Where is Stonehenge
Stonehenge in Great Britain is the most amazing prehistoric megalithic structure made of stone that has survived to this day. It is located in a field 13 km from the small village of Salisbury. "Stone fence" - this is how the name Stonehenge can be translated. London is located 130 km southwest from it. The territory belongs to the administrative region of Wiltshire. It consists of a circle around which there are 56 small Aubrey burial holes (named after a 17th century explorer).
One of the most famous versions is that lunar eclipses could be calculated from them. Later, cremated human remains were buried in them. In Europe, wood has been associated with life since time immemorial, and stone with death.
Stonehenge structure
In the center of the megalith is the so-called altar (6-ton monolith of green sandstone). In the northeast is the seven-meter Heel Stone. There is also a Block Stone, so called because of the color of iron oxides protruding on it. The next two rings consist of huge, solid blue blocks (siliceous sandstone). The construction is completed by a circular colonnade with horizontal plates lying on top. In general, the structure consists of: 82 megaliths weighing 5 tons; 30 blocks, each weighing 25 tons; 5 triliths, each weighing 50 tons. All of them form arches exactly pointing to the cardinal points.
This monument of prehistoric architecture is built in the form of a circular fence of two types of hewn boulders, which were transported from the Preselia Mountains to the construction site for several centuries. And the Preselian Mountains are located more than 200 km from Stonehenge.
And then a logical question arises: how did our ancient ancestors manage to drag heavy boulders over such a long distance, and, in fact, why? There are many assumptions on this score.
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Stonehenge building myth
According to ancient Celtic legend, Stonehenge was created by the wizard Merlin. It was he, the great magician, who personally moved the bulky boulders from Ireland and the far south of England to the town of Stonehenge, which is located north of the town of Salisbury, in Wiltshire, and erected there a sanctuary that was destined to survive the centuries - the most famous in the British Isles. and all over the world, megalith.
Stonehenge, we recall, is a double circular fence of vertically installed large stones. This fence is called cromlech by archaeologists. And, as they believe, it was built between the III and II millennia before the birth of Christ - in 5 stages long in time.
Appointment
• The position of all blocks, vertical supports and slabs are precisely aligned with the position of the sun on the summer and winter solstices. Two inner "horseshoes" - for sunrise and sunset during the summer and winter solstice. As you can see, the builders attached great importance to this, but the meaning and purpose of the structures for scientists still remain unknown. Researchers are not sure if this structure served as an astronomical laboratory. It is more likely to be used as a religious center. In the middle there is a green stone altar. Other blocks in the inner circle are called "blue stones".
• There is also an opinion that Stonehenge is a landing site for alien ships, and adherents of the existence of parallel dimensions believe that a portal to other worlds opens here. Some 5000-year-old rock carvings found 14 km from Addis Ababa allegedly contain images that look like boulders of Stonehenge. In one such ancient drawing above the center of a stone statue, the image resembles a UFO taking off.
• The English architect of the 17th century Inigo Jones, studying the megalith, came to the conclusion that the structure of the structure resembles the architecture of ancient times and suggested that these are the ruins of an ancient Roman temple. According to another version, the pagan queen Boadicea, who fought with the Romans, was buried on the territory of Stonehenge. In this connection, it was believed that the leaders of the ancient tribes were buried in Stonehenge.
• Later scientists proposed a version that Stonehenge was erected in order to accurately predict the time of lunar and solar eclipses, as well as the dates of the beginning of field work. The proof is the fact that on the day of the summer solstice at the time of sunrise, its ray passes exactly in the middle of this stone structure. But, skeptics negatively regard this version, who argue that it was hardly justified to invest so much effort and money to build an ordinary calendar.
Interesting Facts
• Once during an excursion the boy accidentally caught one stone with a piece of wire and fell unconscious. After that, the child for a long time could not come to his senses and for six months lost the ability to move his arms and legs.
• When photographing Stonehenge in 1958, the photographer observed the rising columns of light above the huge stones. And in 1968, one eyewitness said that he saw a ring of fire that emanated from boulders, in which there was a bright luminous object. 1977 - a squadron of unidentified objects over the megalith was filmed with a video camera, and this video was shown on all British television channels. It is curious that during the observations of the UFO, the compass of the eyewitnesses broke down and the portable TV set broke.
• In the Stonehenge area, researchers repeatedly heard clicking sounds and strange buzzing sounds of unknown origin. Many of their scientists argue that the reason for this kind of phenomenon may lie in a strong magnetic field propagating around Stonehenge. Interestingly, the compass needle, which should point to the south, constantly turns to the center of the structure, regardless of which side of the megalith to stop.
• Another mystery of Stonehenge concerns the construction of a megalith over the intersection points of underground rivers. There are huge reserves of underground waters under Stonehenge. Their presence can be explained by the location of the stone structure in a swampy area, but how to explain how the ancient people managed to accurately position the megalith remains a mystery.
• There is no explanation for another strange phenomenon. If you knock on one of the stones in a certain way, then the sound will spread to all stones, although they are not connected with each other.
Stonehenge - computer reconstruction.
Averubi and Silbury Hill
When exploring Stonehenge, even more ancient structures were discovered nearby - a huge circle laid out with stone vertical slabs - Averubi and Silbury Hill - a man-made cone-shaped mound, 45 m high. While studying these structures, we came to the curious conclusion that they are all interconnected, making up a single whole. Scientists made such a conclusion based on the fact that between Stonehenge, Averubi and Silbury Hill, the distance is 20 km, and they themselves are located so that they are located in the corners of an equilateral triangle.
Where did the stones come from?
1136 - The chronicler from England Geoffrey of Monmouth testified that "these stones were brought from afar." But we, based on the data of modern geology, in one thing we can agree with him completely: some of the blocks for the construction of the megalith were actually delivered in some way from the west, but not from the quarries closest to Stonehenge. In addition, 80 tons of menhirs, or processed stone blocks, which were subsequently erected in an upright position, were brought in from the southern regions of Wales, which is located in western England (in particular, from Pembrokeshire). And this happened already at the second stage of construction, i.e., in the second half of the III millennium BC. e.
From the Preselian quarries, in southwest Wales, the so-called blue stones were transported to Stonehenge by water - or so, at least the famous English archaeologist, Professor Richard Atkinson suggested. And more precisely - by sea and rivers into the interior of the state. And finally - the final segment of the path, the "front", which a few centuries later, in 1265, received the name that has come down to our time, albeit in a slightly different meaning: "avenue". And here, in reality, it is just right to admire the strength and longsuffering of the ancients.
Stonehenge construction
The skill of the stonecutters is no less impressive. After all, most of the roofing slabs of the legendary Stonehenge weigh several tons, and the weight of many supports is several centners. But it was still necessary to find suitable blocks, transport them to the place of future construction and install them in a strictly defined order. So, the construction of Stonehenge, in modern terms, was tantamount to a labor feat.
In fact, during the construction of Stonehenge, stones of 2 types were used: strong boulders - the so-called aeolian pillars - from the Avberian sandstone, from which trilites were formed - the same dolmens, or vertical stone blocks with transverse stone slabs on top, forming the outer circle of the entire structure; and softer dolerites that are part of ore and coal seams. Dolerite is a bluish-gray igneous rock, similar to basalt. Hence its second name - blue stone. Dolerites, two meters high, form the inner circle of the megalithic structure.
Although the blue stones of Stonehenge are not very high, it is in them, according to archaeologists, that the secret meaning of the whole structure lies.
The first thing that archaeologists were unanimous about was the geological origin of the dolerites: their homeland is the Preseli Mountains. But on the account of why the ancient ancestors of the Celts needed to drag dolerite boulders, the opinions of researchers differ. The controversy was mainly caused by the following question: did people from the new Stone Age actually drag boulders with their own hands to the place of construction of the megalith, or could the stones move by themselves - as the glaciers moved in the Quaternary period, that is, long before man? They were able to clarify the situation not so long ago. At the international conference, glaciologists announced the result of their many years of research, which boiled down to the fact that there have never been large glacial movements in the Stonehenge area. However, answers to many other questions have not yet been found.
The distance from the Preselian Mountains to Stonehenge in a straight line is 220 km. However, as you know, the direct path is not always the shortest. So in this case: given the exorbitant weight of the "cargo", it was necessary to use not the shortest, but the most convenient way.
In addition, it was necessary to build appropriate vehicles.
It is known that in the new Stone Age a person could gouge boats out of tree trunks - they were the main means of transport. In fact, relatively recently, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient trimaran, which consisted of three seven-meter long dugout boats, which were fastened together with crossbars. Such a trimaran could easily be operated with the help of poles by six people. As for the four-ton boulders, the same six rowers were able to load them onto the trimaran using levers. The sea route along the gentle coast of Wales was the most convenient, and there were enough secluded bays, in case of bad weather.
But part of the way had to be overcome by land. And this required hundreds of pairs of hands. First of all, the "load" was to be loaded onto skids and pulled along the tree trunks cleared of twigs, laid across the path, like rollers. Each block was pulled by at least 20 people.
Stonehenge was originally a graveyard
During excavations in some areas of the ditch, bones of large animals were found, and in some places the remains of burnt human corpses. And although the initial purpose of the construction of this structure remains a mystery as before, anthropologists argue that in the period before the appearance of the first boulders, the monument was the resting place of the remains. There are now known burials of at least 64 people from the Neolithic era at Stonehenge.
Most of the remains found were ashes. But, in 1923, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of a decapitated Anglo-Saxon man, dating back to the 7th century AD. e. Because the man was executed, it is possible to assume that he was a criminal, but his burial at Stonehenge led archaeologists to believe that he could belong to the royal dynasty.
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Ancient Stonehenge holds many mysteries. None of the stones has an inscription, drawing or any kind of mark. Scientists find it difficult to cling to something. It remains only to build versions and put forward hypotheses and assumptions. It should be noted that structures of this kind made of stone blocks can be found throughout Europe and on individual islands, although they are certainly inferior in scale to Stonehenge.