Roll - do not drag
Stonehenge is a world famous Paleolithic monument. Located in Wiltshire, about 130 km southwest of London. Several dozen hewn stone blocks form a circle with a diameter of 33 m. The height of these columns is 4.1 meters, width is 2.1 meters, and each weighs about 25 tons. On top of them are laid stones-lintels: length - 3.2 meters, width - 1 meter, thickness - 0.8 meters. The total height of the structure above the ground is 4.9 meters. The stones are secured with a system of grooves and spikes.
Stonehenge was built about 5 thousand years ago. What for? There is still no answer to this question.
And to the question "How?" scientists find it difficult to answer unequivocally. It is only known that stone blocks weighing 4 tons were delivered over almost 300 kilometers. And by no means a drag, as one might expect. And not on a sled. After all, no traces of movement were found.
“The builders used bearings,” says Andrew Young of the University of Exeter. Together with colleagues, he conducted an almost natural experiment. Achieved success. Which allows us to say: the ancient people possessed very advanced technologies.
The British scientists were inspired to use the bearings by the finds made in the Scottish Aberdeenshire - in places where "standing stones" - multi-ton megaliths and cromlechs - were also found. Archaeologists have dug over 400 stone balls here.
The balls are about the same diameter: about 70 millimeters. This allowed us to assume that they were used together, and not separately. And not for ritual purposes, but purely for practical purposes. For example, these balls could be bearing parts.
The idea of the Exeter researchers is as follows: the ancient builders carved gutters from wood. Balls were placed in them: either stone or wooden. The multi-ton stone was placed on the platform, the platform on the balls. And they moved.
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“In this way it was possible to“walk”up to 20 kilometers a day,” says Professor Bruce Bradley, supporting the idea of his colleagues. - And moving leaves no trace.
The experience of moving loads by means of balls was a success
In the near future, it is planned to carry out long-distance transportation of a multi-ton block using Paleolithic bearings. Scientists have no doubts that they will succeed.
“I used one finger to move a weight of several hundredweight,” says Andrew. - A few people, naturally, will move something much heavier.
According to the researchers, with the help of gutters and balls, the builders could even drag the stones-lintels, which now form the giant portals of Stonehenge. But this hypothesis requires special testing.
And now the disco
So what was the ancient structure intended for? Why did our ancestors roll balls and tear themselves?
Here is a far from complete list of the most popular hypotheses, supported to one degree or another:
Stonehenge is an alien creation - something like a computer for analog computing. It was built from improvised means, since there were no others, and it was required to calculate something.
In the arrangement of megaliths, smaller stones and holes located in circles, a certain message is encrypted, left to us. Perhaps even aliens. Or a highly developed civilization.
This is an ancient astronomical observatory.
This is the refuge of the great magician Merlin. Allegedly, mysterious magicians - druids gathered here for sacrifices, witches arranged their covens.
This is a colossal tomb for the rulers. Like the pyramids in Ancient Egypt.
This is the place where people were saturated with cosmic energy concentrated by stones. And they were treated. By the way, today many people visit Stonehenge for this very purpose.
Recently, a seemingly absolutely fantastic assumption has appeared. But it seems to be based on facts. Stonehenge was built for ancient discos, say very serious British scientists.
In the rhythm of samba
Research by Professor Rupert Till, an expert in acoustics and music technology at Huddersfield University, has shown that Stonehenge's stone megaliths perfectly reflect and amplify sounds. And when placed in circles, they create amazing acoustic effects.
First, Rupert, together with his colleague Bruno Fazenda, made sure of this virtually by recreating on a computer the appearance of a structure that had not yet been touched by devastation. Then the scientists went to Washington (USA) in the vicinity of the town of Merihill, where an exact copy of the pristine Stonehenge was erected. And we tested our ideas in practice. In fact, the sounds emanating from the center were clearly and richly audible throughout the structure.
“Particularly impressive effects - echo overlays - occur when the melody reaches 160 bpm,” says Till. - It's a samba rhythm that excites. And sometimes it puts you into a trance. Most likely, they danced here. And quite intensely. Possibly ritual dances. The source of music could be percussion instruments and the singing of priests-DJs.
There was someone to dance here
A little earlier, thanks to the excavations of the famous British archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson from Sheffield University, traces of some buildings were discovered a few kilometers from Stonehenge. Radiocarbon analysis showed that they were erected at about the same time as the mysterious Stonehenge.
It soon became clear that there was a huge, almost a thousand houses, settlement. For that time - five thousand years ago - it was a huge city. Scientists had no idea that this was possible in the British Isles. Now archaeologists have completely examined dozens of houses in this village - stone or made of clay and trees. All have traces of hearths, various flint tools are scattered.
In other words, in Stonehenge there was someone to dance and for whom to arrange discos. Although their purpose remains mysterious. It may be true that people were treated. Or they buried the dead to music and dancing.
According to one hypothesis, Stonehenge was previously covered with a roof.
BTW
With a roof over your head
British architect Bruce Bedlam assures: Stonehenge once looked completely different from what it is now. And not even the way it is presented.
Bruce believes that the pillars around the structure and concentric circles indicate that Stonehenge was previously covered with a roof. And it looked like a tent. According to the architect, the pillars were needed only to support the wooden beams. And there is no hidden meaning in the location of these "clamps".
Bedlam's hypothesis fits surprisingly well with the acoustics professor's idea. It was much more convenient and pleasant to listen to music and dance under the roof.
In other words, if you believe both scientists at once, it turns out that at one time Stonehenge was an indoor dance floor.
INSTEAD OF COMMENT
There are not enough balls …
The ball bearing hypothesis is, of course, amusing. And fruitful. But it is unlikely that the balls from Aberdeenshire were used in order to roll loads on them. Such a thought is as naive as the idea of a discotheque at Stonehenge.
This structure was built for centuries, abandoned, returned again. That is, they had a certain plan that was passed down from generation to generation. Someone organized thousands of half-wild people for creative work. And by no means slaves. What were they told? As explained the need for construction. Someone spent huge amounts of money. Or at least effort. For what? To arrange a disco? I doubt it … And I believe that the true purpose of the construction of Stonehenge by modern scientists has not yet been found.
And the balls from Aberdeenshire are not simple. They are carved. Many have patterns and spirals engraved on them. Some are only conventionally spherical. And the protrusions are characteristic elements of them.
In a word, it’s hard to believe that the carved balls were needed only to roll stones over them. There is still to understand and understand …
The very balls on which the ancient people allegedly moved the Bloes of Stonehenge
This is what many of the balls found in Scotland look like.
Vladimir LAGOVSKY