are somewhat oval, suggesting that they were made by
"pecking" with a sharp instrument, rather than drilled by a rotating
one, which would make a circular incision. Having recorded this,
however, there is little to add, except that Mr. Gowland, who minutely
examined the stone in 1901, is of opinion that the oval indentations
referred to are more recent than the building of Stonehenge. Had they
been contemporaneous with the erection of the Trilithons, he is
convinced that the action of the water in the holes, combined with
frost, would have caused a very much greater amount of disintegration
than exists to-day. Yet another difficulty arises. At the meeting of
the British Archaeological Association at Devizes in 1880, a visit was
paid to Stonehenge, and there were, as usual at such gatherings,
papers and discussions dealing with it. Mr. William Cunnington,
F.S.A., specially put on record the fact that his grandfather, Mr. H.
Cunnington, and Sir R.C. Hoare, remembered this stone as standing
erect. Here at all events are three conflicting statements. Under
these circumstances it is well to leave the Slaughtering Stone as a
problem for posterity.

[Illustration: Stonehenge. shewing the Avenue approach & the
earthwork surrounding the stone Circle.]

THE EARTHWORK

Visitors entering Stonehenge are apt in their eagerness to reach the
stones to overlook a definite banked Avenue leading from the
north-east towards the Hele Stone, and entering the circular earthwork
enclosure. This earthwork is not very considerable to-day, but in the
Stonehenge of yesterday it was probably far more marked and imposing.
This Avenue extends from Stonehenge in a straight line northwards for
about five hundred yards, where it divides into two branches, one
going eastward towards the Avon, where there is an ancient ford, the
other continuing northward until it joins yet another earthwork,
generally known as the Cursus, about half a mile distant. The whole
Avenue has suffered greatly in recent years and is fast disappearing
entirely. Both the circular form of the earthwork enclosing
Stonehenge, as well as the straight and parallel banks of the Avenue,
are specially worthy of notice. They belong to a class of earthwork
quite unlike the usual planning of cattle enclosures, and defensive
works, and exhibit a precision in setting out which is only associated
with the sepulchral and religious earthworks of prehistoric times in
this country.