Sites of Existential Relatedness: Findings from Phenomenological Research at Stonehenge, Avebury and the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, UK

Abstract

As material reflections of human identity and behaviour, heritage assets are often viewed as a source of belonging and existential awareness. In recent years, these impacts have been shown to promote personal wellbeing in ways which align with the therapeutic concept of existential relatedness. Defined as a feeling of deep connection to something greater than the self, existential relatedness has been identified as a fundamental component of personal wellbeing. In light of findings from qualitative work undertaken in the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site (WHS) and the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, UK, and their environs, this paper considers the capacity for these prehistoric landscapes to facilitate a sense of existential relatedness for people in the present. As a result of this exploration, it suggests that, in certain contexts, the historic environment has a unique role to play in the creation of existential wellbeing through the cultural, collective and transcendent connections that it affords. The paper further theorizes that the feeling of connectivity which many people experience in response to heritage assets is essentially a form of communitas, and perhaps one of the greatest social benefits that the historic environment has to offer.