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Stonehenge - Its Purpose?
Monday, March 31, 2008 at 12:47PM I have been fascinated with places like Stonehenge most of my life. Something about them reminds us - very clearly - how small we are in the grand scheme of things. As humans we have been on this earth a tiny fraction of our planet's life, and an even more miniscule fraction of that time has been considered the industrialized world. We are tiny ants in a huge mechanism - and I like that enduring objects of ancient history point that out in no small way. Stonehenge. The Pyramids. Easter Island. To name but a few.
The BBC show - Timewatch - is sponsoring the first excavation at Stonehenge in more than 40 years.
The two-week dig will try to establish, once and for all, some precise dating for the creation of the monument. It is also targeting the significance of the smaller bluestones that stand inside the giant sarsen pillars.
Speculation about the purpose of Stonehenge has puzzled archaelogists for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Some say it was used for gazing at stars and ritual celebrations. Some say it was used just for solar and lunar eclipses, or perhaps sun worshippers for the summer & winter solstice. Even others say it was a time portal.
What is known is the approximate age of Stonehenge - carbon dating places its construction at around 2500 BC. The stones used in construction of Stonehenge came from a vast distance for that time - the larger stones came from 25 miles north of its location, with the stones in the inner circle coming from 155 miles away in Wales. And if that weren't enough, some of the stones in the outer circle weigh as much as 40 metric tons - over 88,000 pounds. Archaelogists aren't even sure about the location of an original circle of bluestones; they speculate that the current outer circle was erected long after an original circle had somehow disappeared.
Excavations from the sites around Stonehenge in recent years have shown burial grounds with skeletal remains showing evidence of skull surgeries, broken limbs, and other physical abnormalities. Modern archaelogists now believe that Stonehenge may have been a site of healing rituals:
The researchers leading the project are two of the UK's leading Stonehenge experts - Professor Tim Darvill, of the University of Bournemouth, and Professor Geoff Wainwright, of the Society of Antiquaries. They are convinced that the dominating feature on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire was akin to a "Neolithic Lourdes" - a place where people went on a pilgrimmage to get cured.
As I stated at the outset, I have been fascinated by Stonehenge for many years. Part of my fascination is the mechanics involved in building something of that size and magnitude without the benefit of the modern construction methods that we take for granted. How did a neolithic person move 88,000 pound slabs of stone 25 miles south of where they were found?
And certainly the question naturally follows - why do it? In the late 18th century it was speculated that the Druids - the priesthood of the Celts - were responsible for the construction of Stonehenge. Carbon dating proved that was way off from the truth of its construction. Believing that the Druids were responsible for Stonehenge would certainly make the purpose of the structures clear - rituals, sacrifice, worship. But it's wrong.
So what is the purpose of Stonehenge? Worship? Sacrifice? Healing?
Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, commented: "Very occasionally, we have the opportunity to find out something new archeologically - we are at that moment now. "We believe that this dig has a chance of genuinely unlocking part of the mystery of Stonehenge."
I believe that there are things in life that we are not meant to understand. As tempting and - yes, sexy - as it might be to dig for and find out the true nature of Stonehenge - what will we gain from that understanding? Will it change the course of our lives or the course of history? Likely not.
I think it's far more sexy to let a little mystery remain in the world - forces us to challenge ourselves because we truly don't have all the answers. Nor should we.
Reader Comments (4)
The first time I went to Stonehenge I thought "Well, it's not so big..." Then the synapses began to fire off and my attitude changed to one of awe and amazement. Stonehenge was one of the best places on "The Nickel Tour" (actually: the extended Nickel Tour) TSMP and I developed for visiting relatives and firemen during our three years in Ol Blighty... certainly one of the most photographed.
When in Scotland, we visited Loanhead of Daviot a Recumbent Stone Circle. Our friend/guide told us that there we 99 such circles in the Grampian Region. A nearby newer circle was a Celtic creamatorium, but the larger stone circles were believed to be "communal seasonal ritual centers..." although no one really knows exactly what their purpose was. Everyone is always so serious about the possible purposes, but I pictured the ancient people coming together at the circles to have huge barbecues. Roasting a dinosaur probably took a pretty good size area :)
Buck: I think if I ever get to see Stonehenge in something other that pictures, I'll probably have an asthma attack from my inability to breathe.
Lou: LOL! I like that idea as well. I guess I understand the answering the question of what it was for, but I do prefer the mystery and my own imagination.
I tend to go with the recent 'death monument' theory. The whole area is littered with bone fragments,and beyond the stones is a 1 mile 'exclusion ring' of burial mounds.
I haven't been to Loanhead,mentioned by a previous poster, but it's rather interesting in that earbones/skull fragments from many small children were found here. At Woodhenge,2 mi, from Stonehenge a central burial of a small child with a split skull was found on the midsummer alignment.