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Stonehenge DISCUSSION
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Stonehenge and Durrington Walls/Woodhenge
For centuries, Stonehenge has been a structure of wonder for all those who see or hear about it; many people wonder how it was built and why. Over the years, Stonehenge and the similar surrounding structures have been heavily studied, with new discoveries found yearly. Construction of Stonehenge itself started around 2600 BC on the Salisbury Plain in England (Grimston, 2007). It is constructed of large stones brought from the Welsh mountains positioned into several circular patterns (Grimston, 2007). Not too long ago, a discovery was made near Stonehenge called Durrington Walls. This lesser known site is believed to be the home of the builders of Stonehenge and is very significant to the monument’s purpose. 200 feet away from there lies the most famous of the timber henges, Woodhenge (Rattini, 2008). After examining each site’s solstitial alignments and relation to each other structure, it is deducted that each would have played a pivotal part in a ritual that would have taken place thousands of years ago.
There are several theories as to what Stonehenge was. These ideas range from a calendar to an astronomical observatory to sacred grounds. These inferences are based upon the shape and positions of the stones that make up the monument. Stonehenge is made up of megaliths, or giant rocks. There are two kinds of these rocks at the structure, bluestones, which are about 8,000 pounds each, and sarsen stones, which can weigh up to 100,000 pounds each (Rattini, 2008). These rocks make up a henge, a group of circular ritual structures unique to the Late Neolithic era in Britain (Pitts, 2008). The first ring is a sarsen stone circle, the next ring a smaller circle of blue stones, then an even sm...
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...e as a sacrifice or just for food (Balter, 2014). This means people would have traveled potentially long distances to reach these special events. Rituals at Stonehenge, Durrington Walls, and Woodhenge were likely a huge deal at this time, big enough to attract people all over the region. The people of Late Neolithic Britain were kinship based people who highly revered the dead and honored them with building great structures. These structures remain today and researchers constantly discover new things and ask new questions about them. The solstitial alignments of Stonehenge, Woodhenge, and Durrington Walls made them each a huge part of a ritual that was significant for the peoples’ culture. It shows their advances in knowledge of the rising and setting sun, and they used those events to create magnificent structures that attract the awe of thousands of people today.
Cahokia also constructed Ethagy mounds that were shaped like animals when viewed from the air. They also created the “American Woodhenge.” This woodhenge was constructed of 5 circles made from 12-60 wooden posts. These posts would likely have been used as a calendar of sorts marking the solstices, equinoxes and festivals important to the residents.
Stonehenge was built in several different phases beginning with the large white circle, 330 feet in diameter, surrounded by an eight foot-high embankment and a ring of fifty-six pits now referred to as the Aubrey Holes.(Stokstad, p.53; Hoyle) In a subsequent building phase, thirty huge pillars of stone were erected and capped by stone lintels in the central Sarsen Circle, which is 106 feet in diameter.(Stokstad, p.54) This circle is so named because the stone of which the pillars and lintels were made was sarsen. Within the Sarsen Circle were an incomplete ring and a horsesho...
As the timeline of humans progressed since the very first settlements, so did the way humans built structures. Human beings became smarter and the planning behind enormous structures became more intricate and marvelous. Further back in history, places of worship played an enormous part in the everyday lives of everyone in those times. Different civilizations have built great temples of worship that have expressed their love of a deity (or deities). These great buildings embody the very best that those people can offer: their best engineering, their best carpentry, their best architecture, their best decoration. Two great examples are the Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy and the Gothic Chartres Cathedral. While these two structures are
Stonehenge: a Human Vulva or Temple, or something else…? The content of this project is based on the largest and most complete megalithic structure in Europe, The Stonehenge. It resides in center of the southern England; on the wide spread Salisbury Plains. It is said to be old approximately four thousand years, and it is even considered older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
However, that meaning is not always known. It is believed that Stonehenge was most likely made to bring people of a community together as well as to mark a place where individuals could gather to perform rituals, although many theories about why it was built and the purpose it serves exist. For example, recent studies show that the monument may mark the graveyard of a ruling dynasty. There is evidence of over 200 cremated human remains that have been buried at the site within a period of 500 years. Some evidence suggests the site may have been a piece in a larger series of structures used for funerary rituals. The only thing that is knows for sure “is that Stonehenge held meaning for the Neolithic community that built it”
Powell, Eric A. "Solstice at the Stones." Archaeology 56.5 (2003): 36-41. JSTOR. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. .
Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain in Southern England. Although it is not the largest henge (circle of stones) of the Neolithic Period, it is a remarkable site because it is one of the most complicated megalithic sites. Stonehenge was repeatedly reworked from 3100 to 1500 B.C.E. (Encyclopedia Brittanica 287). Each new major building phase added new elements to the site. The present-day arrangement at Stonehenge is the result of the last building phase which ended nearly 3,500 years ago.
Recent research from the Stonehenge Riverside Project suggests that when Stonehenge was first assembled (c2500 BC), its main purpose was to serve as a burial ground. However, it seems clear that for those who came in possession of it later on, it would have been used as a statement of power – "These are my lands, this is my construction and is an example of my wealth in resources". (Riverside, P.4).
Woodhenge is a circle of wooden posts that had been put into the ground, forming what is believed to be a calendar. Some people believe that this solar calendar was formed to possibly help the people of Cahokia with knowing when to plant and harvest their crops that they grew. (Hurst, 1994) There is evidence that these large wooden stakes had been replaced multiple times which could be evidence that there could have been some sort of conflict that took place in Cahokia that had lead to the destruction of Woodhenge at some point in the history of the
A hero is someone who is admired for their courage and bravery, as well as their noble accomplishments. They are respected by almost everyone, due to their kindness and charitable mindset, that drives them to fight for the good of others. Beowulf is the perfect representation of a hero, based on multiple characteristics that he displays throughout the novel. Along with his characteristics, Beowulf also takes on many “hero like” challenges and tasks. In the novel, Beowulf is praised and admired throughout the kingdom for his bravery, humility, and selflessness.
Behind every great structure in the world, there are the people who made them, and who took the time and effort to design them. Those who made Stonehenge succeeded in creating an incredibly complex and mysterious structure that lived on long after its creators were dead. The many aspects of Stonehenge and the processes by which it was built reveal much about the intelligence and sophistication of the civilizations that designed and built the monument, despite the fact that it is difficult to find out who exactly these people were. They have left very little evidence behind with which we could get a better idea of their everyday lives, their culture, their surroundings, and their affairs with other peoples. The technology and wisdom that are inevitably required in constructing such a monument show that these prehistoric peoples had had more expertise than expected.
The mysteries of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plains of England have perplexed human-kind since the beginning of recorded history. Some of the stones weighing as much as 40 tons were said to be transferred from Wales, which was a distance of about 137 miles. With the use of radiocarbon analysis at the site of Stonehenge it has been determined that the monument was built between 3000 and 1500 BC. The original purpose of Stonehenge has been lost in the pages of time, and therefore has been a major topic of discussion for archaeologists. Since the mid 12th century archaeologist, geologists, historians, and even some authors have put forth their own opinion of when and why Stonehenge was built. Throughout this essay I shall analyse and interpret different theories on Stonehenge in an attempt to understand what we know so far. It is in the mid 1100’s that we come across our first theory on Stonehenge, given by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
There’s been theories that Stonehenge was built by ancient Neolithic men,Some people think that it was built as an astronomical clock to predict
Kassandra Valle Reflection of Christianity “ Afterwards a boy-child was sent to Shield, / a cub in the yard, a comfort sent/ by God to that nation. He knew what they had tholed, / the long times and troubles they'd come through/ without a leader; so the Lord of Life, / the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned” (Beowulf 12-17). Beowulf is one of the oldest existing poems in the English Language today, the story portrays an epic hero who follows his own quest to defeat vicious monsters, and then finally becomes King and dies of old age in a fight with a dragon. Although Beowulf is a pagan myth, many people believe that it was originally written by a Christian monk who incorporated Christian elements into the dialogue and plot.
The largest pyramid, built for the Pharaoh Khufu around 2530 B.C. and intended to last an eternity, was until early in the twentieth century the biggest building on the planet. They are believed to have been built over a 20 year span. During the last 4,500 years, the pyramids have drawn every kind of admiration and interest, ranging in ancient times from religious worship to grave robbery, and, in the modern era, from New-Age claims for healing "pyramid power" to pseudoscientific searches by "fantastic archaeologists" seeking hidden chambers or signs of alien visitations to Earth (Shaw, 2003). Each giant Stone ranges from 1 to 20 tons in weight, and the Great Pyramid consisted of well over 100,000 stones (Mayes, 2004).To raise it, laborers moved into position six and a half million tons of stone. Some of them are in blocks as large as nine tons, with nothing but wood and rope (Shaw,