Ah..the preverbial question. IMO: the home or resting place of the ancestors, tied specifically to woodhenge, a place of life and celebration. I stole this theory from Francis Pryor, but I do believe he is correct.Beagle wrote:So......what was it??
Forum Monk: I've always had trouble with the whole 'celestial calendar' or 'eclipse calculator' theories. True, the mid-summer/mid-winter thingy does certainly apply, but frankly, I believe that is where the astronomy ends.
Tree clearing: no doubt, the site had been used for (possibly) thousands of years as a holy place of some importance. I do not think the post holes in the central henge are left-overs from clearing; from the little I know about excavating holes, I do not believe they would 'look and feel' the same. These holes were probably dug to hold totems of some sort, or perhaps a structure, or rudimentary circle or horseshoe as found in Brittany at that time.
I find it interesting that in most write-ups about the phases of construction at SH, most authors gloss over these artifacts. I'd like to know more about them! (Have to dig into Aubrey Burl's books on this....)
Thanks for the comments guys, appreciate the interest!