Tower and Town, February 2022 (view the full edition)West WoodsIt’s not just about the bluebells... The lecture was given by the two archaeologists, Professors David Nash and Tim Darvill, who had published fascinating research in 2020, proving that the huge sarsens at Stonehenge came from West Woods. What enabled the research to make progress was the unexpected return of a core taken from a Stonehenge sarsen in 1958 as part of a maintenance project. It had been given to a member of the 1958 team, who then emigrated to the United States - it had sat there ever since.
It was something that we locals had suspected ever since it had first been suggested that the stones were sourced from the Marlborough Downs. Coming from Stonehenge, who on earth would have walked straight past the outcrop in West Woods, climbed the Downs, and set off back again, thereby hauling over 50 sarsens (20 tons each and 20/30ft high) further than was actually needed? The diagram below shows their best suggestion for a possible route from here (15 miles), plus two former ideas for a route from the Marlborough area. Using the River Avon is still a popular option.
The map overleaf shows where we were, and some other archaeology. Why not visit West Woods yourselves soon, and investigate? With many thanks to the Avebury Society for arranging such a topical lecture for the community.  Mary Spender |
This winter we learnt more about West Woods’ sarsen stones through an Avebury Society lecture in November and some amateur field walking!
Once Tim Darvill had that Stonehenge sample, modern geochemical analysis (rather like a DNA test) allowed him to establish a fingerprint that he could use to compare samples taken from this area, and also from several other sarsen outcrops in southern England. An expert on all things sarsen, he then showed us his statistical charts proving the near-perfect match to a West Woods site.
Even before this illuminating talk, John Osborne and I had been hunting for a polissoir (a sarsen used to polish and sharpen flint tools – there is a well known one on Fyfield Down) said to be in Pumphrey Wood, one of the many small woods named within West Woods. We had a grid reference supplied by Lynn Amadio, one of the lead archaeologists on a detailed LIDAR survey of West Woods published in 2011, and had tracked it down (with Peter Noble’s help) to a certain clearing in the Woods, but couldn’t be sure exactly which of the many large sarsens was a polissoir. However, imagine our joy when the professors confirmed that the spot we had found was very near the area from which they had taken their sample! Next on our list is to learn more about polissoirs, and how to recognise them.