William StukeleyDied 3 Mar 1765 at age 77 (born 7 Nov 1687).English antiquary and physician whose studies of the monumental Neolithic Period-Bronze Age stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury, Wiltshire, led him to elaborate extravagant theories relating them to the Druids (ancient Celtic priest-magicians). These views were widely and enthusiastically accepted in the late 18th century. Despite his romantic theorizing, he was an excellent field archaeologist, and his surveys of the monuments in the 1720s remain of interest. Stukeley was the first to note the midsummer alignment at Stonehenge, and the first to describe the Stonehenge and Beckhampton "Avenues" (his name, as were "Cursus" and "trilithon").Main representative of the theory of electricity as the cause of earthquakes in Britain.Image: a sketch made by William Stukeley of the Meini Gwyr site before near total destruction in the following years. |
