phases of construction.
The time between phases of construction.
The number and type of items constructed.
The dimensions of the items constructed.
The volume of each item in cubic metres.
The density in kg per cubic metre for the materials in each item.
The materials used in each item.
The meaning of the materials used in each item.
The total mass in kg of each item equated from the volume and the density.
The mass a single person can carry from current standards.
The total number of people needed to carry each item equated from the total mass of each item and the mass one person can carry.
The distance over which the item was constructed from archaeological data in kilometres.
The speed a single person can move in kilometres per hour.
The timescale in days for the construction of each sub-phase of each phase of construction equated from the total construction time based on radiocarbon dating divided by the number of sub-parts of each construction phase.
The total people involved per phase per day equated from the total of people involved in each sub-phase of each phase of construction.
The total time in days for each phase of construction based on archaeological data radiocarbon dating.
The inference from the total number of people involved for each phase of construction per day as to the rate and nature of construction.
The total timescale for all phases of construction in years and in days from archaeological data radio carbon dating.
The total timescale for all phases of construction in years and in days from the spread sheet analysis.
The total number of people involved in all phases of construction.
The total number of people per year.
The total number of people per day.
The total kg of materials in Stonehenge.
The total kg of material per person over all phases of construction equated from the total kg of materials divided by the total number of people involved.
A land area comparison is also undertaken between the area of Wiltshire, the area occupied by the Stonehenge and World Heritage Site around it and the area of Durrington Walls,
The total support resources needed for construction are also examined in terms of.
Food per day in kilograms.
Total amount of food possible from a 9 month old slaughtered pig in kilograms.
Total number of pigs needed per day.
Land area needed for the pigs.
Water needed per person per day in litres.
Source of the water supply.
Total number of shelters needed.
Number of people per shelter.
Materials needed to construct shelters.
Land area needed for shelters.
Wood fuel needed per person per day.
Antler picks needed per person per day.
Ropes needed per person per day.
Wood scaffolding needed per person per day.
Land area for wood used as fuel and scaffolding needed.
Clothing needed per person per day.
The amounts are co-related per person per day, per total number of people over all construction phases and per total number of people over all construction phases per year.
Totals for each are then established.
The total land area for support resources is then established.
The total land area is then compared to the total area of Wiltshire, Stonehenge and the World Heritage Site around it and Durrington Walls land area.
Results are then set out on the spread sheet and below under the headings. The Need for Stonehenge, The Choice of Location for Stonehenge, The Climate Influence on Stonehenge, The Shape of Stonehenge, The Nature of the Builders, The Nature of the Materials for Stonehenge, Phase Analysis, Total Construction Time, Total Number of People, Total Support Resources Needed for Construction and Land Analysis.
Conclusions are then drawn.
References are included at the end of this essay.
Results
The Need for Stonehenge.
Stonehenge is constructed after an ice age and after a period of population depletion.
The ice sheets and permanent ice during the Last Glaciation Maximum would have restricted the ability of any tribe or migrants in the country to set up a permanent cultural location. The tribe would have moved location to an environment that allowed settlement. The south of England is the remaining place in Britain after the Ice Age where this is possible.
Once located the humans evolve culture through transfer of information, environmental interaction and human interaction. These interactions; in order to preserve the tribe from generation to generation; turn into seasonally associated events and so become festival, memorials and rituals. If the tribe loses parts of itself they incorporate this into the seasonal events. In the case of the dead they become part of memorials to the tribes existence.
The understanding and technological ability of culture, fire and cremation pre-date Stonehenge and so it can be suggested that a burial site would have been a basic part of a tribal cultural settlement.
The functional nature of Stonehenge is not as a shelter. The main occupants over the time period are the cremated remains of human beings. Stonehenge is therefore a functional monument for the dead.
Climate change, environment, resource and energy depletion influenced the establishment of a permanent monument. The monument then became linked to seasonal events. The monument was then developed; through sporadic adaptation; with the culture.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation#Ancient
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_of_fire_by_early_humans#Europe
Source:http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art523965-archaeologists-find-britain-oldest-human-cremation-at-mesolithic-pit-in-essex
The Choice of Location for Stonehenge.
If a post ice age tribe needs a monument to form a culture then the original location of Stonehenge would have been chosen because it lay outside of the ice sheets and permanent ice during the Last Glaciation Maximum 31,000 and 16,000 BP. The monument would have been in the polar and alpine desert of the south of England. Human occupation sites appear in southern Britain between 15,500 and 14,000 years ago. The Late Glacial Climate Warming between 14,000 to 12,000 years ago would have concentrated human and animal life in the polar and alpine desert area of the south of England around the general location of Stonehenge reinforcing the potential settlement of human beings in this area of Britain.
The Climate Influence on Stonehenge.
In our current context climate influences weather which influences construction form. This would still have been the case in 8,000BC to 3100 BC when the first structures were placed at Stonehenge.
The Current Climate of Britain
The current climate of Britain is influenced by its geographical location.
Britain is close to the polar front jet stream. This causes the weather to be variable over the whole year. The general climate is cool, cloudy and sunshine is infrequent.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
The maritime and land air masses also vary the climate to each country in Britain.
Northern Ireland and Scotland are exposed to cool and moist air.
East Scotland and Northern England are exposed to cool dry air.
South England is exposed to warm dry air.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
These air masses can influence temperature variations from the north to the south of Britain by as much as 15 deg C.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
The Climate of Southern England.
Southern England; the location of Stonehenge; can currently experience a climate of
Average maximum temperatures of 20.4 deg C
Minimum temperatures of 1.2 deg C.
Maximum sunshine hours of 193.5
Rainfall up to 91.7mm
The record high temperature has been 38.5 deg C in August.
The record low temperature has been -26.1 deg C in January.
The Seasonal Climate of Southern England.
In seasonal terms the Southern England; the location of Stonehenge; can currently experience a seasonal climate of.
Spring. March to May. 61 days (2018). The south of England is the warmest part of Britain.
Mean Temperature.8.8 deg C to 10.3 deg C
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Summer.
June to August. 61 days (2018). The south of England is the warmest part of Britain.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Mean Temperature 15.5 deg C.
Autumn.
September to November. 61 days (2018). The south of England is the warmest part of Britain.
Mean Temperature 10.7 to 13.0 °C.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Winter.
December to February. 62days (2018 to 2019). The south of England is the warmest and driest part of Britain.
Mean Temperatures 5 deg C to 8.7 deg C.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Sunshine
In hours of sunshine the south of England is the area of Britain with the largest period of sunshine.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
The average sunshine hours; over the year for the south of England; are 1,750 hours per year.
This is however only 39% of the total sunshine potential over a year.
The average winter sunshine hours are 600–760 hours in southern English coastal counties.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Winds
In terms of wind intensity the south of England is the area of Britain with the shortest period of high winds.
Rain
In terms of rainfall intensity the south of England is the area of Britain with the lowest rainfall.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom
Temperature
The south of England has an average temperature per year of 11 deg C.
The choice of the location of Stonehenge; based on the current climate of Britain; would be the south of England.
The Post Last Glaciation Maximum Climate of Britain.
The Last Glaciation Maximum (LGM) is the period from the end of the Eemian interglacial to the end of the Younger Dryas, encompassing the period 110,000 to 11,700 years ago. The Devensian glaciation.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_glacial_period
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_glacial_period#Europe
This LGM glaciation turns the southern part of England into a polar desert.
Source: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/iceAge/home.html
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Glacial_Maximum#Europe
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_desert
Humans return to Britain about 14,700 to 12,900 BP (12,700 BC to 10,900 BC)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Britain
The landscape in the south of Britain remains as a polar desert biome but forms an alpine tundra ecosystem.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Britain
Following the Younger Dryas into the Holocene the climate gradually warms. Temperatures reaches perhaps 17 deg C. in summer. The mean annul temperature in Britain could however have been as low as -5 deg C.
This allows for a south of England at the start of the construction on the Stonehenge site; overlaying it onto our current calendar and seasons; to have a climate of
Average maximum temperature of 3.4 deg C lower than current.
Minimum temperature of -3.8 deg C lower than present.
Maximum sunshine hours of 193.5
Rainfall up to 91.7mm
There are very few people in Britain during the ice age.
The climate in the north of Britain would be inhospitable to humans.
The climate in the south of Britain would be a polar desert, alpine tundra, but would gradually become much warmer and remain the warmest part of Britain. This allows more resources to develop. This allows human settlement to exploit the resources to develop more quickly.
The choice of the location of Stonehenge; based on the historic; post last glacial maximum climate; would be the south of England.
The Shape of Stonehenge.
The shape of Stonehenge is geometrical, not natural. It is a human statement through abstraction of their control over the environment. The geometry is primarily geological and then abstracted in phases.
Geological
The first geometry is chosen from the natural by human settlers. It is a geological shape in the form of a raised, flat plain. This provides the occupier with an unobstructed view of the horizon with the added natural characteristic of slowing down any approaching enemy during the establishment of settlement.
The area of the future Stonehenge can be described in 8,000 BC as a polar and alpine tundra desert beyond the last glaciation maximum. This is a landscape of alpine tundra overlaying a chalk bedrock with clay layers in the valley areas allowing streams and rivers to form and flow.
It is a blank canvas with a possibility of development by humans using pastoralism agriculture, animal domestication and technology to create a focal point for a culture.
The underlying chalk may have been their guiding material from Europe, through France, across what is now the Channel; over the chalk ridge of the Weald–Artois Anticline into south east England.
Chalk forms a natural contrasting pathway in the landscape as more humans move over the same land area so the landscape may also have informed their culture with the idea; Architecture; of procession and ritual.
At the margin of the chalk and the clay along the river areas wood land may also begin to be more common as the temperature increases after the ice age. This increases the species diversity potential. This in turn assists human settlement.
Pre-Stonehenge site in 8000 BC
The first monuments on the site are constructed out of the available resource materials of wood and chalk.
Stonehenge Phases 3100 BC to 1600 BC
The first shape of Stonehenge that humans place upon the location of Stonehenge is a circle.
The circle has the geometrical properties of enclosing the largest amount of area for the minimum amount of perimeter. It is a communal shape that can be divided equally. It is a larger version of the hut forms used by the migrant Neolithic culture. It is a symbol of a never ending; seasonal; journey. It is a symbol of a seasonal cycle of life. Once anything external is related to a point on the perimeter it associates itself with the centre and as an inverse with itself on the opposing perimeter. It is a geometrical shape on which the movement of the Sun, Moon, Stars and planets can be plotted over a year before it repeats. It is a form of clock. It is an enclosure. It is an abstract boundary. It is a statement of control over a wild environment. The circle has no third dimension. It exists on a 2d plane. To allow it to interact with the environment the circle is projected up and down by being represented in a ditch and bank. This in cross section; perhaps unconsciously; grew out of a seasonal knowledge. It is a sine-wave. It is a repetition.
Inside the bank the purpose of the monument is the internment; with memorials; for the cremated remains of men, women and children. This is reinforced by the addition of standing stones in phases and the alignment of the monument with seasonal events.
The monument gradually becomes useless because of; at the time of the Neolithic; unknown, unrecorded, untested events such as the. The orbit shape of the Earth varies. The temperatures vary. The seasons vary. The axial tilt of the Earth varies. The axial procession of the Earth varies. The orbital ellipse of the Earth varies. The orbital inclination varies. The weather patterns in Britain vary. The hours of sunshine in Britain are generally less than 30% of the total possible sunshine. Even the south of England only receives 39% of the total possible sunshine.
These Milankovitch and other natural cycles vary the alignment of Stonehenge and its purpose becomes obscured and then defunct.
Stonehenge therefore cannot only be a form that was deliberately constructed as an astronomical or seasonal prediction geometry since its link to the environment is totally variable by the climate of Britain.
The monument would also not need to be constructed to just provide seasonal information for a community all over the British Isles. Each part of the country would have its own variations in temperature and seasons and would not need to travel the length of Britain to estimate these local events over a year or over a number of repeatable years. The visitor to Stonehenge would acquire only useless calendar knowledge since in order to travel from the furthest part of Britain; say John o' Groats; to Stonehenge is a journey of 1080 km. At a walking pace of 3.2 km/hr this would take 337.5 days. Allowing for the return journey to take the same time the person travelling to consult the alleged alignment of Stonehenge would be 338 days out even if they set out at the beginning of each year to accomplish the journey.
The remaining conclusion is that Stonehenge is a deliberate construction of a cemetery for a tribe becoming a culture and a society. Any alignments are related only to the age it was constructed in.
The cremations within the monument support this theory and time use.
The Nature of the Builders
The world population in 8,000 BC; pre-Stonehenge; has been estimated at 5,000,000. These humans were beginning to build huts, hearths, granaries, kilns, establish large settlements, grind grain, practice agriculture, domesticate sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle, make pottery, make bladed tools, make clothing from hides, and develop pastoralism.
The humans at the Stonehenge location are therefore not an ignorant people but skilled pastoralists, agriculturalists, technologists, materialists and hunter gatherers. Their control over the environmental is based on observation and experience both shared and personal. It expresses itself in a cultural, society statement of environment abstracted into a burial monument.
The Nature of the Materials for Stonehenge
The Architecture; idea, function, form, nature, interaction, communication; of the materials of Stonehenge
can also be examined in its time frame context.
Water.
It is abundant during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is non-seasonal and always present. It is a natural physical constant. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It is a solvent. It is a cleanser. It is a coolant.
Fire
It is rare during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is non-seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It is a natural Sun-land interaction on ecosystems; such as tundra and grassland. It burns away the surface biota and reduces it to carbon products allowing decomposition and recycling of nutrients in a nutrient poor ecosystem. It changes local temperature. It can be isolated and transported. It is a human tool. It allows hunting, is a signal of safety or danger. It protects. It allows tool and weapon making. It allows art It enhances ceremony. Its use is protected as a skill through hierarchy. It allows night time activity. It allows food to be cooked to increase the output of its calories over a shorter timescale assisting in increased genetic changes to human beings through health. It allows diet to be standardized. It allows a group health to be established.
Timber or wood
It is rare during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It is the naturally available product of Sun, land and fire. It has within it a calendar of the seasons in its growth rings. It is flexible and then rigid. It floats on water. It can be grown for oils, sap and resin. It can be repeatedly burnt for fuel from cut wood to charcoal. It releases gases from it, as it burns, that kills living things in the area around it, particularly in its charcoal form, from carbon monoxide poisoning. It increases the ability to provide shelter that is weather resistant. It allows marks on surfaces to be communicated.
Chalk
It is rare hidden during the Ice Age. It is hidden and discovered. It is non-seasonal, ancient, and always present. It is potentially harmful to humans It can; if ingested or breathed in; cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea, eye irritation or lung damage. It is non-seasonal, ancient, and always present. It resembles bleached human bones. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled by imitating the action of animals in combat. Deer rutting. It is a source of quicklime by thermal decomposition, or slaked lime following quenching of quicklime with water. It is used for raising pH in soils with high acidity. It is a cleansing agent. It is a polishing agent. It can be used as a daub on wattle structures to form a shelter enclosing wall.
Source: https://www.health24.com/Experts/Question/craving-and-eating-white-chalk-20070927
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rut_(mammalian_reproduction)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_oxide
Source: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-see-and-do/neolithic-houses/
Bluestone
It is a rare material during the Ice Age. It is hidden and discovered. It is non-seasonal, ancient, and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled by imitating the action of animals in combat. Deer rutting. It is a Dolerite. Preseli Spotted Dolerite. Diabase. Microgabbro. (modern geological terms). It can be cut, crushed and polished. It is a universal building material. (used in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Britain, USA, Canada, Belgium, and Ireland.). It comes from Craig Rhos-y-felin, near Crymych in Pembrokeshire and is transported to Stonehenge.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rut_(mammalian_reproduction)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluestone
Sandstone
It is a rare material during the Ice Age. It is hidden and discovered. It is non-seasonal, ancient, and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled by imitating the action of animals in combat. Deer rutting. It was used for the Sarsen stones at Stonehenge. It was brought to site from Marlborough Downs. It is not an ideal building material. It can be cut, jointed and finished in the same manner as timber so it is a natural successor to timber construction.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rut_(mammalian_reproduction)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsen
Wheat Straw
It is rare during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It implies farming, agriculture, seasonal rituals, domestication, boundaries, enclosures, fences, baskets, weave, wattle, plats, welfare, interdependency creating strength, roofing and clothing manufacture.
Hazel Rods
These are rare during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It; as a tree, provides nuts It is used for wattle, withy, fencing, transport frames, baskets, fish cages, frames for coracles. It; as a tree; can be coppiced and harvested over several years. It implies links to multiple seasonal harvesting sites and use of the nearby rivers. It combines boundary, fence; wattle; with ground; chalk, daub; to create enclosure and house.
Antlers
These are rare during the Ice Age. It is a necessity to stay alive. These infer deer, meat, varied diet, sinew, bone, oils, fats, wool and glues. It is seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It can be formed into a tool.
Hides
These are rare during the Ice Age. These infer animal hunting and domestication, pigs, sheep and cattle, meat varied diet, sinew, bone, oils, fats, wool and glues. It is a necessity to stay alive. It is seasonal and always present. It is a natural human repetitive sensory memory. It can be controlled. It can be formed into clothing.
The materials indicate a barren polar alpine tundra desert landscape gradually being transformed into an agricultural landscape with communal gathering, feasting areas and burial areas by humans.
The change from timber to stone may have been driven by the availability of sarcen stone near the monument at Stonehenge in a similar way that the readily available chalk was used to construct their houses. All of the technology is organic and so has a minimal, seasonal lifespan. This means there are few remains of the knowledge, skill and culture of the builders.
Phase Analysis
Archaeology indicates construction from the time before Stonehenge from 8000 BC. It has 2 sub-phases. It could have taken 1,788,500 days, 4900 years and involved 298 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 1 of Stonehenge construction dates from 3100 BC. It has 6 sub phases. It could have taken 36,500 days, 100 years and involved 387,315 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 2 of Stonehenge construction dates from 3000 BC. It has 4 sub-phases. It could have taken 146,000 days, 400 years and involved 202,601 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 3.1 of Stonehenge construction dates from 2600 BC. It has 8 sub-phases. It could have taken 73,000 days, 200 years and involved 30,410 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 3.2 of Stonehenge construction dates from 2600BC to 2400BC. It has 3 sub-phases. It could have taken 43,800 days, 120 years and involved 5,884 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 3.3 of Stonehenge construction dates from 2400 to 2280 BC. It has 5 sub-phases. It could have taken 127,750 days, 350 years and involved 280,234 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 3.4 of Stonehenge construction dates from 2280 to 1930 BC. It has 2 sub-phases. It could have taken 120,450 days, 330 years and involved 16,000 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Phase 3.5 of Stonehenge construction dates from 1930 to 1600 BC. It has 4 sub-phases. It could have taken 120,450 days, 330 years and involved 32,000 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
After the monument of Stonehenge construction dates from 1600BC. It has 2 sub-phases. It could have taken 120,450 days, 330 years and involved 6,490 people. The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work.
Total Construction Time.
The total archaeological radio carbon dating construction time for Stonehenge is taken as 6400 years. 2,336,000 days.
The spreadsheet construction time for Stonehenge equates to 7,060 years. 2,576,900 days.
This gives a variance between the radiocarbon dating and the spreadsheet calculations of 660 years. 10% of the radiocarbon dating time.
Total Number of People.
The total number of people involved for all phases over the whole construction time is 954,752.
This allows for 135 people per year at the site based on a construction time of 7,060 years.
This allows for 3 people every 2 days at Stonehenge over a year.
The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work or visitors to the site throughout the year.
Total Support Resources Needed for Construction
Examining the resources needed at a scale of 1 person per day.
2.60 kg of food are needed per person per day.
This; from the archaeological excavations at Durrington Walls; is suggested to be mostly pig meat. Allowing for a pig at 9 months slaughter age to achieve a weight of 83.73 kg. This could feed 32 people. This allows for 1 pig per day. One pig requires approx. 0.000006km2 of land area.
The water required per person is 150 litres per day. The water source is taken as the River Avon.
The number of shelters required is taken as 1 shelter per 4 persons. Each shelter requires 20,000 kg of chalk from 0.004 km2 of land area. 3,000 kg of wheat straw from 0.004 km2 of land area. 5,000 hazel rods from 0.004 km2 of land area.
The wood for fuel per person per day is 3kg. The wood for scaffolding per day is 1,000 kg. The land area for the wood resources is 0.002 km2.
Each person is allocated 2 antler picks, 1 rope and 1 set of clothing per day.
The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work at the site throughout the year.
Examining the resources needed at a scale of the total number of people involved over all of the construction phases. 954,752 people over 2,576,900 days, 7,060 years.
2,482,239 kg of food are needed.
This equates to 29,629 pigs. These pigs need 0.18 km2 of land area.
144,184,717 litres of water are needed. The water source is taken as the River Avon.
238,865 shelters are needed. These require 4,773,709,281 kg of chalk. This amount of chalk requires 966 km2 of land area. 716,056,392 kg of wheat straw. This amount of wheat straw requires 966 km2 of land area. 1,193,427,320 hazel rods. This amount of hazel requires 966 km2 of land area. 2,864,226 kg of wood for fuel. 954,741,856 kg of wood for scaffolding. The land required for fuel and scaffolding is 1,915 km2.
The total number of people over all construction phases require 1,909,484 antler picks, 954,752 ropes and 954,752 sets of clothing.
The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work at the site throughout the year.
Examining the resources needed at a scale of the total number of people per year. 135 people over 365 days. 1 year.
352 kg of food are needed.
This equates to 4 pigs. These pigs need 0.00003 km2 of land area.
20,285 litres of water are needed. The water source is taken as the River Avon.
34 shelters are needed. These require 676,163 kg of chalk. This amount of chalk requires 0.14 km2 of land area. 101,424 kg of wheat straw. This amount of wheat straw requires 0.14 km2 of land area. 169,041 hazel rods. This amount of hazel requires 0.14 km2 of land area. 406 kg of wood for fuel. 135,233 kg of wood for scaffolding. The land required for fuel and scaffolding is 0.27 km2.
The total number of people over 1 year require 270 antler picks, 135 ropes and 135 sets of clothing.
The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work at the site throughout the year.
Land Analysis
Wiltshire occupies a land area of 3,485 km2.
Stonehenge and World Heritage Site around it occupies a land area of 135 km2. 3.8% of Wiltshire.
Durrington Walls is about 0.19 km2 in area.
The original resource area needed to create Stonehenge is just over 1 km2 a year.
This is only 0.02% of Wiltshire and only 0.7% the land area of Stonehenge and the current World Heritage Site around it.
1 Camp the size of Durrington Walls would cater for the construction of Stonehenge per year.
The inference is sporadic work or seasonal work at the site throughout the year.
Analysis of animal teeth found 2 miles (3 km) away at Durrington Walls, thought by
Parker Pearson to be the 'builders camp', suggests that, during some period between 2600 and 2400 BC,
as many as 4,000 people gathered at the site for the mid-winter and mid-summer festivals; the evidence
showed that the animals had been slaughtered around 9 months or 15 months after their spring birth.
Strontium isotope analysis of the animal teeth showed that some had been brought from as far afield as the Scottish Highlands for the celebrations.
If the timescale is taken as 200 years for 4,000 people to gather the yearly activity at Durrington could be
calculated as 20 people.
This is below the 135 previously calculated and so within the resource potential of the Durrington Walls site.
Conclusion
The inference from the analysis is that Stonehenge is created by sporadic or seasonal work over 6400 to 7060 years.
The landscape around Stonehenge begins as a polar alpine tundra desert on the edge of the last glaciation maximum and after occupation by humans is gradually forced into a communal agricultural area with associated burial areas.
The need and location of Stonehenge is driven by climate changes and access to resources to allow a culture to establish itself.
The monuments purpose appears to be as a burial site.
The phases of the monument appear to have been directed by tribal hierarchy.
The total number of people needed to construct the monument can be calculated at 954,752.
This number of people related to the total construction time equates to a human influence of about 135 people per year.
The total mass of the constructed items in Stonehenge can be calculated as 46,139,109 kg. This allows for a mass per person of 48 kg of materials.
The land depletion in creating the support resources for the construction of the monument is about 1 km2 per year.
The nearest camp from the same time period to carry out the work would be Durrington Walls which has the land area to create and sustain the resources for the population who construct Stonehenge.
The general inference from the analysis is that the Architecture of the Construction of Stonehenge is not a monumental creation by a civilization. It is an agricultural tribal burial area that is augmented and altered over generations by tribal influences set within a natural land area polar alpine desert that is forced into an agricultural, communal, ritual form by human actions.
It may be regarded as an early example of an Anthropocene artefact since it is a natural geology and ecosystem and climate change forced by human impact.
References
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbury_Hill
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcareous_grassland
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_British_Isles
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_desert
Source:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_glacial_period#/media/File:Last_Glacial_Maximum_Vegetation_Map.svg
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_millennium_BC
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howick_house
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Dryas
Source: http://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Holocene,_Northern_England
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Britain
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiltshire
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Glacial_Maximum (and associated refs.)
Source: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue11/2/4.5.html (and associated refs.)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Glacial
Source: http://www.megalithicbuilders.com/europe/england/wiltshire-stonehenge
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom#Seasons
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weald%E2%80%93Artois_Anticline
Source: https://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/92p015.pdf
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge_Avenue
Source: https://www.simetric.co.uk/si_materials.htm
Source: Allow 2500 calories to equal 0.32 kg
Source: https://www.convertunits.com/from/calorie/to/kilograms
Source: https://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1126.aspx?categoryid=51
Source: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history/food-feasting/
Source: Allowing approx. 1000 animals, piglets, eaten at Durrington Walls Camp.
Source: https://pork.ahdb.org.uk/prices-stats/production/gb-average-pig-carcase-weight/ (For average pig weight at slaughter in kg av. 83.73 kg)
Source: https://www.nutracheck.co.uk/calories/calories_in_meat_fish_poultry/calories_in_pork (allowing an average of 225 kcal for pork)
Source: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/energy/1-kcal-to-cal.html (allowing 1 small kcal to = 1 large food calorie 1 pig)
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/what-the-world-eats/ (allowing 2667 g 2.6kg 3413 calories per person in UK per day)
Source: www.cambridge-water.co.uk/customers/how-much-water-do-you-use (Allowing 150 litres per day per person)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durrington_Walls (allowing 1000 houses with 4000 occupants)
Source: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-see-and-do/neolithic-houses/ (Material volumes and amounts)
(Allowing 20 t, 20,000kg of chalk, 5,000 hazel rods and 3 t, 3,000kg of wheat straw per dwelling)
Source: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcin056.pdf/$FILE/fcin056.pdf (for land areas needed for hazel cultivation and crop yield)
(Allowing 1 acre to allow for and yield 10,000 rods of hazel)
Source: https://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/92p061.pdf (Mapping the Stonehenge World Heritage Site - British Academy - D BATCHELOR - 1997 )
Source: https://pork.ahdb.org.uk/media/72702/a-pocket-book-summarising-the-key-figures-and legislative-requirements-for-pig-accommodation.pdf (Allowing 6m2 per pigs, sows, and boars)
Source: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx (Total Forrest Land area in UK National Statistics on Woodland Area, Planting & Publicly Funded Restocking 3,170,000 ha 31,700 km2)
Source: https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/beeh-a9zjnu (Total harvest in tonnes of swd and hwd in UK National Statistics on UK Wood Production and Trade: 2016 11,700,000 green tonnes. 11,700,000,000 kg)
(Allow a timber to land area of 11,700,000,000 kg / 31,700 km2. 369,085kg per km2)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene
Ian K Whittaker
Websites:
https://sites.google.com/site/architecturearticles
Email: iankwhittaker@gmail.com
30/04/2018
14/10/2020
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