Category: Civilization, History, and Anthropology

—“Caesar writes that he had a problem with the Druids. They had the respect of the general populace and did not appear to be easily swung by the normal appeals to a leader’s desire for wealth or to consolidate power. This made them difficult to control.

Caesar writes that in the end the only way to control them was to order that the Druids ‘groves’ be cut down. The normal understanding of this translation from Latin into ‘groves’ is a collection of trees but this may not be right.

Perhaps those ‘groves’ were in fact stone circles.

In order to remove the Druids as an alternative power base that was frustrating Caesar’s attempts to control the British Isles he had to remove their totems of power and rob the Druids of their equipment or arenas to rob them of their respected position in society.”—

Groves were groves. The circles were evolved from home (hearth) burials. Stone circles (i think) from extending home (hearth) burials.

—“megalithic constructions began as early as 5000 BCE in northwestern France[3], and that the custom and techniques spread via sea routes throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region from there.[4][5] The Carnac Stones in France are estimated to have been built around 4500 BCE[6] and many of the formations include megalithic stone circles. The earliest stone circles in England were erected 2500-3000 BCE[7] during the Middle Neolithic (c. 3700–2500 BCE). Around that time stone circles began to appear in coastal and lowland areas towards the north of the United Kingdom. The Langdale axe industry in the Lake District appears to have been an important early centre for circle building, perhaps because of its economic power.[citation needed] Many had closely set stones, perhaps similar to the earth banks of henges, others were made from unfounded boulders rather than standing stones. Recent research shows that two oldest stone circles in Britain (Stenness and Callanish) were constructed to align with solar and lunar positions.[8][9]

Some sites do not contain evidence of human dwelling.[citation needed] This suggests that stone circles were constructed for ceremonies. The variety of the stones excludes the possibility that they had astronomical observation purposes of any precision.”—