Yeah, but the weather's better in June

Recent evidence seems to point to the original use of Stonehenge as a site to celebrate the winter Solstice. These days, as many as 20,000 people celebrate the summer Solstice at Stonehenge (which is closed the whole next day to clean up the mess), but the archaeology, combined with knowledge of the natural cycles of pigs, points to a winter festival:

Dr Umburto Albarella, an animal bone expert at the University of Sheffield's archaeology department, which is studying monuments around Stonehenge, said pigs in the Neolithic period were born in spring and were an early form of domestic pig that farrowed once a year. The existence of large numbers of bones from pigs slaughtered in December or January supports the view that our Neolithic ancestors took part in a winter solstice festival.

Read the whole article.

- Via the ever-amazing Mirabilis.ca