29th July 2008, 11:47 PM
Please read to the end of the post before dismissing me as a Quinlank - it honestly has a relevant point.
"That just left one problem; Stonehenge is not a henge." - Mike Pitts, Hengeworld, p26.
"This bizarre contribution by the archaeological profession to the English language was first used by a British Museum Keeper, Thomas Kendrick, in 1932." - Mike Pitts, Hengeworld, p26.
"Henge. A ritual enclosure, usually circular or nearly so, consisting of a bank and ditch with one or two opposing entrances. The bank is usually outside the ditch. . ." - Dicitonary of archaeology, Penguin Reference, Ed. Paul Bahn.
"Henge. This term is used to denote various ceremonial sites which have certain features in common. They are almost all circualr or near circular in plan, and can range from about 9m to over 450m in diameter, with an average diameter of over 60m. The circular areas are usually defined by a bank and internal ditch, although some have an external ditch, or a ditch on both sides of the bank. . ." - The Handbook of British Archaeology, Lesley and Roy Adkins, P29.
According to the etymologist Walter Skeet (and being the first ever man to compile an etymology he should know), the word 'henge' is cognate with the words 'hinge' and 'hang', and seeing as this is the interweb and we have a lot of room, you may as well have the lot;
"Hang, to suspend, to be suspended. (E.)
The original strong verb was transitive;
the weak verb intransitive; they are now mixed up.
The weak verb is from A.S. hangian, pt. t. hangode,
to hang down (intr); derived from the base of the A.S. strong
verb hon (contracted form of hangan), pt. t. heng, pp. hangen + Icel.
hengja, weak verb, from hanga (pt. t. hekk for henk*, pp.hanginn);
G. hangen weak verb from G. hangen (pt. t. hing, pp.gehangen).
allied to L. cunctari, to delay, Skt. cank, to hesitate." - From Walter Skeet's Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (1882).
The point of inserting this definition is to highlight the fact that the very term for the monument class is misleading. Frequently people will wisely write that the word 'henge' has much in common with the words 'hang' and 'hinge' - but it very plainly doesn't - it is the same. all three mean, essentially, 'hang' and describe a suspension. Which has, to put it bluntly, **** all to do with banks and ditches or, for that matter, circles or near circles.
So, re-adjusting the straps of my helmet of calm, I put it that not only is the word chosen to describe the monument utterly inacuarate, but there also seems to be a difference of opinion about what, precisely, it describes.
There was a point. . .
Oh yes. So in that case, if the website is merely reflecting a widespread confusion about a yet to be perfectly defined term, isn't it a little harsh to reject it for that reason alone?
"That just left one problem; Stonehenge is not a henge." - Mike Pitts, Hengeworld, p26.
"This bizarre contribution by the archaeological profession to the English language was first used by a British Museum Keeper, Thomas Kendrick, in 1932." - Mike Pitts, Hengeworld, p26.
"Henge. A ritual enclosure, usually circular or nearly so, consisting of a bank and ditch with one or two opposing entrances. The bank is usually outside the ditch. . ." - Dicitonary of archaeology, Penguin Reference, Ed. Paul Bahn.
"Henge. This term is used to denote various ceremonial sites which have certain features in common. They are almost all circualr or near circular in plan, and can range from about 9m to over 450m in diameter, with an average diameter of over 60m. The circular areas are usually defined by a bank and internal ditch, although some have an external ditch, or a ditch on both sides of the bank. . ." - The Handbook of British Archaeology, Lesley and Roy Adkins, P29.
According to the etymologist Walter Skeet (and being the first ever man to compile an etymology he should know), the word 'henge' is cognate with the words 'hinge' and 'hang', and seeing as this is the interweb and we have a lot of room, you may as well have the lot;
"Hang, to suspend, to be suspended. (E.)
The original strong verb was transitive;
the weak verb intransitive; they are now mixed up.
The weak verb is from A.S. hangian, pt. t. hangode,
to hang down (intr); derived from the base of the A.S. strong
verb hon (contracted form of hangan), pt. t. heng, pp. hangen + Icel.
hengja, weak verb, from hanga (pt. t. hekk for henk*, pp.hanginn);
G. hangen weak verb from G. hangen (pt. t. hing, pp.gehangen).
allied to L. cunctari, to delay, Skt. cank, to hesitate." - From Walter Skeet's Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (1882).
The point of inserting this definition is to highlight the fact that the very term for the monument class is misleading. Frequently people will wisely write that the word 'henge' has much in common with the words 'hang' and 'hinge' - but it very plainly doesn't - it is the same. all three mean, essentially, 'hang' and describe a suspension. Which has, to put it bluntly, **** all to do with banks and ditches or, for that matter, circles or near circles.
So, re-adjusting the straps of my helmet of calm, I put it that not only is the word chosen to describe the monument utterly inacuarate, but there also seems to be a difference of opinion about what, precisely, it describes.
There was a point. . .
Oh yes. So in that case, if the website is merely reflecting a widespread confusion about a yet to be perfectly defined term, isn't it a little harsh to reject it for that reason alone?