Sarsen stones aresilicifiedsandstone blocks found extensively across southern England on theSalisbury Plain and theMarlborough Downs in Wiltshire; inKent; and in smaller quantities inBerkshire,Essex,Oxfordshire,Dorset, andHampshire.
Sarsen stones are the post-glacial[1] remains of a cap ofCenozoicsilcrete that once covered much of southern England. This is thought to have formed duringNeogene toQuaternaryweathering by the silicification of UpperPaleoceneLambeth Group sediments, resulting from acid leaching.[2]
There are several potential sources for the word "sarsen."
The first is that the word "sarsen" is a shortening of "Saracen stone" which arose in theWiltshire dialect. In the Middle Ages, "Saracen" was a common name forMuslims, and came by extension to be used for anything regarded as non-Christian, whether Muslim or pagan in contrast to Christianity.[3]
The second is that "sarsen" is a vernacular variation of the Indo-European "sasan," name given to the prehistoric vaults of the Chotanagpur plateau of Northern India.[4]
The third possibility is that "sarsen" comes from the hybrid Anglo-Saxon "sar-stan" or 'troublesome stone.' "Sar" has the meaning of 'grievous.'[4]
The builders ofStonehenge used these stones for theHeel Stone and sarsen circle uprights.[5][6]Avebury and many othermegalithic monuments in southern England are also built with sarsen stones.[7]
While sarsen stones are not an ideal building material, fire and in later times explosives were sometimes employed to break the stone into pieces of a suitable size for use in construction.William Stukeley wrote that sarsen is "always moist and dewy in winter which proves damp and unwholesome, and rots the furniture".[8][9] In the case of Avebury, the investors who backed a scheme to recycle the stone were bankrupted when the houses they built proved to be unsaleable and also prone to burning down.[citation needed] However, despite these problems, sarsen remained highly prized for its durability, being a favoured material for steps andkerb stones.[citation needed]
Media related toSarsen stones at Wikimedia Commons
| Structure and surroundings |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Replicas and derivatives | ||
| Studies | ||
| In culture | ||
| Concepts | ||
