thumb|Beach at Old Hunstanton
Seahenge, also known as Holme I, was a prehistoric monument located in the village of Holme-next-the-Sea, near Old Hunstanton in the English county of Norfolk. A timber circle with an upturned tree root in the centre, Seahenge, along with the nearby timber circle Holme II, was built in the spring-summer of 2049 BC, during the early Bronze Age in Britain. Contemporary theory is that they were used for ritual purposes; in particular Holme II has been interpreted as a mortuary monument that may originally have formed the boundary of a burial mound.
In order to preserve the timber in the site from exposure to air, due to recent exposure of the remains by the sea, it was excavated in spring 1999, and its remains taken to an archeological museum and then a maritime museum for preservation of the wood. In 1999, a reproduction was put up by some of the excavators, near the site. In 2008, after further study, a second reproduction was erected near the original's location. According to writer Watson (2005) "Confirming that all the trees had been felled at the same time suggested strongly that the building of the circle was a single event. Further, a great amount of work would have been involved in felling, transporting, preparing and erecting the timbers, so it was likely too that the job was done by a large number of people – possibly an entire community or an extended family – working together." The pair found a Bronze Age axe head in the silt, but at first did not know what it was. Intrigued, Lorimer visited the area repeatedly, eventually finding a lone tree stump that had been unearthed on the beach – unusual in that it seemed to be upside down. A metal detectorist friend later recognised the site's importance, so they contacted the Castle Museum in Norwich. Archaeologists at the museum examined the axe head, the second one found on Holme Beach within only a few months. Lorimer continued to monitor the inverted tree stump. Wave erosion gradually exposed a surrounding ring of wooden posts, confirming that the site was an intentional human construction. Lorimer contacted Castle Museum again. (developed by Alistair Carty of Archaeoptics) to precisely image timbers in three dimensions, allowing archaeologists to create a virtual model of the whole site. They were later transferred to Portsmouth where maritime archaeology experts at the Mary Rose Trust continued the programme at their purpose-built site.
Reconstruction
Conservation work is complete, with a reconstructed Seahenge near its original site, at the Lynn Museum and opened to the public in April 2008.
Holme II
One hundred metres east, another, much larger ring was found, consisting of two concentric timber circles surrounding a hurdle-lined pit containing two oak logs. Known as Holme II, dendrochronology gives a date identical to Seahenge: 2049 BC. This is the first time that two adjacent prehistoric monuments have been shown to have been built together. Details of the construction of Holme II differ from that of Holme I (Seahenge): for instance the palisade of Holme I had the tree bark intact, while it was removed for Holme II, giving the two enclosures contrasting dark and light colours. One suggestion is that the upturned roots in Holme I were used for excarnation, while the remains were later buried in Holme II, which may have contained a burial mound (now washed away) extending to the inner timber circle which would have formed the revetment (outer securing border) of the mound.
Seahenge provides the inspiration for a timber circle depicted in Catherine Fisher's 2005 novel Darkhenge. Fisher discusses a prehistoric monument featuring an upturned oak tree surrounded by 24 timbers, each symbolising one of the characters in the ogham tree alphabet. This circle, known as Darkhenge, is described as being located at Avebury in Wiltshire and is portrayed as being the portal to Annwyn, the underworld of Welsh mythology.
Footnotes
References
<!-- end "refs=" -->