On Druids and Stonehenge

The leader of one component of the neo-druids has raised an objection to the display of bones at the Stonehenge visitors' center. One has to question his authority to speak for all those descended from the builders of the monument, but it has raised once again the question of whether the original druids did or did not have anything to do with Stonehenge. For some decades it has been accepted dogma that they did not. I would argue that the truth is probably the opposite. The neo-druids certainly have nothing to do with Stonehenge, except for claiming it for their religion. However, to say that the original druids had nothing to do with it is not supportable. We do not, in fact, know when the druids, as a component of the ancient learned class of Western Europe, came into existence. The earliest mention I’m aware of is said to have been by Anacharsis, writing around 600 BC. We also know that Julius Caesar, writing in the middle of the first century BC, claimed that the druids originated in Britain. So, we cannot say they have anything to do with the origins of Stonehenge, which as we know dates to far earlier. On the other hand, we really can’t say that they did not. However, I believe we can say that they must have been associated in later times. While Stonehenge was constructed in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, its use did not cease upon its completion. About thirty years ago, I raised this question with Richard Atkinson, who carried out excavations there and wrote one of the best known works on the monument. In response to my question as to whether he had found evidence for continued use, he responded, “Oh, yes. We found perhaps twice as much Late Bronze Age material and even more Iron Age material. It appears that the monument continued in use right up until the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in the area.” If the druids played a role in Iron Age British religion, and if the monument continued in use into the Iron Age, it follows that the druids almost certainly were involved with Stonehenge.