Night Photography by David Baldwin

 

 


The High Priest/Priestess of Avebury? Faces On Stone 98



   

Fig 1 - Male

Fig 3 - Female

   

The Left Profiled Face (fig 3)

I first read of the left profile female face on the inner, northern, side of Stone 98 in Terence Meaden's Secrets book - I will attempt now to summarise him (but as always I would urge you to read his amazing work for yourself). On page 44 he suggests that the left-sided nature of the carving means that the person being depicted is female. He expands on this by positing that this is a portrait sculpture of a priestess or other female in authority, or perhaps is a woman wearing a tall headress on a feast day. To see a larger image of the face in the context of her host monolith please click here

The Right Profiled Faces (fig 1 and 2)

In October 2020 I photographed the same stone, but showing the other, outer/southern side, and there appears to a be stunning but ghostly image of a man placed high on the eastern rim of the monolith (fig 1 above). I say "if he is real" because so far I have only managed to see him in this photo, not with my own eyes onsite. If real, his position would suggest that he was partnered with the north elevation female head discovered by Professor Meaden. These two could then be interpreted as gazing together towards the east, presumably to greet the sunrise. The female appears to host a small sharp beaked bird on her left shoulder, the male one shares the long top of the monolith with a large song bird's head, a head also looking east. To see the figure 1 male face (and song bird) in context please click here

There is another candidate for a male "priestly" figure on the southern side, I show him below :

This striking angular face looks to the right, and so may be interpreted as male. This assumption would be bolstered by its stern, uncompromising angular mien. His oblique and commanding features make him a convincing partner for the female head next to him on the north side of the monument. The closeness of their pairing emphasised by their sharing the same prominent nose!

 

Fig 2 - Male