Avebury Stone Circles

 Avebury lies in the heart of the Wiltshire Downs just west of Marlborough - the most ancient borough in England.  Avebury stone circles are thought to have been constructed in Neolithic times between 2500 to 2000 BCE.  Avebury is the largest stone circles in the British Isles.  In the early 18th century farmers destroyed many of the stones in order to clear the land for fields,  Many believe that Avebury is an ancient Druid Temple.  The site covers about 28 acres and the village of Avebury overlaps it.  The site is completely surrounded by a ditch about 30 feet deep which encloses the outer circle of standing stones.  There are also two inner circles of stones.  Avebury stones are usually of two different shapes, pillars and diamonds, the pillars are thought to represent the male aspect and the diamonds to represent the female aspect.  Amazingly enough there is a pub in the very center of the site.  A very fine pub too, I might add!  

One can get up close and personal to the stones at Avebury, unlike Stonehenge.  I tried to lay my hands on as many as I could, it was a warm summer day and the stones radiated the heat back into my hands.  There was also a slight vibration from some, but not all of the stones that I touched.  One of the stones had a crater in it, just large enough for me to get my hand inside where  I found a small pebble that now resides in an onyx and silver reliquary. 

This is the skull of a child's skeleton found near Avebury (Wiltshire.) She is currently on display at the museum in Avebury. 'Charlie' was about 4 years old when she died and was buried by her people on Windmill Hill nearly 5,000 years ago during what we call the Neolithic. The Neolithic people were responsible for building places like Avebury and West Kennet long barrow. Whilst we cannot know everything of what they believed, it is a good and educated guess that ancestor worship was prominently involved.