DRUIDS and pagans confronted a team of archaeologists who arrived to disinter ancient human remains at Stonehenge this week.

An Aubrey Hole – one of a ring of 56 pits named after the 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey and dating to the earliest phases of Stonehenge – was to be re-excavated under the Stonehenge Riverside Project.

This involves digs by a number of university departments around Stonehenge, and on the nearby Cursus, to find out more about these sites and their links with the monument.

This particular Aubrey Hole was originally excavated in the 1920s, and reopened and closed again in 1935 when it was thought nothing could be learned from the cremated remains found there.

But Druids were upset at the prospect of the bones being disturbed and perhaps not returned to their resting place.

I understand that one Druid group had been called in to bless the dig, but changed their mind, claiming they had been misled over the nature of the work.

ARCHAEOLOGIST, author and broadcaster Julian Richards, of TV's Meet the Ancestors fame, who was there to oversee the dig, found himself in the firing line. He told me: "It was actually unpleasant, because I don't like being told by Druids to be ashamed of myself, because I'm not.

"As an archaeologist, I treat human remains with respect. Some of the Druid community got hold of the wrong end of the stick. They thought the remains would be taken to a museum store somewhere forever.

"As an archaeologist, I think that should happen for study in the future. But what's likely is that the remains will be reburied, although this hasn't been decided yet.

"They will not be dispersed; they will be kept together and studied by someone who'll look at the physical side, and samples will be taken for radio-carbon and other analysis."

Modern scientific techniques applied to the remains could reveal a great deal about the people who built Stonehenge, said Julian. "We want to give these people from Stonehenge's past a voice," he added. In a touch of irony, King Arthur Pendragon, who unfurled banners linked to his protest to free Stonehenge from its current fence and visitor centre, reminded Julian of a statement in his Stonehenge picture book that advised Arthur to keep on protesting!

Druid Matthew Holbrook, of Timsbury, North East Somerset, who was on the scene, said: "As a group we know that science can be very useful, such as providing accurate dates of ancient sites and remains.

"What we don't accept is that human bones have to be taken away, possibly never to return.

"Portable testing equipment is now readily available and anything taken from the ground can be put back in the ground."

I can sympathise with both sides in this issue. If they can work together – as they have done notably at the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire and at various sites in Cornwall – surely only benefits can come from the confluence of science and spirituality.

■ My thanks to Matthew Holbrook for the picture from Stonehenge on Monday – you can see more at his website www.handswithenergy.co.uk/events

MATTHEW Holbrook, Adam Stout and Dean Carter are the guests on my Mysterious West podcast. Listen at www.westerndailypress.co.uk/mysteriouswest and on Glastonbury Radio (www.glastonburyradio.net).