1859-60 scientific chronology displaced Druids from megalith building. In 1859-60, British scholars accepted the great age of the planet and human race The Danish three-age system (stone, bronze, iron) replaced the Bible as the ordering system for prehistory Within 10 years, Druids were relegated to the unimportant late Iron Age
In the 1520s Scottish scholars, inspired by Parisian studies, began calling prehistoric stone circles "pagan temples" and linked them to Druids—a view that stuck for two centuries.
Key Facts
- In 1859-60, British scholars accepted the great age of the planet and human race
- The Danish three-age system (stone, bronze, iron) replaced the Bible as the ordering system for prehistory
- Within 10 years, Druids were relegated to the unimportant late Iron Age
- Megaliths were declared to have been built much earlier by a completely different people
- This new model included concepts of progress and race, with each technological age brought by superior newcomers from the east
- The model justified modern colonialism by paralleling it to supposed ancient population replacements
Source: Prof. Ronald Hutton | A History of Megaliths | Megalithomania Conference 2007 | Audio by MegalithomaniaUK