Stonehenge – A Place of Healing?

New Theory About this Mysterious Place

Nov 19, 2006 Jodee Redmond

A British professor of Archaeology shares his theory about the purpose of Stonehenge.

The Head of the Archaeology Group at Bournemouth University, Professor Timothy Darvill, has put forward the theory that Stonehenge was a place of healing and not a place of death.

Professor Darvill and Professor Geoffrey Wainwright have been able to determine exactly where the bluestones used to build Stonehenge came from. Darvill and Wainwright's research focused on why the Presli Mountains were so important to the people who lived at that time.

In forming this new theory, Darvill points to legends about a wizard transporting the stones to Salisbury Plain from western Britain. The bluestones were thought to have healing properties; fresh-water springs found in the same location as the bluestones were considered sacred. As recently as the 18th century, people travelled to Stonehenge for the purpose of breaking off a piece of rock to be used as a good-luck object.

Further evidence of Stonehenge as a place of healing is taken from the excavation of some of the burial sites found nearby. A number of the remains studied show evidence of the deceased person having some type of physical deformity or evidence of an injury, such as a fracture. These people may have come to Stonehenge to seek healing.

While Stonehenge could very well have been a place where pilgrims sought to be delivered from various physical complaints, one wonders if any of them were able to achieve the result they wanted so badly.

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