The Goloring is an ancient earthworks monument located near Koblenz , Germany . It was created in the Bronze Age era, which dates back to the Urnfield culture (1200–800 BCE .). During this time a widespread solar cult is believed to have existed in Central Europe .
31-400: The Goloring consists of a circular ditch of 175 metres in diameter with an outside embankment extending to 190 metres. Technically this makes the structure a henge monument, although the use of the term henge outside of Britain is sometimes disputed. The outside embankment is approx. 7 metres wide and 80 cm high. The ditch has an upper width of 5–6 metres and is approx. 80 cm deep. In
62-668: A calendar, in a similar vein to Stonehenge , Pömmelte and Goseck . It is located within the boundaries of a former military dog training camp, but was acquired by the town of Kobern-Gondorf in June 2004. The Goloring is currently not accessible to the general public but there are plans under way to build a historic park with the earthworks at its centre. 50°20′21″N 7°26′23″E / 50.33917°N 7.43972°E / 50.33917; 7.43972 Henge A henge loosely describes one of three related types of Neolithic earthwork . The essential characteristic of all three
93-506: A long barrow, such as the West Kennet Long Barrow at Avebury, Wiltshire , or, as in the case of Stonehenge, Mesolithic post holes. A circle of large pits c. 2 km ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 mi) across is centered on Durrington Walls henge. Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age cairns as at Arbor Low . Examples of such ritual landscapes are: Burials have been recorded at
124-402: A multiple-causewayed ditch and entrances at cardinal points, the roundels are described by John Hodgson (2003) as not being positioned with defensive aims in mind. The largest, at Kothingeichendorf, appeared to be "midway between a henge and a causewayed enclosure". Alasdair Whittle (2005) also views the development of the henge as a regional variation within a European tradition that included
155-402: A number are placed at a latitude of 55 degrees north, where the same two markers can indicate the rising and setting sun for both the spring and autumn equinoxes. But as henges are present from the extreme north to the extreme south of Britain, their latitude could not have been of great importance. Formalisation is commonly attributed to henges: indications of the builders' concerns to control
186-424: A number of excavated henges, both pre-dating the henge and as a result of secondary reuse. For example: Efforts to delineate a direct lineage for the henge from earlier enclosures have not been conclusive. Their chronological overlap with older structures makes it difficult to classify them as a coherent tradition. They seem to take the concept of creating a space separate from the outside world one step further than
217-483: A slight tendency to have an entrance set in the north or north-east quarter. Class II henges generally have their axes aligned approximately south-east to north-west or north-east to south-west. It has been suggested that the stone and timber structures sometimes built inside henges were used as solar declinometers to measure the position of the rising or setting sun. These structures do not appear in all henges; and when they do, often they are considerably more recent than
248-848: A variety of ditched enclosures. He notes that henges and the grooved ware pottery often found at them are two examples of the British Neolithic not found on the Continent. Caroline Malone (2001) also says that henges were not built in the rest of Western Europe, but they developed from a broader tradition of enclosure to become "a phenomenon of the British Isles, a native tradition with sophisticated architecture and calendrical functions." Henges may have been used for rituals or astronomical observation rather than day-to-day activity. That their ditches are located inside their banks indicates that they were not used for defence, and that
279-427: Is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches would have served defensive purposes poorly, henges are not considered to have been defensive constructions (cf. circular rampart ). The three henge types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area: The word henge is a backformation from Stonehenge ,
310-514: The Avebury ritual site featured a giant, flat-topped barrow called Silbury Hill , which is considered the largest artificial mound in prehistoric Europe. The evidence of contemporary settlement within these landscapes is often sparse or absent altogether; conversely, non-utilitarian structures and artifacts are typically abundant. The Ring of Brodgar , part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney , as
341-676: The British Isles . They state that similar, much earlier, circles on the European continent, such as Goseck circle (which has no bank), and later ones such as Goloring are not proper "henges". But The Penguin Archaeological Guide (Bahn, 2001) does not comment on geographical locations for henges. Julian Cope , in The Megalithic European , proposes that the henge was a regional development from
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#1732794461705372-664: The Neolithic and Bronze Ages . Most are dated to around 3500–1800 BC, though a mustatil in Arabia has been dated to between 5300 and 5000 BC. The term emerged in the early 1980s in British archaeology and was contrasted with more conventional studies of monument sites concerned with dating , classification, and political divisions. Ritual landscapes are often associated with origin myths, ancestors, homes of spiritual essences, or locales where mythical or historical events occurred while
403-588: The World Heritage Site on Orkney , Scotland is called, is the other most famous site in Britain. Ritual landscapes in Ireland —such as Brú na Bóinne (another WHS), Tara and Uisneach —include ancient tombs, stone circles , standing stones , enclosures , avenues , and natural features. In other cultures, the ritual landscape is strongly influenced by the environment. This is demonstrated in
434-455: The causewayed enclosure , and they focus attention on an internal point. In some cases, the construction of the bank and ditch was a stage that followed other activity on the site. At Balfarg , North Mains , and Cairnpapple , for example, earlier cremations and deliberate smashing of pottery predate the enclosure. Concentrations of henges occur over much of Britain. Orkney (Cunliffe 2001) and Wessex (Burl 1969) have both been suggested as
465-585: The 10th century, with a root of either hencg ' hinge ' , or hen(c)en ' to hang , to suspend ' . Henges may be classified as follows: Sub groups exist for these when two or three internal ditches are present rather than one. Henges are usually associated with the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and especially with the pottery of this period: Grooved Ware, Impressed Wares (formerly known as Peterborough Ware), and Beakers. Sites such as Stonehenge also provide evidence of activity from
496-550: The Europe-wide causewayed enclosure . He notes it appeared following a cultural upheaval in around 3000 BC, which inspired the peoples of Neolithic Europe to develop more independently. He notes the rondel enclosures of Bavaria 's Isar Valley , which according to investigations by the German archaeologist R. A. Maier, "drew comparisons with the henge monuments and causewayed enclosures of the British Isles." Although still with
527-403: The arrival at, entrance into, and movement within the enclosures. This was achieved by placing flanking stones or avenues at the entrances of some henges, or by dividing the internal space with timber circles . While some henges were the first monuments to be built in their areas, others were added to already important landscapes, especially the larger examples. The concentric nature of many of
558-585: The barrier of the earthworks was more likely symbolic than functional. Following arguments presented for Irish Iron Age enclosures, Barclay suggested that they are 'defensive': that the ditch and bank face something 'dangerous' inside the enclosure. He has also suggested that the considerable range of elements surrounded by the earthworks, and the very long date range, are because henges were designed mainly to enclose pre-existing ceremonial sites that were seen as 'ritually charged' and therefore dangerous to people. It has been conjectured that whatever took place inside
589-638: The case of Tibet , the verticality of the environment dominated the constructions of the ritual landscape and features therein such as structures and tombs, which were built to resemble the mountains. In Britain and Ireland, ritual landscapes went out of use relatively abruptly around 1500 BC and were replaced by smaller-scale shrines, which were often located near rivers, marshes, and springs. These smaller shrines usually feature offerings of food and metalwork and continued to be created and used into Roman and even Saxon times. Today they are often described as Celtic. This article relating to archaeology
620-438: The enclosures was intended to be separate from the outside world and perhaps known only to select individuals or groups. The alignment of henges is a contentious issue. Popular belief is that their entrances point towards certain heavenly bodies. But henge orientation is highly variable and may have been determined more by local topography than by desire for symbolic orientation. Statistical analysis showed that Class I henges have
651-667: The famous monument in Wiltshire . Stonehenge is not a true henge, as its ditch runs outside its bank, although there is a small extant external bank as well. The term was first coined in 1932 by Thomas Kendrick , who later became the Keeper of British Antiquities at the British Museum . A broader usage of henge to refer to standing-stone monuments was recorded in Yorkshire in 1740, from Old English usage dating to at least
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#1732794461705682-639: The henges. Thus, they are not necessarily connected with the henge's original function. It has been conjectured that the henges would have been used to synchronize a calendar to the solar cycle for purposes of planting crops or timing religious rituals. Some henges have poles, stones or entrances that indicate the position of the rising or setting sun during the equinoxes and solstices , while others appear to frame certain constellations. Additionally, many are placed so that nearby hills either mark or do not interfere with such observations. Finally, some henges appear to be placed at particular latitudes. For example,
713-492: The interior one can find a roughly circular leveled platform, which is about elevated by about 1 metre. The platform has been created based on piled gravelled rock and has a diameter of 95 metres. Remnants of a 50 cm thick wooden post with an estimated height of 8–12 metres were excavated in the middle of this platform. The design of the ditch is unique in Germany, and makes the earthworks similar to many British monuments of
744-759: The internal features, such as the five rings of postholes at Balfarg or the six at Woodhenge, may represent a finer distinction than the inside-out differences suggested by henge earthworks. The ordering of space and the circular movement suggested by the sometimes densely packed internal features indicates a sophisticated degree of spatial understanding. Hengiform monuments, or mini henges, are distributed throughout England and mainland Scotland (with examples as far north as Caithness), though no examples have been found in Wales. Pits, cremations , postholes , stone-sockets, and graves have been found within them, and postholes and cremation pits have also been found to be present close to
775-434: The landscape features include social memory and the preservation of the myths, histories, trusts, and the belongings of a people. Aside from a place of origin and mythology, ritual landscapes were also considered places of protection and renewal. In Britain, many ritual landscapes were gradually built around the two earliest classes of Neolithic communal monuments: long barrows and causewayed enclosures . For instance,
806-561: The later Bronze Age Wessex culture . Henges often contain evidence of a variety of internal features, including timber or stone circles, pits, or burials , which may pre- or post-date the henge enclosure. A henge should not be confused with a stone circle within it, as henges and stone circles can exist together or separately. At Arbor Low in Derbyshire , all the stones except one are laid flat and do not seem to have been erected, as no stone holes have been found. Elsewhere, often only
837-488: The original provenance of the monument type; however, others remain unconvinced (Barclay 2005). Unlike earlier enclosure monuments, henges were not usually built on hilltops but on low-lying ground, often close to watercourses and good agricultural land. Some scholars, such as the editors of the 1982 edition of the Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology (Bray and Trump, 1982), have claimed that henges are unique to
868-859: The same era. It is often compared to Stonehenge in England, which has similar diametric proportions. Dr. Josef Röder investigated the Goloring between 1940–48 and detailed his findings in his book The Goloring: An iron-temporal sanctum of the Henge character in the Koberner Forrest . He believed that the central post could be aligned with a nearby volcano to determine certain dates in February, May, August and November each year. These times will have been important for crop farming, and also coincide with Celtic festivals. This may indicate Goloring's use as
899-551: The site in some cases. They typically have either one entrance or two opposing entrances. In plan, a mini henge can be mistaken for a ploughed-out round barrow , although the former tend to be slightly larger and their earthworks more substantial. As with ordinary henges, they are thought to have served ritual purposes and are thought to be of late Neolithic date. Henge enclosures often contain or lie close to one or more ordinary henges. Finds of animal bone, grooved ware pottery, and evidence of dwellings have been found and coupled with
930-413: The stone holes remain to indicate a former circle. Some of the best-known henges are at: Henges sometimes formed part of a ritual landscape or complex, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments inside and outside the henge. Earlier monuments associated with a later henge might include Neolithic monuments such as a cursus (e.g., at Thornborough Henges the central henge overlies the cursus), or
961-669: The time and energy needed to build them, it is considered that they must have been important social centres analogous to tribal capitals. Two or four evenly spaced entrances lead through the earthwork to the centre. A henge monument was restored at the Devil's Quoits in Oxfordshire between 2002 and 2008. In modern times a number of henge type monuments have been built, examples include: Ritual landscape Ritual landscapes or ceremonial landscapes are large archaeological areas that were seemingly dedicated to ceremonial purposes in