The mystery of Stonehenge is solved

Brown patches of grass, dried up by short sprinklers, have inadvertently helped reveal one of the greatest mysteries about Stonehenge, the famous 4,000-year-old megalithic monument in England.

Archaeologists have long disagreed over whether Stonehenge was ever a perfect circle or always the imperfect circle it is today. They may have stumbled upon an answer to the debate thanks to a too-short water pipe used by the site’s conservation team.

Aerial photo of Stonehenge. Photo: Guardian

When the sprinkler used to keep the area green during heatwaves failed to reach a fractured section of the ancient stone circle, patches of brown, withered grass began to appear. Conservation officer Tim Daw was the first to notice this and called a colleague to investigate.

They found that the patches of brown grass seemed to match where the stones might have been, if the Neolithic and Bronze Age stone complex had been a perfect circle. Since Daw and his colleagues are not archaeologists, they invited experts to take a look and evaluate it.

The archaeologists quickly took aerial photographs before rain could fall, obliterating the brown patches. They also plotted the location of the withered patches of grass in western Wiltshire on a map.

The team found that some patches of brown grass actually matched where the stones would have been if the circle had been closed. Other patches of brown grass corresponded to known archaeological excavations, including trenches dug by engineer William Gowland in 1901.

All support the hypothesis that the Stonehenge megalithic monument today was once disturbed or lost from its original form.

The brown patches of grass at the ancient stone complex were discovered last summer, but the findings have only just been detailed in a report by Mr Daw and a colleague from English Heritage in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity.

The report points out that, despite being one of the most thoroughly studied prehistoric sites, Stonehenge continues to hold many surprises for posterity. It also highlights the value of combined ground- and air-based surveying of the site.

The accidental discovery is significant, said Susan Greaney, senior historian at English Heritage. “It shows that we need to study and understand Stonehenge much better,” she said.

What might have happened to the missing stones remains a mystery, Ms Greaney added. They could have been removed or used as family stones or even for road construction. However, the lack of a suitably sized sprinkler pipe may reduce the likelihood that the stone circle was intentionally left imperfect.

There are currently no plans to excavate beneath the brown patches of grass. However, English Heritage may not water the area during the next heatwave, in case it helps to unravel other mysteries of the ancient stone.

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