Kennet Avenue

West Kennet Avenue or Kennet Avenue is a prehistoric site in the English county of Wiltshire. As part of the Avebury region, it is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Temporal and geographical context

The Kennet Avenue is in connection with the prehistoric sites of Avebury and The Sanctuary and was created some time after its construction, about 2200-2400 BC Formerly there were four Avenues, which led in all four directions to the Sanctuary. Of these, only the southern Kennet Avenue get lined with stones.

At the half-way holes and pits were found. At first they were thought to contain traces of colonization. Today it is believed that there are remnants of ritual sites, which existed centuries before the establishment of the Avenue.

As well as the impressive Stonehenge, the Kennet Avenue attests to the wealthy and highly developed society that built these monuments.

Construction

Stones

The Avenue originally consisted of more than 100 pairs of standing stones. The size of the stones varies widely, from about 1.20 meters to almost 4 meters; the average height is 3 meters.

The stones described a corridor along the entire length of 2.5 kilometers, with a width of 15 meters, but probably decreases towards the Sanctuary. The stone couples stood at a distance of about 24.5 meters.

The stones often occur as a pair of different, opposing types: one is slim and cuboid, the other broad and diamond-shaped. This was interpreted as an embodiment of male ( cuboid ) and female ( diamond-shaped ) aspects.

Road

The course was sometimes difficult to reconstruct, because he was interrupted by farmland. In the 1990s an attempt was made to understand by modern methods of investigation the course, which succeeded partially.

The curvy shape of the road seems reckless and incomprehensible at first glance. One explanation comes from the discovery of prehistoric sites surrounding the Avenue and its settlements and buildings are considered by the road. Another possible explanation is the surprise effect of the curves on the viewing angle by which the sight of the Sanctuary's should appear even more spectacular.

Missing stones

Some stones were missing already, as John Aubrey in the 17th century for the first time described the Avenue. William Stukeley described in 1724 then only 72 stones. In 1912 Maud Cunnington headed first work on the Kennet Avenue, under which they already started erect stones again.

Alexander Keiller was 1932 but before only four standing stones. Keiller was able to show that it was the custom since the Middle Ages, down the stones and buried, probably because they were considered to be work of the devil. In addition, the stones were used as building material from a neighboring farmer.

Thanks to the work of Keiller, have been found and raised in connection with which stones again, now 27 stones stand upright and 37 more have been replaced by cement pillars.

Four stones in the vicinity of the area and the Avenue are classified today.

Tomb

The stones have not only the way, but seem to have served as evidence for tombs of some members of the church of Avebury. Some time after the Avenue has been built, some shallow burials were carried out at the feet of the stones. The burials are associated with the Bell Beaker culture in context, which came from the continent at the beginning of the Bronze Age. In the 1930s, Stuart Piggott and Keiller have opened four of the tombs, of which three contained the remains of each person, the fourth of the three. It is believed that the deceased either very distinguished personalities or served as an offering. Further excavations along the Avenue also generated bone, probably also of funerals.

Vandalism

More recently, some stones by vandals were smeared with red paint, which can be removed only with difficulty again.

Ownership

West Kennet Avenue is free basic property of the National Trust and is under the conservation management of English Heritage.