Photos by Yvette Staelens

Everyone gathered at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, and the session was about domestic life, what it meant to be living, cooking, eating, sleeping, making, dying in the historic landscape.

We met at Woodhenge at 7pm on a chill night, with the night sky partly clouded but stars still visible. Danny had planispheres which you rotate so they show what the night sky will look like at any time of the year, so we looked at them in the bus headlights.  Back in the Richmond Fellowship bus to Larkhill, and then in the dark we walked to the east end of the Cursus. Tim explained the mystery of the sun rising and setting, then rising again back in the east, and how it was explained by the idea that the sun travelled beneath the disc of the earth in the waters beneath. We looked at an image of the Nebra Sky Disc, discovered in Switzerland in 2002, a bronze age description of the night sky. It was found with twin daggers, and there are stories of twins which reflect star twins in the sky and twins accompanying the sun on its underwater journey.

Danny used a laser pointer to show the Pleiades, visible as a loose cluster of stars, and we were a loose cluster of people, wondering how they would have looked more than five thousand years ago. Tim’s ipad was loaded with a astronomical map of the sky as it would have been in 3500 BC, when the Cursus was in use. We couldnt use the big telescope Danny had brought as it was too cloudy.

On one horizon the A303 was a ribbon of white and red light. Someone said it looked like the movement of blood around the body, and you could hear it well. Tim pointed out the distant cleft in the wood, which was 3km away and marked the end of the Cursus. People didn’t stop here and there is little archaeology, they moved from one end of the Cursus to the other, processing.

Then we walked, in the darkness, as the cloud cover grew denser and the stars were less evident. We could not see the milky way, and the air was colder. We gathered at a point before returning, back up the Cursus and then into the bus, back to Woodhenge – and off.

Blog and photos by Jessie Swinburne

This week we connected with the ancestors, through furthering our knowledge from the expertise of Professor Tim Darvill, and through embracing the beautiful, enchanting singing and music of Chartwell. This week was a time to listen, reflect and connect. We walked up to the Cuckoo Stone, and were surprised by Chartwell, in full traditional dress, playing music and singing.

We sat and listened to Chartwell and Tim. It felt a bit like a dream at times, as we thought about our pasts and the ancestry that links us all. Staring at the beautiful bright blue skies, as cliched as that is, made me smile and like the ancestors were some how trying to connect with us.

At 11 am we were silent and reflected on the sacrifices of the men who fought wars that have protected us and allow us to be here and live though our own journeys, whatever they might be…. it was especially memorable for me, being from a military background, as we are sat on the land that is shared with the military, who train hard and still sacrifice themselves for the protection of the country.  This was a nice link to hearing about Zimbabwe and the traditions and beliefs of Chartwell…, who as it turns out is named after a building that Winston Churchill is linked to.. .an odd connection again maybe…

We discussed the rocks and I hope a few people felt they had their questions answered, or perhaps more questions were formed that will fuel their energy and engagement with the project. Thanks to everyone, I think the group were at ease this week, and focus for the creative output was generated and I look forward to getting involved in the next week…… as well as wondering about the exciting night walk!!!

 

Here are some more of Jessie’s beautiful photos

 

 

Words and photos by Jessica Swinburne

Today we ventured out into the gloomy, soggy not so inspiring weather, but still determined to see, explore and learn about the landscape, ancestors and perhaps about ourselves too….

Lots of rainy looking trees, still their vitality really shone through, rain glistening lusciously, off their leafs..  as a group we stood under the trees and took the luscious beauty in.

We sang and came together in spirit as well as landscape, just as the leafs were falling all around us we sang too “Leafs are falling… autumn winds are calling…”

It felt like the weather didn’t really matter at that point, what was important was that we embraced the moment, we came together and sang together, and shared the fresh air the trees so givingly share with us….Speaking with people it was great to hear that they had shared this moment, that they may have felt bleak this morning but that the walking, the woodland and the singing had raised their mood.

We went on a wood scavenge and shared knowledge about wood, it’s properties, and things that our ancestors might have used wood for. It’s fascinating to think how we have progressed, yet how clever and resourceful our ancestors may have been.

We used the willow we had stripped from the woodland, to hypothesise its uses in previous times, while playing with it making circles, or trying to make musical instruments even! It was energising to be playful with the willow, and embrace silliness, bending it, and sword fighting….

A factual and playful week embracing the rain, and coming together through singing, learning and curiosity about our ancestors. It felt great to be out whatever the weather, connecting with one another.