British scientists announced the archaeological discovery of the remains of an additional branch of the iconic Stonehenge monument last week.
As a result, the press release resuscitated discussions on the role of national monuments, tourism and cultural memory.
The uncovered branch, called Bluestonehenge, is made up of holes in the ground where approximately 25 massive stones had once been assembled and subsequently moved two miles away to Stonehenge 5000 years ago.
The findings suggest that Bluestonehenge, which is located on the River Avon, was once used for an array of religious life and death rituals, said Monica Smith, associate professor of anthropology.
Notably, the ash that scientists discovered indicate the inhabitants once burned massive quantities of timber, suggesting midwinter funerary celebrations in addition to the midsummer ones, Smith said.
But an especially intriguing element of this announcement for Smith is the temporal lag between the discovery and the press release.
“What is interesting is that this was a part of a long-term project that started in 2004. At any point this group could have come out and made the media announcement, it just happens to be that they are making the pronouncement now,” Smith said.
She said the group of British scientists has been publishing their findings in scholarly journals since the first discovery of the Stonehenge, but had not made an announcement to the media until now.
Liladhar Pendse, associate librarian for Slavic and European and Eurasian Studies, said the ongoing interest in these sites ““ especially when it comes to iconic monuments such as Stonehenge ““ can be understood as the human desire to physically localize culture.
“The location (then) becomes a marketing tool,” Pendse said.
Without written records of the purpose of the original structure, humans extrapolate, and the monument takes on new cultural significance, he said.
“These are objects of human curiosity. … We can understand it as a tracing of roots, not only on the part of the visitor, but also on the marketers,” Pendse said.
Because the discovery is an archaeological one, it is not necessarily something that will change tourists’ experience of Stonehenge.
“The things that are being excavated now are not things people can see easily, unless you’re an archaeologist,” Smith said.
Bruce Leewiwatanakul, a third-year biochemistry student who traveled to Stonehenge this summer with a UC Irvine group, said the trip was exciting because of the site’s reputation and not necessarily because of its structural reality.
“It’s one of those things you should see when you travel; one of the seven wonders of the world. But when it comes down to it, it’s just a bunch of rocks,” he said.
Leewiwatanakul said the discovery of Bluestonehenge will perhaps spark new interest in the site for people who haven’t seen it, but he didn’t think it would change much for those who have already visited.
What will change with the discovery, Smith said, is not necessarily the visiting experience but rather the way people will understand the landscape of an ancient people.
“What you can always say about archaeology, is the site, whether it is the pyramids or Stonehenge. … There is always more to it than what we can see from the big monument that stands,” she said.
With archaeology, it is possible for people to understand a particular site from a long-term perspective, she said.
“It can tell us about the original landscape and what ordinary people at the time would have perceived.”