There have always been many debates on what the true meaning of Stonehenge is. A numerous amount of people have lived around the monumental manmade structure, and yet no one truly knows what its purpose is. Along with the mystery meaning, a few thoughts of how they were created, and the stones moved, has boggled the minds of many. Religion has always been a key player when it comes to Stonehenge. Although there isn’t a lot of evidence that backs one main theory up, it appears that religion has been the main reason in a lot of people’s minds.
When someone hears the word calendar, they usually think of a decorative booklet that they hang on their walls. Then there are those who have been debating about the meaning of a very historic stone monument. Tracking the movement of the moon, sun, and stars was a very important task. There was a lot lying on the start of a new season, or solstice. Certain crops may have grown in one season. Rituals and ceremonies also rely on the changing of the seasons. Stonehenge has a major tie to these times. It is believed that
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There are also theories circulating on how the massive stones were moved. The largest stone in the circle is 50 tons, roughly 2,204 pounds. These stones were moved around 4,500 years ago. The weight isn’t the only odd factor in this situation. Stonehenge stones were moved over 200 miles. It is almost crazy to think that these people, who had no written language, figured out a way to move these massive stones 200 miles away from their starting point. They were moved across land and water. Geoffrey of Monmouth, a writer from the 12th century, gave a statement that “Stonehenge was carried bodily, on the orders of the wizard Merlin, no less, from Ireland to Salisbury Plain, where it was set down to be a place of healing.” Although this seems like a fun story to believe, there is, obviously, no proof of the great wizard Merlin having anything to do with the
Celestial bodies - the sun, moon, planets, and stars - have provided us a reference for measuring the passage of time throughout human existence. Ancient civilizations like: China, India, Babylon, and Greece relied upon the apparent motion of these bodies through the sky to record and determine seasons, months, and years. We know little about the details of timekeeping in prehistoric eras. However, records and artifacts usually uncover that in every culture, people were preoccupied with measuring and recording the passage of time. Stonehenge, built over 4000 years ago in England has no written records, but its alignments show its purposes apparently included the determination of seasonal or celestial events, such as lunar
Then there is a cluster of those rocks that don’t really seem to be organized, like they just decided that they were going to randomly put some up. While some of the rocks are standing all by themselves, others are connected by another rectangular rock sitting on top of them. The main question that comes to mind about Stonehenge is how did they manage to get those huge stones to stand up, without having anything supporting them? And how did they move those rocks because they look like they way a
The book explores various theories associated with the purpose of the: Stonehenge. The author has brought forward many theories, amongst which one is that the Stonehenge was
Stonehenge's ring of standing stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most
In the midst of Salisbury Plain, towering stones of tremendous weight are positioned in a circle, some stacked upon one another, resembling an alien monument. This renowned monument is labeled Stonehenge, a title derived from the 12th century Anglo-Saxon word “stanenges”, meaning “stone gallows”. Stonehenge is an ancient monument built around 5,000 years ago, conceived using stones so incredibly overwhelming in weight, that even the most qualified scientists are baffled by the monument’s very existence. Although funded research has proven that the monument was constructed by multiple tribes over a span of about 1,500 years, archaeologists and professional researchers have yet to unearth Stonehenge’s purpose for being constructed, as well
It is necessary, in order to understand the complexity involved in the assembling of Stonehenge, to know the process by which
Even when the plain was safely reached, difficulties still abounded. Shifting a total of 22,000 tons of marble across ten miles of level plain to the Acropolis proved a major operation itself. These drums, blocks, and architraves were so enormously heavy that special methods of transport had to be devised for them, and the existing road had to be rebuilt so that it was strong enough to support their weight. Traffic was restricted to the dry summer months for fear that the blocks would bog down in the mud, and the largest blocks of all seem to have baffled the wagonmakers. Axles had to be inserted directly into their end sockets, and these were then equipped with wheels no less than twelve feet in diameter. The whole was fitted to a frame of four-inch timbers and drawn by up to thirty teams of oxen. Shifting a block of marble from the quarry to the Acropolis took at least two days and
Stonehenge is a monument of Wiltshire, England. The structure is spoken of around the entire world. It is known for it’s mysterious origin. Today people still question the actual purpose of stonehenge. Ideas are from healing, to being an oversized calendar, to being a burial ground. The building of stonehenge is estimated to have started between 2950-2900 BC. The people did not have the technology that is available today, but they still managed to transport and stand up the rocks of stonehenge. There are many different theories about who built Stonehenge, but people believe the Druids contributed the most. The Druids have also used Stonehenge as a ground for religious ceremonies. Stonehenge is a monument built over the course of a thousand years. Today, people try to preserve Stonehenge as much as possible. Stonehenge has been turned into a popular tourist site, so it is important to keep it maintained for future generations. People have often been caught in acts of disrespect to the monument such as carving it to take home a chunk of the rock to things such as graffiti. With the current system people try to prevent this as much as possible. Through the years
The axis in stonehenge runs right through the center and down its avenue. It points at sunrise on the summer solstice around June 21st, and from another direction, it would point at the sunset on the shortest day of the year. The alignment represents the beliefs and rituals of the people in the ancient world and also serve as a place for people to connect with their ancestors. They deem that the solstices were important times of the year for these
Over a span of 2,000 years, monuments have been added to Stonehenge. While most are buried today, they are still visible and well preserved. Stonehenge’s features include the Aubrey Holes, 350 burial mounds, Cursus, Woodhenge, Durrington Walls Henge, Stonehenge Avenue, and West Amesbury Henge. The Aubrey Holes were the first monuments in Stonehenge, built around 3,000 BCE. The Aubrey Holes were 56 pits inside of a circular enclosure formed by a bank and a ditch. Its main purpose was to store cremated ashes of dead bodies. After the Aubrey Holes were made, bluestones and sarsens were dragged from long distances to construct the circular stone monument. The 350 burial mounds were long barrows meant to cremate and bury the dead. The Cursus, built from 3600 to 3400 BCE, were two long earthwork enclosures. Both Woodhenge and Durrington Walls Henge were timber circle monuments built in 2,300 and 2,500 BCE, respectively. Stonehenge Avenue was an ancient road that lead to Stonehenge monument and was built from 2,500 to 1,700 BCE. Finally, West Amesbury Henge was a stone circle monument built in 2,400
Stonehenge, assumed to be finished in 1500 B.C., is one of the most iconic architectural structures in the history of the world. Built in the Stone age, this monumental structure was advanced for its time. It was assumed to be a burial site for the Aristocrats of the time.
Among the first sites to undergo archeological excavation were Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. The first known excavations made at Stonehenge were conducted by Dr William Harvey and Gilbert North in the early 17th century. Both Inigo Jones and the Duke of Buckingham also dug there shortly afterwards. John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England. He also discovered and mapped the Avebury henge monument. He wrote Monumenta Britannica in the late 17th century, as a survey of early urban and military sites, including Roman towns, "camps" (hillforts), and castles and a review of archaeological remains, including sepulchral monuments, roads, coins and
If the rocks were ever repainted in the past, it is unknown as the weather would have wiped off all remnants of other possible hues. The stone circles are built from two types of rock. The massive sarsens, a sandstone and smaller igneous rocks, known as the bluestones. The sarsen stones are from Marlborough, U.K., 30 kilometers north of Stonehenge while the bluestones are from the Preseli Hills in north Pembrokeshire, Wales. The stones helped to transform the layout of the monument so that it was aligned on the sunrise on the longest day of the year; and sunset on the shortest day.
I chose Stonehenge because I find it very fascinating how people during this era had the manpower to move these rocks miles on end and stacking them on top of eachother. Stonehenge is one of the most popular pieces of art to this day because of the curiosity how these people back then how created such a site with little to none technology during that era. Stonehenge is made out of earth stones. There are a variety of rocks stacked up on one another to form this circle like shape. The textures of the rocks are rough. They are very large in size and heavy. Surrounding Stonehenge, there is grass around the entre circle shape of rocks. There is also a walkway around as well. After looking carefully in the illustration in the textbook, the sun hits the center. Located in southern England, stonehenge is made of about approximately 100 stones that have been placed upright and placed strategically in a circular layout. The texture of Stonehenge through the pictures seem to be a very rough surface because of the many thousands of years these rocks have been placed there. Looking closely at Stonehenge, in direct sunlight you can the ripples that are enhanced through the shadows that give it a very vivid texture. The shape of Stonehenge is a long rectangular rocks that were placed upright in a circular position. When looking at Stonehenge, not only are
To drag the sarsen stones, weighing up to 45 tons, or the weight of six elephants, from Marlborough Downs 30 kilometers to the south of Stonehenge would have been quite a accomplishment. The bluestones, in contrast, were about four tons but are believed to have come from a much farther place like the Preseli Mountains nearly 385 kilometres away from Stonehenge. Popular theory suggests the stones were rolled to the Welsh shore, carried on raft around the coast and into the River Avon, at Bristol. Other prehistorians do not believe they were carried that far. These bluestones came from the same Preseli Mountains, but glaciation brought the bluestones to the area surrounding Stonehenge during the last glacier period in history, the period was called the Plyoscene period, it was 650,000 years ago. Out of the other 1,300 stone circle in Britain, Ireland and Brittany, France, most are made of local stone brought no more than seven or eight kilometers. If humans were to have carried these stones all the way from these mountains, they would have only taken the good stones. The bluestones found on Stonehenge are a mix of good, bad, and medium rock. Good bluestones were found in the vicinity of Stonehenge thousands of years before the monument was