Cultural Heritage with Pathisa Nyathi
IN the last article we observed that the Aubrey holes and the ditch and bank were the features that already existed. In the initial stages of construction. This was long before the use of stones, be they bluestones (igneous) or sarsens (sedimentary). Having identified spirituality as the basis and essence of Stonehenge there must be something else that was already in existence if the theme of spirituality is to stand the test.
That is the presence of tombs with burials, be they cremations or inhumation. Just as the name suggests, spirituality as posited by the ancients such as those who created and built Stonehenge, flows from the presence of spirits, ancestral spirits to be precise.
One would therefore, expect that there were bones within the area enclosed by the ditch and bank. I attach greater meaning and significance to the ditch more than the bank. I do so mostly from the standpoint that the circular ditch contained water which, as we saw in previous articles, is perceptually spiritually endowed.
The idea of spirituality exists among a people who posit the Duality of Being, that a human being has two components-material body and spirit. In the absence of that belief the idea of spirits does not make sense. We are therefore able to figure out the belief systems of the people who used Stonehenge from what we glean on the ground-their built environment and associated artifacts.
Some people do observe that castles in Europe had moats which played a defensive role. My own response to this postulation lies with the identification of settlement within the castle. I am not aware that research has yielded evidence that there were people who lived within Stonehenge. Yes, settlements have been identified, albeit outside and beyond Stonehenge. The theory of water in a ditch being a moat is, in my view, untenable.
If water in the ditch carries spiritual significance, then it fits the emerging picture of Stonehenge as being a spiritual site to a point where even it was also used to monitor the movement of celestial bodies that would still point to spirituality. Has it not been said, and rightly so, that African religion is an astral religion?
At Stonehenge the link between burials (read spirits) and eternity is pervasive. The ditch is circular in design. It contained water and the two characteristics point to eternity and thematic connectivity and relatedness. In fact, when we continue to identify more artifacts that were retrieved by researchers at Stonehenge we shall see more and more representations, metaphors and symbology of the idea of eternity.
Divination seems to have existed in Stonehenge if artifacts retrieved are anything to go by. Marble was retrieved and we know that among the Africans divination (diagnosis) marble was part of seashells used in the process of divination. Ceramic pots unearthed at Stonehenge were circular in design except that they had flat bases. The decorative motifs or icons were the same as those on African clay pots which represent expressions of eternity as they are inspired by procreation.
The motifs are inspired by the body of woman where Africans acknowledged the critical role played by women in the process of procreation. It will become patently clear that the unfolding theme of spirituality as expressed through the concept of eternity is readily identifiable within Stonehenge. It all seems to come together when spirituality is taken to be the central theme.
The Aubrey holes on their own would not have played a significant role. It takes two to tango. This means there had to be male and female elements. Aubrey holes express femininity, which is half the story of procreation. What may have been in the Aubrey holes were wooden posts which are ephemeral-they decayed. With the cylindrical wooden posts, the picture of procreation, of eternity, is brought to the fore. The erect or standing cylindrical post is a phallus, a continuing arrangement even when stones began to be used in place of wood.
Water in the ditch was likely linked to and playing a similar role to the water in the River Avon. However, with the latter’s ‘design’ not comforting to the required circularity, the water in the river was not qualitatively of the same spirituality or eternity as water in a perfectly circular ditch. Water among the ancients and even among the ‘modern’ people is perceived as playing a purifying role and would have imparted the idea of spirituality. Where altars exist in ritual sites, water is used to purify the altar in readiness for sacrifices, offerings and libations.
A purified ambience, which is one which has been rid evil/impurities facilitate communication with the spirit world.
This will become clearer when evidence of the existence of a clay urn points to smudging as having been practiced at Stonehenge. This is exactly what traditional doctors/healers and shamans’ practice in Africa.
That there were cremations at the bottom of the ditch, meaning there were bones in the ditch, links water with the idea of it being the abode of spirits and God. Where veneration and propitiation were conducted water would have been a necessary ingredient. The presence of water seems to tally with the broader role of Stonehenge. What will remain is sound which will have to await advances in Archaeological methodologies that are able to detect sounds, in particular music that was played at Stonehenge.
Our knowledge of the nature and operations of spirituality and its attended ceremonies and rituals persuades us to believe there was music that was played to communicate with the spirits that were represented by the presence of burials-the very basis for spirituality. So far, we have not identified any ideas that are contrary to or are not congruent with the overarching theme at Stonehenge. Where Science leads dictates research methodologies, issues and manifestations of spirituality may not be readily identifiable, yet we should know that the ancients did not share in the Science of today as we understand it.
Their lunar knowledge was different from our solar knowledge.
Spirits, once they exit the material body, begin a journey to another realm of existence. As they do so, they are not expected to come back before they are summoned to. Accordingly, the living progeny designed ‘valves’ to ensure a one-way movement, and no premature return. Researchers on Stonehenge speculate that the River Avon in its course to the sea, had some treacherous effect on those using boats in the direction of the sea. They suddenly saw themselves lost-going back where they had come from.
What researchers seem to suggest does make sense to an African Mind. A look at Ndebele burial practices will reveal exactly what they are postulating. A corpse in a house was not taken out through the door that was used when it was taken into the house. Instead, some part of a wall was destroyed and the corpse taken out through it.
Similarly, when the same corpse was taken out of the home for burial, the gate was not used. All this was calculated to ensure the spirit was confused so that it lost its way as it were and would thus not make a return. What the River Avon achieved the Ndebele were also doing in the southern end of the African continent. I try hard not to see the African Mind in Stonehenge, but I fail. In any case, my interest in Stonehenge was inspired and informed by the African Mind that I identified in the iconic English heritage site.
We shall, at some later stage, get to funerary or grave objects and see that the Stonehenge community was doing exactly what the Ndebele and indeed other African groups were doing. The journey to the spiritual realm was provided with various artifacts the person used in life plus, as appears to be the case at Stonehenge, food for the journey — TALAWUDLA!