6 October 2020 - NEWS ABOUT STONEHENGE


NEWS ABOUT
 STONEHENGE

G'day folks,

The question of how Stonehenge came into being is one that has baffled archeologists for centuries, and monuments like this have always fascinated me. 

The prehistoric monument is located on Southern UK’s Salisbury Plain and is comprised of roughly 100 upright stones placed in a circular layout. While the complete story remains a mystery, exciting recent findings allowed archeologists to add a piece to the puzzle. According to the study published in the journal Science Advances Stonehenge's builders dragged most of the 50,000-pound (22,700-kilogram), 20 feet (9 meters) tall sandstone boulders, called sarsens, from a woodland area in Wiltshire. The area, called West Woods, is located more than 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the monument.




"Our results suggest that most of the sarsens at Stonehenge share a common chemistry, which is why we're saying they come from the same area," David Nash, the lead author of the study, said in a statement to Business Insider. The new findings don’t reveal what Stonehenge was used for, but speculations include burial and cremating grounds and a place of ancient healing. However, knowing where the sarsens came from could at least help experts figure out how the monument's builders erected it and the route they took to transport their building materials. 




The new study also supports the idea that the sarsens were carved and put into standing position by the builders at the same time, about 2,500 BC. The work was done in Stonehenge's location after the rocks were transported en masse. 


Clancy's comment: Fascinating stuff. I visited Stonehenge many years ago on a cold and miserable day, and spent hours there  wondering how it got there. Plus, how did they drag these massive things that far?

I'm ...
 








 
 

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