Mystery Rings around Stonehenge?

[longshotgene]

Does anyone know what the little rings are by and near Stonehenge? I was looking at Google Earth today and noticed all of these little rings all around Stonehenge. They almost appear to be little hills.

[DecimusCaesar]

I haven't seen the rings on google earth, but they might be Barrows, these were Neolithic burial mounds. These would be flanked by dirches that would have acted as chalk quarries. Most of these barrows would contain the bodies of many individuals.

 

I'm still not sure if these were the ones you mentioned.

[longshotgene]

O.K. I was just curious. The mounds are smaller than Stonehenge. I can't tell how high or low they are, but they are circular. Some are in wooded areas. Some are out in the open.

[DecimusCaesar]

O.K. I was just curious. The mounds are smaller than Stonehenge. I can't tell how high or low they are, but they are circular. Some are in wooded areas. Some are out in the open.

 

It seems that they are barrows, after all there are some barrows near wooded areas. For instance the Winterbourne Stoke barrow group is near a wooded area, although these seem to be to further to the west of Stonehenge.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

I believe that the little rings that you speak of are actually known as Aubery holes.

 

At some time between 2700 and 2200 BCE, a strange series of pits called 'Aubery holes' after their discoverer John Aubery, were dug in a circle inside the mound. Although many of the pits had cremations in them, archaeologists have shown that the pits were dug long before the ashes were placed in them, so the pits probably had a different original purpose.

 

Among the speculations is that the holes were a calculator for predicting eclipses of the moon. It is more likely however that the holes were used for putting offerings into.

 

The Aubery Holes coincide in time with a change in pottery style, the so called 'Beaker pottery', which may or may not indicate an arrival of a new group of humans.