STONEHENGE: A MARVEL AND A MYSTERY

STONEHENGE: A MARVEL AND A MYSTERY

One drives through the Plains of Salisbury with its rolling British countryside – sheep grazing on a grassy knoll on one side and cows lumbering in the distance on the other. It is a pastoral unassuming scene. And then one arrives at a site that is awesome in its size, conception and mystery. It dates from 4500 years ago when man transitioned from hunter/gatherers to farmers. It is called Stonehenge.

Stonehenge reflects that a commonly shared GOAL, unknown to us, drove early English nomadic tribes to design and build this colossal construction. One stands there and understands that man cooperated on a massive scale and over a very long time to achieve this goal. For example, it is estimated that it took 200 men 90 days to move a single stone to the site from where it was likely quarried.  Some stones even came from as far away as Wales by a combination of water and land transport. Their most important mechanical device probably came from cutting down and using large trees to help roll each estimated 30 ton stone up and down the adjacent rolling hills until it reached Stonehenge. Stone tools were used to chip and shape the stone before it was raised on end. Holes were dug in the earth to sink the base and help tip each stone to an upright position. Other areas have been uncovered that also have vertical stone monuments. But only at Stonehenge are horizontal lintels placed across these vertical pillars.

How did Stonehenge get its name? Stone is pretty obvious – referring to the massive stones brought together at the site.

Henge  -- referring to circles of earth artificially built up on a grand scale to reshape the natural contours of the earth. These artificial mounds circle the stones in the center. Some are burial mounds filled with ash from cremation; others are conical knolls whose purposes can only be guessed at.

Archaeologists agree on one primary purpose of Stonehenge. It serves as a clock aligned with the movements of the sun to predict and then mark the summer and winter solstices.

Neolithic peoples carved with stone tools

Raised earth rings circle Stonehenge

Rolling countryside (missed the cows and sheep)

Vertical pillars with horizontal lintel placed across the top

One leaves Stonehenge awed by early man’s intelligence, his early capacity for social organization and his astronomical understanding. This Neolithic man created a monumental goal and implemented it over the centuries using creative thought, human strength and determination.