The Mystery of Stonehenge

Posted on December 5, 2008

They
carried 82 stones weighing as much as 4 tons, over land and sea, and no-one
really knows why.

5000 years ago at a site near Amesbury, Wiltshire in England,
someone decided to dig a serious of circular holes. Each of these holes was
around a metre deep, a metre wide, and formed a part of a circle of 284 feet in
diameter.  Although human remains have
been found, it is thought that the holes, known as ?Aubrey Holes’, where
originally excavated for some kind of religious ceremony. For whatever reason, the
site was abandoned soon after its conception, and remained untouched for
another 1000 years.

 

Then another ?Bright-Spark’ had the brilliant idea of
building a stone henge. Now, some of the rocks weighed around 4 tons, and just
to make things a little more interesting, it was decided to bring in bluestones
from the Preseli Mountains
in Wales,
some 240 miles away. Bear in mind, 4000 years ago a low-loader was out of the
question. How they were moved, no-one knows for sure, but it is generally
believed that the huge rocks were first inched along the coast of South Wales on
rollers. That in itself is astonishing, but when you hear that the rocks were
then loaded on to rafts and sailed up the rivers Avon
and Frome, it becomes an almost superhuman effort. Back to the rollers again to
move them overland to a place near modern day Warminster, then once more onto
rafts to transport them on the River Wylye to Salisbury, and if that wasn’t
enough, they then dragged them overland to where they are today. Let’s face it,
no-one is going to move them again in a hurry. Imagine that journey, then
multiply it by 82. Yes 82, that’s how many bluestones were moved from Wales,
not counting any that may lie on the seabed through mishaps.

Anyway, after everyone had a nice cup of tea, the rocks were
arranged in an incomplete double circle. The ?Avenue’ was formed which aligned
with the midsummer sunrise, and a pair of ?Heel Stones’ were erected. Some of
the stones were used as lintels, and if you’ve ever seen pictures of Stonehenge, it defies belief how these were ever lifted
into position.

 

Why did they do it? Why did they go to all that trouble to
create whatever Stonehenge is? I doubt very
much that we’ll ever know with complete certainty, although the idea of a place
of worship seems the most likely. There are other theories of course, such as
the huge calendar idea. One of the problems is that Stonehenge
was built by a culture with no written language, so there are no rock carvings
to decipher. Over the years, the mystery of Stonehenge
has been the focus of many books and debates, which have spawned some
interesting theories. It’s not difficult to find someone who honestly believes
that the rocks were placed in position by some extraterrestrial intelligence,
or by time travellers who have yet to be born, but let me give you my theory;
they’re nutters, and as for Stonehenge, I’m
not even going to hazard a guess.

 

A more palatable theory was proposed by Mike Parker Pearson,
the head of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. He suggests that Stonehenge was joined to Durrington Walls which lies two
miles to the east. Durrington was the land of the living whilst Stonehenge was reserved for the dead, the journey between
the two being the transition from life to death. Geoffrey Wainwright, of the
Society of Antiquaries of London, and Timothy Darvill believe that Stonehenge was a place of healing.

 

It’s difficult to see how anyone can own such a place as
Stonehenge, so let’s say that it has been looked after by some notable people,
none more so than Henry V111, who having acquired Amesbury Abbey, gave
Stonehenge and the surrounding land to the Earl of Hertford in 1540. It then
passed to Lord Carleton and then to the Marquis of Queensbury. In 1824, the
Antrobus family purchased the estate, but when in 1915, their last heir was
killed during World War 1 they sold it by auction to one Cecil Chubb for
£6,600, who subsequently handed it on to the nation.

 

1920 saw a nationwide appeal aimed at saving Stonehenge from being swallowed up by modern buildings,
which were springing up in the vicinity. An aerodrome had been built during the
war, and a road junction had appeared perilously close to the stones. In 1928 ,
the land around Stonehenge was given to the
National Trust in order to preserve the integrity of the landscape. Stonehenge was voted one of the Seven Wonders of Britain
in 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the author

Alan Liptrot writes for http://www.yourholidayrentals.com 
providing worldwide holiday accommodation. The original article, along with
other interesting articles can be found at http://www.yourholidayrentals.com/inspiration/

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