'The Riddle of the Stones' by T.A. Benefield

 

Megaliths are found throughout the British Isles. Of these, Stonehenge and Avebury are probably the most famous. However, there are many more that are not so well known. You will see from the slides that I’m about to show you that these collections may be the remains of ancient tombs or long barrows, whilst others appear to have been arranged haphazardly with no discernible pattern. Indeed, some early scholars believed that the arrangements of these megaliths were entirely natural and not deliberately placed by the ancient inhabitants of these islands.”

 

The lecture reminded Lizzie of a story that her grandmother had told her regarding a collection of sarsen stones in a neighbouring village. Lizzie had never visited the site in question, but it was said that nobody knew how many stones there were as all attempts to count them resulted in different numbers.

 

“I’ll go and count the stones,” Lizzie thought to herself as she left the theatre, and before making her way to the site she stopped at a craft shop to buy several dozen wooden blocks and a marker pen.

 

Each stone bore the remains of markings added by previous visitors, and similarly, Lizzie numbered the blocks in turn and placed them on the stones. There were thirty-two in total.

 

Lizzie returned three days in a row and, like those before her, she recorded a different number each time. On her fourth visit, she left thirty-six blocks in place. When she returned the following morning, she was pleased to see that the blocks were still there, her scribbled numbers clearly visible. Triumphant, she collected her blocks and was about to leave when she saw two more stones. On each was a wooden block, bearing numbers that had been burned on, and the imprints of two cloven hooves.