Archaeologists have proposed a new explanation for the Stonehenge mystery. According to professors Tim Darville and Jeffrey Wainwright of Bournemouth University, the ancient structure could have been used for medical purposes
In this case, the ancient inhabitants of Britain came to Stonehenge in the hope of getting rid of their torment. Stone monoliths located in what is now Wiltshire, England, offered pilgrims a kind of mystical Stone Age physiotherapy.
This conclusion was voiced by archaeologists after they conducted the first excavations in more than 40 years at Stonehenge. In particular, Darville and Wainwright drew attention to the so-called "blue stones" as tall as human height and more. We are talking about monoliths hewn from a special speckled dolomite, which acquires a bluish tint when moistened. These stones are a familiar part of Stonehenge, but usually both specialists and tourists pay more attention not to them, but to more powerful steles several meters high.
Until recently, the main mystery of these blue monoliths was their origin. There is no such rock near Stonehenge, therefore, the stones were brought from somewhere. It was assumed that the dolomite blocks were dragged by a glacier that regularly appears in northern Europe during periods of cold snaps. However, according to Wainwright, there are no signs of glaciation on the territory of what is now Wiltshire.
Wainwright and Darville solved the mystery of the origin of the blue stones back in 2005, when they discovered an ancient quarry. It was located in South Wales in the Preseli Hills. Archaeologists have found traces of an ancient excavation in the Karn Menin rock, there are still several blanks for monoliths, similar to those at Stonehenge. In addition, the chemical composition of the local minerals has been proven to match the blue stones of the mysterious Wiltshire sanctuary.
Now Darville and Wainwright tried to come up with a reason why the British of the Stone Age decided to drag the blue monoliths 240 kilometers from Karn Menin to Stonehenge. You can, of course, imagine that the whole point is in the beauty of these stones, but so far more logical and practical explanations have been proposed for the ancient building. Bournemouth archaeologists suggest that the ancient people of Britain believed that blue stones had healing powers. And it was because of them that the entire building was erected, it was these monoliths that attracted pilgrims who came to Stonehenge. And the rest of the stones surrounding the central group of monoliths could serve as an additional architectural "decoration" of this Neolithic "sanatorium".
Nevertheless, Darville and Wainwright agree that Stonehenge could be a multifunctional building. Recall that most often archaeologists express the opinion that these circles made of huge steles had an astronomical purpose: supposedly with the help of these stones the ancients determined, for example, the days of the solstices. In addition, there are hypotheses that Stonehenge was used as an ordinary sanctuary, for example, for the cult of ancestors. And recently, burials were discovered in the area of the monument, which allowed the version to appear that local leaders were buried here.
Nevertheless, no one has yet written about the "medical and sanatorium" function of the mysterious Neolithic complex. According to Darville and Wainwright, this version is well supported, for example, by the fact that in the graves of that period, the remains of people clearly suffering from injuries and diseases are often found here. Perhaps these people went to Stonehenge for healing or relief from suffering.
Vladimir DZAGUTO
