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35-448: The project was directed by Mike Parker Pearson ( Sheffield University ), Julian Thomas ( Manchester University ), Colin Richards ( Manchester University ), Kate Welham ( Bournemouth University ), Joshua Pollard ( University of Southampton ), and Chris Tilley ( University College London ). The main aims of the project were to test the hypotheses of earlier studies that Stonehenge was

70-643: A 2012 book Stonehenge, Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery by Mike Parker Pearson. Mike Parker Pearson Michael Parker Pearson , FSA , FSA Scot , FBA (born 26 June 1957) is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of the Neolithic British Isles , Madagascar and the archaeology of death and burial . A professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology , he previously worked for 25 years as

105-401: A ditch on the inside of the bank, giving the perception of keeping something inside the enclosure, rather than keeping out others. Stonehenge may be improperly named, according to the original archeological definition, as its ditch is located on the outside of the bank. The monument has been tentatively dated to between about 3000 and 2400 BC. Radiocarbon dating of antler tools found at

140-537: A key role in the discovery of a new henge site along the River Avon that links to Stonehenge . This new site was uncovered through excavation during the Stonehenge Riverside Project and was given the name " BlueStoneHenge " or "BlueHenge" because traces of bluestones were found during the excavation . During 2017 and 2018, excavations by his UCL team led to a proposal that the site at Waun Mawn , in

175-500: A monument dedicated to the dead, whilst Woodhenge and Durrington Walls, two miles away, were monuments to the living and more recently deceased. The area immediately inside Stonehenge Bowl has been excavated several times throughout history, but to the east around Durrington Walls, there have only been two major studies conducted within recent times. The first was between 1926 and 1929 when Maud Cunnington excavated around Woodhenge, discovering several Neolithic and Bronze Age features to

210-401: A paper in which he examined the pre-state societies of Jutland from a Marxist perspective. At the start of this paper, he noted that it had repercussions for Marxism in that its findings discerned "a certain blurring between capitalism and non-capitalism". From 1984 through to 1990, Parker Pearson worked as an Inspector of Monuments for English Heritage , and in 1989 he received membership to

245-528: A post-graduate at Cambridge, Parker Pearson was a contemporary of Sheena Crawford, Daniel Miller , Henrietta Moore , Christopher Tilley and Alice Welbourn; these students were influenced by Hodder's ideas, then a pioneering part of the post-processualist current within archaeological theory . Parker Pearson became interested in Marxism . In the 1984 anthology Ideology, Power and Prehistory , edited by Daniel Miller and Christopher Tilley, Parker Pearson published

280-818: A professor at the University of Sheffield in England, and was the director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project . A prolific author, he has also written a variety of books on the subject. A media personality, Parker Pearson has appeared several times in the Channel 4 show Time Team in particular in one looking at the excavation of Durrington Walls in Wiltshire . He also appeared in the National Geographic Channel documentary Stonehenge Decoded , along with

315-665: A re-excavation of one of the Aubrey Holes within the Stonehenge bowl. The excavation was covered by Time Team and by Nova and National Geographic . Residencies for six visual artists were arranged by Artists in Archaeology, to explore connections between archaeological processes and artistic practices. In 2008, and again in 2009, the team excavated the remains of a henge beside the river, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Stonehenge. The discovery attracted media coverage and

350-475: A series of stone settings, none of which is visible above ground. The site was excavated in August 2008 and again in August 2009; it is considered to be an important find by archaeologists . Full details of the discovery were published in the 2010 January / February edition of British Archaeology . Mike Parker Pearson and his team of researchers played a key role in the discovery of this new henge site along

385-413: A style commonly used during that period. It is estimated that there may have been as many as 27 stones in a circle 33 feet (10 m) in diameter. Charcoal was found in some holes, suggesting that burning may have taken place there. One suggestion is that the henge was a site for cremations . Within the stone circle there were imprints of the bases from the original stones, which have been compared to

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420-429: A temporary reconstruction of the timber circle in the nearby village of Upavon . Over 20 researchers and 170 students and volunteers were involved in excavations around Durrington Walls and investigations into the Stonehenge landscape. Among other things, new dating suggested that the sarsen phase of Stonehenge was contemporary with Durrington Walls at around 2640–2480 BC. In late summer of 2007, four weeks of fieldwork

455-559: Is located beside the River Avon in West Amesbury . Immediately beside it is the Avenue , a linear ditch and bank route that leads to Stonehenge. Mike Parker Pearson has suggested that the site may have been used for ceremonial purposes – possibly as a stopping place along a routeway between Durrington Walls and Stonehenge. It is thought that it was a ceremonial route from an area of life at Durrington Walls, through Bluestonehenge and along

490-561: The Institute for Archaeologists . In 1990, he secured an academic teaching position at the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield , where he would work for the next 21 years. In 1991 he was admitted as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London , and in 1996 then became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . From 2003 through to 2009, Parker Pearson directed

525-536: The Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire , had originally housed a 110 m (360 ft) diameter stone circle of the same size as the ditch at Stonehenge The archaeologists also postulated that the circle also contained a hole from one stone which had a distinctive pentagonal shape, very closely matching the one pentagonal stone at Stonehenge (stone hole 91 at Waun Mawn and stone 62 at Stonehenge). Both circles appear, according to some researchers, to be oriented towards

560-450: The River Avon that links to Stonehenge . This new site was uncovered through excavation during the Stonehenge Riverside Project ; it was given the name "Bluestonehenge" or "Bluehenge" because traces of bluestones were found during the excavation . The term “ henge ” is often incorrectly thought to mean a circular structure of stones. In fact, henge in archaeology refers to an enclosed structure made of compressed earth , containing

595-755: The Stonehenge Riverside Project . The project garnered three major archaeological awards: the Andante Travel Archaeology Award (2008), the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries Award (2009), and the UK Archaeological Research Project of the Year (2010). His work in leading the project also led to Parker Pearson being personally awarded the UK Archaeologist of the Year award in 2010. Parker Pearson and his team of researchers played

630-473: The "Stonehenge Avenue", to arrive at the site of an individual's final resting place in Stonehenge. This theory can be supported by the numerous cremation burials (over 200) that have been uncovered during excavation work around Stonehenge. Analysis of these remains also leads researchers to believe it was a ceremony for the wealthier in the region, or of royal lineage, or even for those who helped initiate construction of Stonehenge. This select group of individuals

665-470: The Beaker People Project jointly embarked upon a radiocarbon dating programme of the surviving skeletal remains to establish when Stonehenge was used as a burial space. As a result of this, it is argued that the site began as a cremation cemetery in the early third millennium BC. The research concluded that Stonehenge was built to unify the people of Stone Age Britain. The results were published in

700-503: The PBS programme Nova : Secrets of Stonehenge . Parker Pearson was born in 1957, in Wantage , Berkshire . He would later inform interviewers that he first took an interest in the past when searching for fossils in his father's driveway gravel aged 4, extending that interest into the human past aged 6 when he read a library book entitled Fun with Archaeology . Deciding to study the subject at

735-435: The bluestones located in Stonehenge and have been found to have matching dimensions. The name "Bluestonehenge" is derived from the discovery of small stone chips in some of the stone settings. These bluestones are also found in Stonehenge and consist of a wide range of rock types originally from Pembrokeshire , west Wales, some 150 miles (240 km) away. Archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson suspects that any bluestones in

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770-422: The circle may have been removed around 2500 BC and incorporated into Stonehenge, which underwent major rebuilding work at about that time. The stone circle settings were surrounded by a henge, comprising an 82-foot-wide (25 m) ditch and outer bank which appears to date from approximately 2400 BC. Unlike Stonehenge, this monument does not appear to have any significant solar or lunar orientations. The henge

805-455: The henge, to the north and south. 2004 marked the start of annual excavations in the Stonehenge landscape. Trenches were dug on the bank of the River Avon next to Durrington Walls, and at the eastern entrance to the henge. On this occasion various finds suggesting Neolithic occupation were found around the area. More fieldwork was carried out in the summer of 2005. Excavations were made around

840-499: The land east of Durrington Walls near the river, and north west outside the west gate. A large amount of digging was done on the eastern banks of the henge, and inside the walls to expose the southernmost timber circle discovered in 1967. A great deal of work was also carried out 2 miles east, around a fallen sarsen stone known locally as the Bulford Stone. Channel 4's archaeological television programme Time Team attended and built

875-641: The media, Parker Pearson has published articles in a variety of different sources, such as on the BBC website, has given interviews to groups such as Pagans for Archaeology and most recently discussed his career in an interview with Papers from the Institute of Archaeology . In 2012, Parker Pearson left the University of Sheffield and began teaching at the Institute of Archaeology , University College London , as Professor of British Later Prehistory. On 16 July 2015, he

910-522: The midsummer solstice. and reported in New Scientist on 20 February 2021. Two geological articles published in 2022 proved that there was no link between Waun Mawn and the supposed "bluestone quarries" at Craig Rhosyfelin and Carn Goedog, and no link between Waun Mawn and Stonehenge. In a 2024 study published in The Holocene , Brian John re-examined the geological and archaeological evidence from

945-424: The name "Bluehenge" or " Bluestonehenge ". Stonehenge is effectively Britain's largest third millennium BC cemetery, containing 52 cremation burials and many other fragments of both burnt and unburnt bone. Many of the cremation deposits contained more than one individual, so that an estimate of the number of people buried here during that period may be between 150 and 240. In 2007 the Stonehenge Riverside Project and

980-529: The processes of uncovering and interpreting this location. In the late summer of 2008, a further four weeks of excavations were carried out. The year's excavation focused largely upon the Avenue , largely re-excavating work by Richard Atkinson . More work was carried out upon the eastern end of the Stonehenge Cursus , Long Barrow 42 at the eastern terminal of the Cursus, the field to the west of Stonehenge, and

1015-408: The site has provided only an approximate date of 2469 to 2286 BC for the dismantling of the stones. Tests on an antler pick found at the bottom of a stonehole have so far failed, due to inadequate collagen in the sample. Excavation revealed several stone settings that are thought to have been erected some time between 3400 and 2500 BC, due to two flint chisel arrowheads being found that are in

1050-538: The site, and concluded that the "lost circle" of standing stones had never existed, and that there was no evidence to demonstrate a link with Stonehenge. He concluded that there had been considerable "interpretative inflation" at the site, driven by a desire to show a Stonehenge connection. From 2006 through to 2009, he served as the Vice-President of the Prehistoric Society . Interacting with various parts of

1085-441: The south. Later, when the nearby A345 was improved and routed through Durrington Walls in 1967, two timber circles were discovered within the henge. Also discovered were quantities of animal bones and associated Neolithic pottery and tools. 2003 fieldwork involved sampling and geophysical surveys of the land around Durrington Walls in preparation for future study. This work helped identify two previously unrecognised entranceways to

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1120-497: The undergraduate level, he attended the University of Southampton , attaining a first class BA with honours in Archaeology in 1979. He obtained his PhD from King's College, Cambridge in 1985, for a thesis titled "Death, society and social change: the Iron Age of southern Jutland 200 BC – 600 AD" in which he discussed what was known about the bog bodies of Iron Age Denmark; it would remain unpublished. Supervised by Ian Hodder as

1155-401: Was believed to be male adults who were 25–40 years old and who seemed quite healthy. Mike Parker Pearson's past experience working with a colleague from Madagascar also helped to shape his theory. He believes that the choice of stone material for Stonehenge is significant. Past civilizations often reserved stone for construction of their ancestors' tombs, while the perishable material, such as

1190-617: Was carried out by several hundred students and volunteers. Excavations were carried out at the western end of the Cursus; around the southern, western and eastern gates of Durrington Walls; at the site of Cunnington's digs immediately south of Woodhenge; and around another nearby fallen sarsen stone, known locally as the Cuckoo Stone . Geophysical surveys were also carried out across much of the surrounding area and around Stonehenge Bowl. Residencies for six artists and two graduate art student placements were arranged by Artists in Archaeology to record

1225-465: Was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). Bluestonehenge Bluestonehenge or Bluehenge (also known as West Amesbury Henge ) is a prehistoric henge and stone circle monument that was discovered by the Stonehenge Riverside Project about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Stonehenge in Wiltshire , England . All that remains of the site is the ditch of the henge and

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