Stonehenge carvings



"Where a man is a man and the children dance to
the pipes of pan,
Stonehenge"
(Spinal Tap)

Lasers reveal invisible Stonehenge carvings

The carvings are thought to portray bronze axe heads, which have been found nearby (Image: Wessex Archaeology/Archaeoptics
Laser scanning has revealed ancient carvings on the pillars of Stonehenge that are invisible to the naked eye.

The experiment scanned just part of three of the 83 stones that make up the famous prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, UK. The archaeologists, from the Wessex Archaeology and Archaeoptics companies, hope a full survey could provide compelling evidence that Stonehenge was a memorial for the dead, at least at the time the carvings were made.

The new-found carvings are just a couple of millimetres deep and represent bronze axe heads. A few dozen visible carvings have been reported before, the earliest in 1953. But the comparison of the 50-year-old photographs with the new scans revealed that the carvings seem to be wearing away.

"They have eroded quite a bit," says Tony Trueman, of Wessex Archaeology. He estimates that a full survey would cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Mike Pitts, an expert on Stonehenge, says: "It is extraordinary that these carvings, the most significant art gallery from ancient Britain, have still not been properly studied." Pitts is also the editor of British Archaeology in which the results of the scanning experiment are published.
Daggers and cups

Stonehenge was constructed in 2300BC, but the carvings are thought to have been made after 1800BC, which is when bronze axe heads began to be used.

Carving of axe heads, as well as daggers and cups, have been found at burial sites all over the UK, Trueman told New Scientist : "They seem in some sense to be commemorating the dead."

He thinks the same could be true at Stonehenge, especially as there are hundreds of burial sites in the area around the monument. Other theories of Stonehenge's purpose have centred on the fact that it was designed to line up with the sunrise on the morning of the summer solstice, and served as a calendar.

But the theories may not be mutually exclusive. The Sun could have had a symbolic value and been part of the memorial, suggests Trueman, or Stonehenge's use could have changed over time.
Thin stripe

The team spent just 30 minutes scanning the stones, but gathered nine million data points. These were converted into three-dimensional images using triangulation, based on the fixed positions of the laser and a camera.

Another laser scanning technique, which calculates distance by measuring the time taken for the light to bounce of a surface, has a resolution of about a centimetre and could not have revealed the carvings.

"We have used scanning previously to enhance badly weathered carvings on monuments, but never on details as fine as the Stonehenge axe heads," says Alistair Carty of Archaeoptics. "The possibility that other unknown carvings exist on the other stones is very exciting and may hopefully lead to a more complete interpretation of Stonehenge."

 

Posted: Sat - October 18, 2003 at 04:09 PM        

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