The Great Stone Circles

by Holly Price

My mother told me about the great stone circles. They sit on a hill near my village. The stones are covered in strange symbols that no one could read. Mother said that they are instructions of how to use the rocks, but nobody really knows. A tribe that lived on the land before my tribe left the circles hundreds of generations ago.

I could see them in the distance from my home, and I always wondered about them. Sometimes I would stay up and wonder about the story behind them. I asked a tribal elder, and he could not tell me any more than anyone else. When I talked about the stone circles, my mother reminded me that I was not allowed to go to the hill where they were.

One day, filled with curiosity, I ran away from my chores and went to uncover the mystery of the stones. I wanted to see what they were like up close, and if there was anything that I could figure out about them. The stones stood taller than me, and had flat sides. The people who put them there must have shaped them that way on purpose. The symbols looked like a strange message that I should have understood.

The stones made three circles. One circle was large, and had two smaller ones on either side. In each circle there were two large stones next to each other. All the rest of the stones were shorter. When I looked down at the earth I noticed some broken pottery partially covered by the dirt. I wanted to stay longer, but I was afraid that my mother would notice that I was missing. I would get into trouble. I knew that I would return.

I finished my chores at home, and luckily mother had not noticed that I was gone. That night while everyone else was asleep, I sat outside, underneath the stars, and wondered what life was like for the people who built the circles. After going to see them, my curiosity about the circles grew.

Three days passed before I had a chance to return to the hill. I dug out some of the pieces of pottery on the ground. They were covered in some of the same strange symbols as the stones and had some other symbols that were not on the stones. I also found a large bone buried a little deeper in the ground, but I could not tell what animal it was from. It seemed very brittle and looked like it had been there for a long time.

When I returned home it was getting dark and my mother wanted to know where I had been. I told her that I had gotten distracted while I was looking for berries. She was very angry with me, because I did not have any berries with me. She told me she worried about one of the wild animals attacking me while I was alone at night. She kept a close eye on me for the next couple of days, so I had to stay near home.

Eight days passed before I was able to find time to return to the circles. I could tell that someone had been there since my last visit. Someone or something had been digging at the ground. I wondered who or what it had been. I did not think that anyone from the village would come to the circles, so it could have been a stranger. But who could the stranger have been?

I went to the circles two more times in the next few days. I longed to go there at night when the stars were out. I wondered if the circles had anything to do with the stars or the sky. I knew that mother would notice if I left. She kept a close watch on me at night because she worried that wild animals would attack me.

Early one morning, I crept away before the sun had finished rising. I went to the circles and saw an old man sitting in the middle of the big circle watching the sunrise between the two large rocks. He did not look like he was from my village. I realized that he could know the history of the stones. I wondered if the sun rising between the stones meant anything. I stared at him quietly, wondering if he would do anything special, but he continued to sit there motionless.

I decided to sit on the ground too. I must have made a noise while sitting, because he turned around and looked at me. He did not seem surprised to see me staring at him. He acted almost as if he expected me. We studied each other, and then he slowly stood up and walked toward me. As he got closer I could see his age. His face was covered in lines, and his head was covered in bushy white hair. He was a small man, and his age seemed to be wearing on him. I stood to greet him.

He greeted me in my language, but he had a heavy accent. He asked my age, and about my village, and he asked why I came to the circles. I answered his questions, and explained to him how curious I was about the circles. I told him that I went to the hill as often as possible and that I wanted to know about the bones, the pottery, the symbols, and the purpose of the circles. He said that if I would listen to his story he would tell me everything that I wanted to know about the circles.

We sat down and he began to tell me his stories.

Hundreds and hundreds of generations earlier his tribe had lived on our land. His ancestors had built the stone circles. They used the circles to tell when the rains were coming, when they were going to end, and when the earth would be fertile for them to plant crops. If a certain star would line up between the large rocks of one of the smaller circles, then one season was coming. If the sun rose between the two largest rocks of the large circle then another season was coming. The people believed that the gods brought the stars and the sunrise together with the seasons.

The people also used the circles as the location of their ceremonies and celebrations. The ceremonies to thank the gods, or for the arrival of a new season. The people also sacrificed and buried cows at the circles as an offering to the gods. Many times a tribal dance would be done. The symbols on the rocks and the pottery were the language of the people. The rocks were covered in instructions about using the rocks and ceremonial chants.

His people had lived on the land for many generations. Their culture was formed around the circles. The village was at the bottom of the hill. Every morning and night someone was designated to go to the circles and watch for the signs. He said that for a long time his people were very happy and prosperous on the land.

I asked him why they left if they were so happy. He then told me the story of the downfall of his people. One season the rains stopped long before the signs indicated they should. The people became very upset and confused. The crops failed because they did not get enough water. Soon the people became hungry and sick. People began to die. The villagers thought that the gods were punishing them.

One night some of the men in the village drank the juice of fermented berries and got drunk. They became angry at the gods, and went to the circles. The men began to throw stones and break pottery. They screamed curses to the gods all night. One of the tribal elders woke in the night, and went to the circles. He asked the men to stop, but instead they began to scream curses at him too.

At that time the sky began to thunder and churn. The tribal elder fell over dead. It began to rain and did not stop for many days. The sun never broke through the clouds. The terrible weather lasted long after the rains should have stopped. The crops were ruined again, this time because of too much water.

The people understood that they were being punished for the actions of the village men. They all had no other choice but to leave and find a place where they could find food. With each generation the tribe grew smaller and smaller.

The story of this tribe was passed down to each generation. The man said that he was the very last of the tribe, and that it was my responsibility to pass on the story, otherwise it would die.

I never saw the man again after that morning on the hill. Since that day, I have told the story to the children of my tribe every season so they will know the story of the people who built the great stone circles.

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