From the archaeological discoveries and from what the classical sources tell us, the Druids appear to have had preparations for pain relief, cures for parasites, decongestants, remedies for the control of fever, antiseptics, disinfectants, antidotes for various poisons, and much more besides. And judging by both the plant extracts and medical instruments found in their tombs, they could render aid with difficult childbirth, stitch wounds, extract foreign bodies, and perform amputations with the patient under anesthesia. Their role as physicians would have been one very good reason for the general population to more than tolerate a caste whose religious beliefs differed from their own—especially as the Druids seem to have kept their medical knowledge to themselves (see chapter 13).
Remarkably the cultivation and harvesting of vegetation for medicinal purposes may actually explain why stone circles were built. As discussed, there was no need to build monolithic rings for astrological reasons relating to the bodies of the solar system. Nevertheless, some researchers have noted that the megaliths at stone circles do seem to have been placed to deliberately align with the rising and setting of particularly bright stars at specific times of the year.30 When first proposed in the 1960s, such theories involved complex mathematical calculations, because in the distant past stars would appear to be in slightly different locations relative to Earth compared with where they are today. Although stars, as opposed to the bodies of the solar system, remain in a set position compared with one another, over the course of many centuries this stellar background appears to move very slowly. Due to something called axial precession—a gradual shift in the Earth’s axis of rotation, or a slow wobble—the North and South Poles appear to move in circles against the fixed backdrop of stars, taking approximately twenty-six thousand years to complete each circuit. Accordingly where each star rises or sets today is somewhat different from the past. The proposed alignments were determined on this basis. These days anyone can see where the stars were in relation to the Earth at any period of history by downloading a common app to a cell phone.
Of course, as there are so many stars, such apparent alignments may be down to pure chance. Even so, stone circles do very much seem to have been deliberately sited at locations where the heavens could best be observed. One of the many riddles concerning stone circles is that nearly all of them were built some distance from the communities where their creators actually lived. A culture’s monuments or places of worship are usually built at the heart of the civilization’s settlements: shrines in villages, temples in towns, and more elaborate complexes or sanctuaries in cities. As discussed, during the long Megalithic era, apart from the foundations of small clusters of huts where it is thought the priesthood or custodians of the monuments may have dwelt, the nearest settlements were often miles from the stone circles. Villages were usually built in fertile valleys, offering such amenities as natural shelter, waterways, and good farming land, whereas the monolithic rings were invariably situated in locations such as open plains, barren moorlands, and exposed hills. These were settings that provided a panoramic view of the sky, which would plausibly explain why the circles were erected there: so that the firmament could be best observed.
Put simply, in the Northern Hemisphere, southerly stars rise and set above the horizon in gradually differing locations as the year progresses. Standing in the center of a stone circle, you could use the monoliths as fixed points to determine where such celestial objects were with accuracy. Stars in question appearing at a specific location above or between the stones would give you a precise moment of the year, a very exact calendar that would not again be available until the invention of the mechanical clock. Remember how the preparation of the ancient medicinal substances often required precision harvesting, sometimes down to the hour of night on a certain day, as the chemical properties of many plants gradually alter during the hours of darkness. You would not need such an accurate calendar for general horticultural purposes such as planting and reaping. These could be determined by the progression of the sun. The sun, however, would not enable such accurate timing, as it is large and bright. Working out the precise moment when the edge of the sun first moved around a stone, for example, would require looking through the kind of darkened glass now used by welders and solar astronomers. Without such a glass you would go blind trying to work it out and still not have a clear enough view of the sun’s disk; besides which, many such observations would need to be made at night. (The moon could not stand in for the sun as its orbit around the Earth, coupled with the solar orbit of both gravitationally linked bodies, makes its movements appear far too erratic.) By using certain stars as guides—when they were in a particular position with relation to the stones—you could accurately determine a very specific moment of any day of the year. The stone circle would serve as an accurate clock to reveal the precise times for the various processes involved in the preparation of medications. (A ring of wooden posts could serve the same purpose, and archaeologists have found indications of such structures, but they would be prone to movement due to weather, not to mention rot; besides which, circles of stone would be more permanent and more impressive status symbols for those who used them.)
As we have seen, stone circles were not constructed to the same design: their size and number of stones varied. This might be an argument against their being purely religious monuments, but it wouldn’t matter for an astronomical calculator. All you needed to do was remember where each star was meant to be in relation to your own stone circle when a particular plant needed to be harvested, or its leaves, stem, bud, flower, seeds, fruit, or sap needed to be picked, cut, or extracted.
Stone circles would remain as accurate timepieces for years, but after a while axial precession would begin to throw them out of sync. However, the Druids and their forebears might have made the necessary adjustments: the classical writers suggest that they had been quite capable of performing such mathematical calculations. Julius Caesar and Pomponius Mela both say that the Druids had expert knowledge of the stars and their apparent movements,31, 32 while Hippolytus relates that the Druids were accomplished mathematicians, likening their wisdom to that of Pythagoras, one of the greatest mathematicians of ancient Greece.33
Often, though, it seems that new stones were erected or old ones moved to compensate for the precession. We have already seen how, over the long period during which megalithic monuments were used, many stone circles had additional rings of monoliths added periodically in the immediate vicinity, often within a few hundred feet of the original (see chapter 6). For example, further stone circles were added to either side of the Hurlers in Cornwall; at Knowlton in Dorset three further circles were built within a stone’s throw of Church Henge, one to the south, the others to the northwest; on Moor Divock in Cumbria at least four further stone circles were built within half a mile of an original over a period of around 2,000 years; and at Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran no fewer than six stone circles were added in the vicinity over a period of more than 2,500 years until the first century BCE. The grander stones circles often had additional rings built inside them, such as at Stonehenge and Avebury.
Undoubtedly, stone circles became highly prestigious sites in their own right, serving as locations for various ceremonial activities, as evidenced by archaeology (see chapter 9). We know from the classical sources that the Druids venerated a sun deity and that outlying king stones marked important days in the annual solar cycle, such as the solstices and equinoxes: times when ritual or social events must have occurred. However, when even the inner rings of the most impressive stone circles no longer aligned correctly with the right stars, the circles still were such spectacular monuments that they probably continued to be used for mass gatherings. This might account for why satellite stone circles were erected at the end of avenues linked to the main ring, such as the West Amesbury Henge at Stonehenge (see chapter 7) and the Overton Hill Sanctuary at Avebury (see chapter 6). Interestingly, geophysics surveys conducted at both of these sites have revealed that
the stones were periodically adjusted over time. It was perhaps at these new circles that the calculations were made, while the original, grander monuments continued to be employed primarily for ceremonial purposes.
Stone circles were clearly ceremonial meeting places of the Druids and their forebears, but judging by the medical skills of this elite caste, for the general population who did not necessarily share the Druids’ religious beliefs, the megalithic rings may have served as healing sanctuaries where diagnoses were made, surgical procedures performed, and cures dispensed; in effect, stone circles may have been the ERs or casualty units of the time.
13
Secret of the Stones and the Red-Haired Druids
THE CLASSICAL AUTHORS TELL US that it took years of instruction for Druids to become the accomplished physicians and apothecaries they evidentially were (see chapter 11). But there’s a mystery here. The Greeks and Romans also had a surprising amount of medical knowledge for the time, and they too had physicians who spent years in education. Their schooling, however, involved the study of centuries of acquired knowledge conserved on scrolls and parchments housed in libraries. The peoples of the British Isles—the Neolithic, Beaker, Wessex, and Celtic cultures—had no form of writing until the Romans arrived. In a wet climate such as that of the British Isles, even during warmer times, with no permanent buildings to preserve them, written documents would not have survived long: even if someone had gotten around to inventing writing, it would have been of little use. So how was their shared wisdom, gradually acquired over millennia, actually preserved? The answer to this question leads us to what was perhaps the crucial and most extraordinary role the Druids performed. It seems that they themselves—their minds—were the living libraries of the ancient cultures of Britain and Ireland.
Early Irish literature and the biographies of the first Christian missionaries to Ireland frequently refer to the Druids as poets, their verse considered a “sacred art” in which the collective knowledge of the Celts was preserved. Reference is made to a distinctive class of Druids who acted as the guardians of wisdom.1 Called the Filid (singular Fili), they were charged with memorizing society’s acquired learning in the form of poetry, as its rhyming, rhythmic scheme was easier to recall than prose.2 The classical writers Strabo and Diodorus refer to a druidic sect called the Bardoi, seemingly the same as the Irish Filid.3, 4 (It is from them that the medieval word “bard” was derived to mean a Gaelic or Welsh poet and later used as an epithet for Shakespeare.) It seems that the Filid or Bardoi were divided into groups, like the sections of a library, each group collectively committing to memory a particular subject area, such as history, agriculture, or medicine, while some composed new poems to record current events or fresh ideas. Caesar, whose writings reveal more about the Druids than any other ancient works, says that these people spent years acquiring their knowledge in the form of vast numbers of verses they were required to learn by heart. Evidently they employed what today we would call mnemonic techniques—such as visual imagery, acronyms, rhymes, and other cognitive strategies—to efficiently store and retrieve information. They were selected as children, he tells us, probably from those already demonstrating a natural aptitude for memory.5
The Druids had inherited a remarkable way to preserve collective knowledge in a world without writing. They occupied a unique position among the varied ethnic groups of the British Isles, ensuring them a privileged place in society. So how did it all begin? As we have surmised, the stone circles were erected primarily to calculate the meticulous timings involved in the preparation of a whole range of medicines (see chapter 12). It would seem that, having no form of writing, the ancient herbalists who initiated the building of the first stone circles were impelled to conceive a sophisticated system of memorizing their medical expertise gained by trial and error over generations. The knowledge that they committed to collective memory, however, came to incorporate more than just medicinal matters. These people became living archives of the laws, codes, and history of their culture. There evolved a learned elite who lived apart from other members of society: the priestly caste of the late Neolithic age. When others migrated to the British Isles, they too appreciated the value of this exceptional sect. The Druids’ exclusive role to preserve knowledge, along with their healing skills, made them impossible to live without. The price to pay, so to speak, was to accept them as overseers. It would appear that by acting as advisors, judges, and arbitrators, this remarkable order of men and women cemented the diverse tribal cultures of the British Isles into what was effectively a single society for over three thousand years.
The Celts called them Truth Sayers—druids in their vernacular—but what previous inhabitants of the British Isles had called them is unknown, perhaps an equivalent term in their now forgotten tongues. We started our investigation by addressing the central mystery of the Megalithic culture: how it survived for so long, over such a wide area, without the usual trappings of civilization (see chapter 1). It seems it was the Druids and their predecessors who held it together. And how did it end? Ultimately it may not only have been the Romans’ military might and later their religious influence that brought about their demise, but also the introduction of writing that came with them. The Druids, as living libraries, eventually became superfluous. And with their extinction the stone circles were finally abandoned.
What we have pieced together concerning this extraordinary sect has facilitated a new perspective on the megalithic monuments of the British Isles. One of the enduring puzzles concerning the stone circles is why they varied so much from one another in their size and number of monoliths (see chapter 6). If they were used for the reasons postulated—as a means to determine the precise timings essential for the cultivation and preparation of medicinal plants—then their exact size or number of stones wouldn’t matter. A specific time of the year could be determined by the position of a particular star—any star—in relation to a particular stone—any stone—so long as you remembered the juxtaposition and what it related to: the time to pick a certain berry, fruit, or flower; extract sap from a tree or shrub; take a cutting from a root; harvest a plant; or whatever was necessary for the medicinal ingredient. There must have been a myriad of such star-stone relationships to memorize for the manufacture of countless concoctions, but memory was something the stone circle builders seem to have developed to a fine art. Some stone circles do appear to have been unnecessarily large, but this was probably a matter of prestige. Remember that those who used them were also regarded as mystics and prophets. As in most societies, such people would likely be acclaimed with elaborate symbols of their status. Stone circles were probably as big as the local population and geography allowed. The richest and most populated area of the British Isles was the mid-south of England, and it was there that Avebury, the largest stone circle, and Stonehenge, the most elaborate stone circle, were built.
There are still many enigmas concerning these ancient monuments. The satellite stone circles at megalithic complexes may be explained by the need for new rings due to axial precession (see chapter 12), but what about the henges, avenues, and artificial hills? They may have been inspired by some purely religious motive. If alien beings were to visit a postapocalyptic Earth where all records had been destroyed, would they ever figure out the reasoning behind the design of churches, synagogues, and mosques? Or perhaps there was some other purpose. Without records, who would guess the reasoning behind the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, or the Roman Coliseum? And there are other mysteries too. What were the petrospheres? Why were spirals carved onto the monoliths of early megalithic sites (see chapter 4)? Perhaps we’ll never know. However, we are now in a position to explain what purpose Stonehenge actually served. Everything we have examined suggests that it was primarily an essential aid to preparing medicines, modified over the centuries to compensate for the apparent and gradual shifts in the positions of stars. There were clearly embellishments, such as its unique lintel stones, perhaps to afford it
greater prestige, or maybe they held some sacred significance. The real secret of Stonehenge, however, lies not with its stones, but with the remarkable people who built and maintained it: the physicians and living libraries of the prehistoric British Isles. It clearly served as the meeting place for successive cultures where others could interact with these enigmatic people. What was Stonehenge? To those who officiated there it may have embodied many beliefs, but to the population at large it would have been a place of healing—a hospital.
The full extent of whatever medical knowledge the Druids possessed has been lost to history. Modern pharmacology may have surpassed their ancient medicinal know-how, but have we rediscovered it all? Astonishingly the Druids might even have found a cure for cancer. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder tells us that the Druids “held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe.” He describes how they cut the plant at a specific time of the year as determined by the position of the heavenly bodies and prepared it in a secret way to create a cure for “the most grievous maladies.”6 Today, scientists have extracted a compound called lectin ML1 from mistletoe for use in chemotherapy. The substance adheres to natural antibodies, enabling them to recognize and attack cancer cells.7 We can only guess what cures the Druids possessed. Sadly their secrets seem to have died with them. The last Druids were recorded in fifth-century Ireland (see chapter 10). So is this when and where the final vestige of the Megalithic age ultimately came to an end?
The Megalithic era—it all began with the Stones of Stenness around 3100 BCE, Stonehenge was its finest achievement, and it persisted for 3,500 years. But where was the last stone circle to be used by Druids? And where were the last of these people laid to rest? Stone circles were still being used by the Celts in Ireland until the mid-fifth century, when the country was rapidly converted to Christianity (see chapter 11). Significantly the last stone circles in Ireland, where archaeology has uncovered evidence of the most recent ceremonial activity, all have an unusual feature: one or two freestanding monoliths erected close to the center of the ring. Examples include the Uragh Stone Circle near Tuosist in County Kerry, the Robinstown Great Stones in County Wexford, and Kenmare in County Kerry. Although less impressive than their predecessors, new megalithic complexes were also still being built at this time. Carrigagulla is a late megalithic complex near Ballinagree in County Cork that includes a 25-foot-diameter stone circle of fifteen monoliths (originally seventeen) and an accompanying avenue, 800 feet long, leading to a cove of five standing stones. Inside the stone circle there originally stood two further monoliths; one now lies fallen, and the other was removed in the nineteenth century.8
Wisdomkeepers of Stonehenge Page 22