Avebury ~ Silbury Hill


Avebury - The Mysterious Stone Circles


How Avebury got its name:

The story goes that while returning from a day's hunting one winter's evening in 1648, John Aubrey, on passing through the village of Avebury, recognized in the earthworks and standing stones around him an ancient temple, which he attributed to the Druids.

Location: Avebury lies in the heart of the Wiltshire Downs just west of Marlborough - the most ancient borough in England. Avebury is ninety miles west of London and twenty miles north of Stonehenge.

It contains the largest known stone ring in the world - though there is no proof.

Older than the more famous Stonehenge, and for many visitors far more spectacular, the multiple rings of Avebury are cloaked with mysteries which archaeologists have only begun to unravel.

Avebury stone circles are thought to have been constructed in neolithic times between 2500 to 2000 BC.

The 'Beaker people': so called after their pottery, are thought to have played a major role in their formation, as they did with Stonehenge.

Some people believe there is an exterrestrial link.

The village of Avebury in Wiltshire has given its name to one of the greatest stone circles in the British Isles.

Similar to Stonehenge and many other megalithic monuments in the British Isles, Avebury is a composite construction that was added to and altered during several periods.

As the site currently exists, the great circle consists of a grass-covered, chalk-stone bank that is 1,396 feet in diameter (427 meters) and 20 feet high (6 meters) with a deep inner ditch having four entrances at the cardinal compass points.

Just inside the ditch, which was clearly not used for defensive purposes, lies a grand circle of massive and irregular sarsen stones enclosing approximately 28 acres of land.

This circle, originally composed of at least 98 stones but now having only 27, itself encloses two smaller stone circles, each being about 340 feet (104 meters) in diameter. The two inner circles are believed to have been constructed first, around 2600 BC, while the large outer ring and earthwork dates from 2500 BC.

The construction of the Avebury complex must have required enormous efforts on the part of the local inhabitants. The sarsen stones, ranging in height from nine to over twenty feet and weighing as much as 40 tons, were first hewn from bedrock and then dragged or sledded a distance of nearly two miles from their quarry site.

These stones were then erected and anchored in the ground to depths between 6 and 24 inches. The excavation of the encircling ditch required an estimated 200,000 tons of rock to be chipped and scraped away with the crudest of stone tools and antler picks (there is some evidence that this ditch was once filled with water, thereby giving the inner stone rings the appearance of being set upon an island).

From excavation and soil resistivity studies it is known that the three rings originally contained at least 154 stones of which only 36 remain standing today.

There are three reasons for disappearance of these stones. In the 14th century, and perhaps earlier, the local Christian authorities, in their continuing effort to eradicate any vestiges of 'pagan' religious practices, toppled, broke up and buried many stones.

Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, still more of the remaining stones were removed from their foundations.

Crops could then be planted in these areas and the massive stones could be broken into smaller pieces to be used for the construction of houses and other buildings.

Located in the midst of a rich prehistoric landscape, the village lies a few miles away from the Ridgeway and in close proximity to Silbury Hill, the Sanctuary, the West Kennet Long Barrow, and the long barrows of East Kennet and Beckhampton.

West Kennel Avenue


Silbury Hill

Silbury Hill, located just south of the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, is a massive artificial mound with a flat top.

Silbury Hill is the tallest man-made prehistoric mound in Europe. It is part of the complex of Neolithic monuments located just south of the village of Avebury in Wiltshire.

Recent excavations have allowed us to discover that the people who created it actually layered it in a three-part process similar to how we would create a battery. Silbury Hill may have been created as a 'natural earth battery'.

It is approximately 130 feet (40 m.) high, with a base circumference of 1640 feet. It is composed of over 12 million cubic feet (339,600 cubic m.) of chalk and earth and covers over 5 acres (2 ha). Silbury Hill occupies a low-lying site and except at certain points in the landscape (notably from the West Kennet Long Barrow from which this photograph was taken), it does not protrude significantly above the horizon.

It was built in three stages, the first begun around 2,660 B.C.E. The last phase comprised the building of six concentric steps or terraces of chalk which were then covered with chalk rubble, flints, gravel, and finally soil to form a cone-shaped mound. Each of the six steps was concealed within the overall profile of the mound, except the last one at the top which was left as a terrace or ledge about 17 feet (5 m.) below the summit. This terrace is clearly visible on the eastern side of the mound, but less distinct from the west.

Various legends have been attached to Silbury Hill. Folklore has claimed it to be the burial place of an otherwise forgotten King Sil (or Zel); of a knight in golden armour; and even of a solid gold horse and rider. It is also told that the Devil was going to empty a huge sack of earth on the town of Marlborough, but was forced to drop it here by the magic of the priests from nearby Avebury.

According to William Stukeley, the top of the hill was dug into in 1723 and some bones were discovered together with an ancient bridle. The mound was again dug into in 1776 and in 1849. In 1967, excavations were undertaken by Richard Atkinson but again neither burials nor any clue to the mound's meaning were discovered. Atkinson did learn, however, through radiocarbon analysis that the mound dates to around 2660 B.C.E.

Further evidence from the remains of plants and insects indicated that the structure was begun during the first week in August, probably at the time of the Celtic festival of Lugnasadh (or Lammas) at the start of the harvest season.

Silbury can clearly be seen in the background, its summit in line with the horizon, in a drawing made by William Stukeley of part of the Sanctuary in 1723.

The very top of the mound can also be discerned from the village of Avebury in what has been described as a precise geomantic relation with the so-called 'Obelisk' in the Avebury complex. It can be seen, however, only after the crops in the intervening field on the horizon have been harvested; the standing grain is sufficient to obscure the view. For some, this is further evidence for interpreting the mound in connection with harvest festivals.

The original purpose of Silbury is unknown, although various explanations have been put forward over the years. Recently, Michael Dames has suggested that the hill is a symbolic effigy of the ancient Mother Goddess and is to be associated with fertility rituals which marked the course of the year. The festival of Lugnasadh (or Lammas) in August, when it is thought Silbury was founded, celebrates the first fruits of the harvest. It has been pointed out that the spring which rises five hundred yards south of the hill and is the source of the River Kennet, was formerly called the Cunnit, a name which may be connected to the Mother Goddess and fertility.

Another explanation argues that Silbury Hill could have been used as an accurate solar observatory by means of the shadows cast by the mound itself on the carefully levelled plain to the north, towards Avebury. The meridian line from Silbury runs through Avebury church which stands on a ley line running between Stonehenge and the stone circle at Winterbourne Abbas. The same ley line also passes through two churches and the eastern slope of Silbury. Silbury, in fact, is a centre for alignments of straight prehistoric tracks, resurfaced by the Romans, and of standing stones. The Roman road between Marlborough and Bath runs directly towards Silbury Hill before swerving to avoid it. This would indicate that the Roman road followed a pre-existing track or ley line. John Michell makes the following observations:

"In view of the fact that in China mounds like that at Silbury were erected upon lung-mei, the paths of the dragon , there is good reason to suspect that Silbury itself was sited by Pre-Celtic Druids on a dragon line with the assistance of a geomancer's compass. It may also be inferred that the Chinese lung-mei stretch over the entire globe. Many centres of English dragon legend (see Dragons and Dragon-killers) stand at the junction of well-marked leys, one notable long-distance example being the St Michael's line that runs from the Avebury circle to the extreme west of Cornwall."

In the early 18th century, William Stukeley visited the site on several occasions and witnessed, to his great distress, the destruction of numerous stones by farmers intent on clearing the land for fields. Stukeley agreed with Aubrey's identification of the site and in 1743 published his book "Abury, a Temple of the British Druids".

William Stuckley's 'great stone serpent'
Silbury can be seen in the background

Mostly dating to around 2,600-2,500 B.C.E., the Avebury complex, which covers about 28 acres and is partially overlapped by the village, comprises a huge circular earthwork ditch, originally about 30 feet deep, and bank about a quarter of a mile in diameter which encloses an outer circle of standing stones. Within this outer circle are two inner circles, both about 340 feet in diameter. The northern inner circle, of which only a few stones remain, apparently consisted of two concentric circles; an inner one of 12 stones and an outer one of 27 stones. At the centre of the northern circle stood a trio of very large stones, two of which survive, called "the Cove." At the centre of the southern circle stood a tall stone over 20 feet in length called "the obelisk." It had already fallen when William Stukeley saw, and drew it, in the 18th century, and is now gone altogether (its site, as with the other missing stones at Avebury, is now marked by a concrete pillar).

The northern and southern inner stone circles are believed to have been built first, around 2,600 B.C.E., and the outer circle and the earthworks added about a hundred years later, around 2,500 B.C.E.

The outer circle is breached at four points - roughly at points north, south, east, and west - to form entrances. From two of these originally ran two great avenues of whichonly the one, leading from the south entrance, the so-called "West Kennet Avenue", survives for a short way in reconstructed form with stones lining its course on both sides.

Originally, according to Stukeley, the West Kennet Avenue stretched all the way to the Sanctuary on Overton Hill, while the other, the Beckhampton Avenue, of which very little survives, terminated near the Beckhampton Long Barrow. Stukeley interpreted the avenues as representing a great stone serpent passing through a ring formed by the Avebury circle.

But Avebury is more than just a stone circle - although this is its main feature. There is also a rampart, a ditch and two mysterious avenues. The rampart or bank is on the outside, then comes the ditch. They both have four entrances and enclose some twenty eight acres. Inside these 'circles' - none of the circumferences are perfect, is the stone circle itself.

It once consisted of around one hundred unquarried stones; inside this larger circle were once two smaller circles. Only four stones of one of the smaller circles survive, although it is though there may have once been as many as twenty seven. None of the stones in the other small circle are now standing, although is is thought to have consisted of around twenty nine stones at one time.


Adam and Eve Stones at the Avebury Stone Circle.

Circle was set up by Bronze Age peoples c.1800BC, 200 yrs. earlier than Stonehenge.


Misty Avebury Stones. About 100 great sarsen stones and local sandstone from Marlborough Downs, still stand.


The Merlin Stone at Avebury. This village is ringed by one of the most important prehistoric monuments in Britain.


Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire, England was regarded by many experts as the most important early Bronze Age.








Crop Formations at Wiltshire - Avebury

Avebury was originally built as a site honouring the fertility of Mother Earth. It's resemblance to a modern microscopic photo of a fertilized egg is very striking. Then in 1991 a crop circle appeared at Ogbourne Maizey. Its similarity to the Avebury ground plan is uncanny. Even more so is the depiction of the actual entry points of the two major energy lines- the St. Michael and St. Mary lines- that are known to cross at the site of the double rings inside Avebury itself. Avebury, like many of its sister stone circles throughout the world, acts as a collection point for this energy and was ritually used as a place where one could, and can, connect with this energy and hence communicate with higher planes of existence.







The Silbury Hill formation - 1997 One by one see yourself in each formation. Starting with the grid formation - you become part of the grids . . . flying through the grid lines - exploring - you are free. You see the creational source in the middle of the circle but you wish to remain and explore and play freely. You enter the second formation . You see the creational source The pyramid in the middle. Still you are not ready to return. You move into the third formation the Star of David The Flower of Life Creation You are the creator. You explore and move on.



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Trigger Images - Meditation 









You have traveled a long way to the magical energies of Avebury Circle.




Slowly you find a place who's energies call to you.





You find a place in the gentle grass and sit down the 
magnetics charging and harmonizing with your enery fields .




It is dawn and no one is there but you.




The sounds of nature can be heard.





You close your eyes and relax in the energies.




You connect with the grass beneath you . . .




the trees . . . and they connect to your thoughts . . .





You see circles . . .



Physical circles . . .



Circles of energy . . .




A crop circle forms in your mind . . .




You make a mental note -
should it appear physically in the next few days . . .





more circles . . . .




Stonehenge . . . 




You see Stonehenge and Aveburt merge together . . .




Then there is a third stone circle that merges with the other two . . .








You watch as other 'stones circles' from around the planet 
appear . . and overlap . . .





With each circle you hear a harmonic . . .






As a new circle appears it brings with it a new harmonic 
which blends with the tones of the others.





Each tone brings you to a higher level.





Please continue your journey as you listen to the 






"Tones of the Rings"


ARTICLES IN THE NEWS


  • New Discoveries At England's Prehistoric Silbury Hill

    Geophysical and ground surveys of Silbury Hill, a120 ft high chalk mound formed in a Wiltshire valley around 4,500 years ago, suggest that it was built in a spiral fashion, and not made from a series of flat tiers like a wedding cake as previously thought.

    
    
    
    
    
    
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