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| My Favourite Planet > English > Europe > United Kingdom > England > Avebury > gallery |
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| Avebury, Wiltshire |
Avebury gallery |
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A row of megaliths in the southwest sector of the outer circle of Avebury Henge. |
The now famous "Barber Stone" (third from left in the above photo) is named after the skeleton of a man found beneath it in 1938 by marmalade millionaire Alexander Keiller during his restorations of the henge.
The stone was one of many which were buried in ditches during medieval times as part of successive attempts during the Christian era to destroy the local pagan monuments.
With the skeleton was a leather purse containing early 14th century coins from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), a metal needle or pin and a pair of scissors. On this scanty evidence it is thought that the man was either a barber-surgeon or a tailor. His remains showed signs of injuries, though the cause of his death is unknown. It is also not known whether he was buried under the stone or if it fell on him.
Did he die while helping to bury the stone? If he was an itinerant barber-surgeon and just happened to die in or near the village, perhaps the locals decided it was convenient bury him with the stone while they were at it. He may have been a non-Christian or for some other reason not deemed worthy to be buried in the church graveyard. Or perhaps he was murdered and his corpse surreptitiously bunged under the stone...
Keiller donated the skeleton to the Royal College of Surgeons in London were it was thought it to have been destroyed during World War II bombing. However, recently it was rediscovered in the basement of the Natural History Museum. |
the "Barber Stone"
under which a 14th century skeleton was found. |
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Articles and photos: © David John, except where otherwise specified.
Many thanks to Mark Mallett, my host and guide in Wiltshire.
Some of the information and photos in this guide to Avebury
first appeared in 2005 on www.davidjohnberlin.de.
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