Stonehenge druids 'mark wrong solstice'

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/21/nsolst21.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/06/21/ixportal.html

Modern-day druids, hippies and revellers who turn up at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice may not be marking an ancient festival as they believe.

The latest archaeological findings add weight to growing evidence that our ancestors visited Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice.

Analysis of pigs's teeth found at Durrington Walls, a ceremonial site of wooden post circles near Stonehenge on the River Avon, has shown that most pigs were less than a year old when slaughtered.

Dr Umburto Albarella, an animal bone expert at the University of Sheffield's archaeology department, which is studying monuments around Stonehenge, said pigs in the Neolithic period were born in spring and were an early form of domestic pig that farrowed once a year. The existence of large numbers of bones from pigs slaughtered in December or January supports the view that our Neolithic ancestors took part in a winter solstice festival.

[tjwmason]

1. It's just nicer in summer though.

Salisbury Plain is quite exposed, and gathering in mid-winter wouldn't be half as much fun.

[Igel]

2. The winter solstice is a really, really important

celebration in lots of cultures.

The summer solstice, less so.

But there is Ivan Kupala Day in East Slavic. You make a cute little straw Ivan that's either burned or pitched into the water (if there's a female doll that's thrown in the water, Ivan is always burned). Then all the kids (and young adults) strip naked, take a dip in the pond/lake/river/stream and then dash off into the woods for the night, looking for ferns in bloom and frolicking. Then they wash themselves in the morning dew.

Of course, it fell for the the funny "day = date" Julian/Gregorian calendar weirdness that Orthodox Xmas did. It's now observed on July 6 or 7, so if you missed this solstice, there's a make-up opportunity just a week and a half away.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. The Latvians transferred their summer solstice traditions to

St. John the Baptist Day (June 24) and their winter solstice traditions to Christmas. The Latvian word for Christmas is "Ziemas Svetkus," or "Winter Blessings."

[LiberalEsto]

4. And their neighbors the Estonians

call Christmas Jõulu, which means Yule and refers to an older, pagan winter solstice holiday that preceeded Christmas.