Unfortunately I was watching it on the telly, not in person. There was this facinating programme about stoneage Britain and how the people who lived at that time lived. They used to make bows with flint tools. Really good bows with fletched arrows and everything.
Did you know you can make glue by mixing pine resin and charcoal?
Neither did I.
Anyway, the last 15 minutes was him cooking the lind leg of a small deer. First he put a bunch of stones in a big fire, then he put the stones in a pit dug in the ground, put stones over the top, and covered it with moss, sticks and sand. Then he proceeded to wander around collecting shellfish and cooking those as well. After about 2.5 hours, he pulled out the deer and handed it around his film crew.
And it made me think how much the stone age cultures of Britain and New Zealand have in common, and the degree to which they would probably prefer hanging out with each other than trying to make sense of us.
I have also noticed some potential similarities between stone circles and marae. The same sense of a place being obviously about claiming spaces, telling stories, meeting groups who are passing through the area. Fanciful on my part, but powerfully resonant anyway.
The stone circle in question is the Castlerigg stone circle in the lake district. It stands on a small hill right where three valleys come together. I was really struck by how anyone arriving in the area would have had to notice the circle, and the possible role of the space as a way of ceremonyalising meetings between different groups.
Posted by carla at September 12, 2004 01:58 AM