Archive - Avebury Stone Circle
June 16, 2019
Each Sunday we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD was originally published June 21, 2013.
Photographer: Greg Parker
Summary Authors: Greg Parker; Jim Foster
Shown above is the Avebury Stone Circle, which surrounds the village of Avebury in southwest England. This Neolithic age monument, constructed nearly 3,000 years ago, consists of a henge, a large stone circle as well as two smaller circles. It apparently was used in some type of ancient ceremony. Unlike nearby Stonehenge, however, there’s no obvious link to alignment of the stones (sandstone blocks) with the position of the Sun.
Avebury is a less well-known stone circle than Stonehenge, but it covers a far bigger area – it’s huge. The outer circle has a diameter of over 1,000 ft (305 m). Plus, unlike Stonehenge, you can actually walk up and touch the stones, at the moment at least. The bottom photo shows a close up of one of the surviving Avebury stones – the biggest ones weigh over 40 tons (36 tonnes) and are 14 ft (4.2 m) in height. Photos taken on May 31, 2013, and processed by Noel Carboni.
Photo Details: Top - Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens: EF28mm f/2.8; Focal Length: 28.0mm; Aperture: f/8.0; Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320); ISO equiv: 100; Software: Adobe Photoshop CC (Windows).
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