Stonehenge Better Understood

[Full Member]

Some really interesting new research has identified the source of the huge sarsen stones which form the central horseshoe at the heart of Stonehenge:

BBC News - Mystery of origin of Stonehenge megaliths solved

Stonehenge: Sarsen stones origin mystery solved

Archaeologists have pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles north of the site.

www.bbc.co.uk

Bit by bit the identity, rituals, technology and social structure of the people who conceived and built this amazing ediface are being revealed.
Just like the building of the monument itself, it's taking time but our understanding is definitely improving.
And I for one am in awe of these fascinating people.

Colin

 

[snapster]

I think these structures are incredible. We are lucky to live near to the alignments at Carnac in Brittany, there are hundreds of standing stones all over the area from a single huge stone to stone circles and oblongs as well as burial sites with huge stones supported on others. They must have been seriously determined moving all those stones about, but we still don’t really have a clue what they mean or the reason people decided to build them.

 

[Full Member]

I think these structures are incredible. We are lucky to live near to the alignments at Carnac in Brittany, there are hundreds of standing stones all over the area from a single huge stone to stone circles and oblongs as well as burial sites with huge stones supported on others. They must have been seriously determined moving all those stones about, but we still don’t really have a clue what they mean or the reason people decided to build them.

I've been lucky enough to visit the stones at Carnac, Snapster. It's an incredible sight and I found it quite moving. The view from the platform is impressive but the sheer size of the site and number of stones erected is awe inspiring no matter how viewed.
For those not aware of the stones at Carnac, it's worth looking at this:

Bienvenue aux Alignements de Carnac - CMN

Bienvenue aux Alignements de Carnac

www.menhirs-carnac.fr

.....and, believe it or not, it's free to wander around alone - and free information leaflets are available at the visitor centre.
Plenty of Aires nearby, too.
Oh, and I don't recall having to pay to park either.

Colin

 

[trevskoda]

Newgrange and the boyne valley is good for a we wander round.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Couldn't agree more Trev.

I visited Newgrange as I passed by whilst working in Ireland. As your excellent photos show, it blew my socks off.

I'm the sort of boring old fart that will drive off piste to see a Green Lane, parts of the Antonine Wall, photograph a remote Celtic Cross, or wander through the Brittany menhirs & Carnac Alignments.

Over the years, I've walked our sons for miles to show them something that our ancestors created with the most basic of tools. I remember taking a girlfriend to show her the axe marking at Stonehenge that had been discovered by photogrammetry, only to find a small crowd had gathered around to listen.

 

[channa]

A glance to our ancestors in the past,but we don’t truly understand.

 

[Okta]

Wiltshire used to be littered with sarsen stones so it is hardly a surprise that they acquired them locally. Why they dragged the much smaller blue stones from Wales is a bit more of a mystery.

 

[snapster]

Near to us, there is a church with what is believed to be a Neolithic burial site next to it.
We were there a couple of years ago and saw a woman standing next to one of the stones. She told us the stones have healing properties and went on to list people and their ailments who had been cured by standing on the spot she was on.
Always the cynic when it comes to magical / faith healing and suffering from lower back pain for the past few years, I stood on the same spot, guided by the woman as to exactly where to stand and what to do.
I stood there for about 5 minutes, eyes closed and thinking of my back pain.
Well, I haven’t had any back pain since!
I can’t explain how, or what happened, but 5 minutes standing there was better than years of doctors visits and pain killers.
Maybe just standing a particular way fixed it or maybe there is something to these stones

Anyway, we visit the church and stones regularly, there’s even a natural spring dedicated to a local saint that is said to cure earache. I tried it, it didn’t work!

 

[Wully]

A shit we drove right past it. Ahh well hope they build a new one nearer me might nip down have a look on a bank holiday Tuesday .

 

[Okta]

There are many stories of dumb questions asked about Stonehenge. One of my favourites from a USA visitor ‘why did they build it so close to a busy road.’

 

[SimonM]

I’d like to know when they’re going to finish it.

 

[snapster]

I’d like to know when they’re going to finish it.

I think they are waiting on the windows.....

 

[SimonM]

Trev will be along soon to suggest they will need Lino for the floors.

 

[Full Member]

Stonehenge: Did the stone circle originally stand in Wales?

Archaeologists now believe the stone circle stood 150 miles from its current location in Wiltshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

It could be that the Stonehenge we know and love is in fact second hand.
There's what should be a fascinating programme covering the latest research on BBC Two this evening at 21;00 for those interested:

BBC Two - Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed

Alice Roberts follows a decade-long quest that reveals Stonehenge's oldest secret.

www.bbc.co.uk

Colin

 

[rugbyken]

will visit these again when we go back to the orkneys stenness reputably oldest of all the henge sites in the british isles

 

[Okta]

Stonehenge: Did the stone circle originally stand in Wales?

Archaeologists now believe the stone circle stood 150 miles from its current location in Wiltshire.

www.bbc.co.uk

It could be that the Stonehenge we know and love is in fact second hand.
There's what should be a fascinating programme covering the latest research on BBC Two this evening at 21;00 for those interested:

BBC Two - Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed

Alice Roberts follows a decade-long quest that reveals Stonehenge's oldest secret.

www.bbc.co.uk

Colin

The Stonehenge we know and love is made up mostly of local Sarsen Stones, the second hand bit is the smaller Blue Stones. It is a bit like motorhomes, start off with something small and secondhand and go for the new bigger one when you have decided what you really want.

 

[Tezza33]

there’s even a natural spring dedicated to a local saint that is said to cure earache. I tried it, it didn’t work!

Still married then?

 

[SimonM]

Was it originally put up in Wales, and then she said to him

“it’s all over, I’m leaving you and taking the garden furniture with me”

“I think it will look a bit better in my new place”

 

[Biggarmac]

One year I went up to see relatives in Lewis and visited Callanish, then drove South to go to France. Stopped off at Stonehenge and then went to Brittany and visited Carnac. The least atmospheric was Stonehenge and this was when you could still walk up to them. Probably too many people at Stonehenge.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Callanish is on my bucket list.

I remember walking amongst the Stonehenge sarsens many years ago, fascinated by the axe marking first recognised by photogrammetry. Many years later I took two overseas colleagues, and over the years, the atmosphere had been lost.

Carnac seems to have retained it's atmosphere, and it's vast.

So I think you are right, in the UK, there are far too many tourists crammed into a small site. I'll certainly watch the programme, especially as it includes Alice Roberts.