What is the mystery of Stonehenge at Stonehenge?

Located near Wiltshire, England, the double horseshoe-shaped Stonehenge Stonehenge has attracted worldwide attention and controversy since the Middle Ages. Although all that remains of Stonehenge today is a silhouette of its former glory, and this silhouette is quite memorable. Although more than half of the stones were either dropped, lost, or buried under the turf, the original layout of Stonehenge is still recognizable. In the research community, there are different opinions about its origin. The widely accepted statement is that Stonehenge is an ancient astronomical observation instrument. Others believe he was a primitive idolatrous house, and others believe he was built by life from outer space.

Stonehenge Stonehenge has dozens of boulders forming a large circle. Each stone weighs tens to hundreds of tons, and medieval writers call it the dance of the megaliths. Famous 17th century architect Nigga Jones was the first to seriously study Stonehenge at Stonehenge. He believed that Stonehenge was a Roman temple. The 18th-century antiquities researcher, Freemason William Stuckle, believes that Stonehenge was once the Stonehenge Temple of the British Druids. Many people agree with him. 20th-century archaeologists also have a more plausible conclusion about his purpose when they arrive at the exact age of Stonehenge. Specifically, the main body of the stone circle is composed of several complete concentric circles arranged by huge stone pillars. These stone pillars are about four meters high, two meters wide, one meter thick, and weigh 25 tons. The periphery of the stone circle is a circular mound and ditch with a diameter of about 90 meters. The trenches are dug in the natural lime soil, and the excavated earthwork is the material of the earth mound.

Immediately on the inner side of the mound, there are 56 equidistant pits forming another circle. The pits are filled with ash and soil, and human ashes are mixed in them. These pits were discovered by John Aubrey, a 17th-century Stonehenge surveyor, and are now commonly referred to as the Aubrey Pit Group. If someone looked down on this megalithic structure from the air 4,000 years ago, perhaps the dance of this 1,500-year-old megalith that has gone through three construction stages would have been perfect.

Stonehenge is divided into four parts from the outside to the inside. The outermost is a circle of sandstone about five meters high connected by beams connected to each other. The inner side of the boulder is the blue second rock, the inside of the sandstone circle is five sets of sandstone towers, and the center of the stone tower is a group of sandstones that form a horseshoe shape. The center of the horseshoe is the altar stone. On the outside of the ditch to the northeast stood the massive heel stone guarding the access to the holy site. According to research by British scientists, the construction of the giant ashlar began in 2750 BC, nearly 5,000 years ago. It may have been built earlier than the oldest pyramids in Egypt. It is estimated that at least 30 million labor hours were required to build Stonehenge at the productivity levels of the time. In other words, at least 10,000 people need to work continuously for eight years.

However, under the productive conditions of the time, how did the builders transport the boulders from thousands or even hundreds of kilometers away. Experts once organized people to use the most primitive tools to try to transport a boulder weighing about 25 tons from dozens of kilometers away. But after trying unsuccessfully, some scientists believe that these megalithic forms may not have been moved by humans at all. Rather, it was brought about by glaciers that once covered the Earth's surface, but that's always guesswork. Exact answers are hard to find.

In the 1950s, British archaeologists, especially Richard Aitkenson, came to the conclusion. The first boulder erected was at the only entrance to the block, called the Heel Stone, and the second boulder was erected at least 200 years later. The builders built a passage of parallel earth mounds to connect Stonehenge to the Aifeng River, which is 3.2 kilometers away. They brought 80 huge blocks of blue sandstone from the Priseli Mountains in southwest Wales, 3,200 kilometers away. The boulders were probably carried on rafts along the Welsh coast. At Bristol, turn into the Avon River. After many runs by water and land, people finally transported them to Stonehenge with rollers, formed two circles, and erected them.

Soon, the blue sandstone circle was demolished and replaced by huge boulders that still stand here today. Many of these boulders weigh around 26 tons. As you can imagine, transporting them from north Wiltshire would have been a labor-intensive undertaking. The person responsible for erecting the boulder must be a highly skilled craftsman. They carefully corrected the stones used as pillars, and then carefully fitted them to two upright boulders, forming a circle with a diameter of about 30 meters. Inside the circle is a horseshoe-shaped boulder archway. Later, people took the trouble to rearrange the positions of these boulders many times, forming the pattern that can be roughly seen today. The dismantled blue sandstone was later erected within the circle of Stonehenge, which can be seen as small pillars supporting the megalithic arch. Pits were dug outside the main circle in order to erect two circles of blue sandstone. But for some reason, the project never started.

About 1500 years after the construction of Stonehenge began, the last change occurred. The blue sandstone was removed from the original site, but moved to the inside of the circle formed by Stonehenge and placed in its current location. The altar stone that now stands in front of a megalithic archway was also erected at that time. It is also a huge piece of blue sandstone shipped from south Wales.

In addition, the role of Stonehenge Stonehenge is also different. Because there are many tombs on the inside of the land, some British archaeologists have determined through the latest radioactive dating that the prehistoric Stonehenge may be the purpose of a royal family in ancient times. And have been cemeteries for at least 500 years. Archaeologists estimate that between 150 and 240 people were buried at Stonehenge over 600 years. Such a small number of burials could mean the men belonged to the same prominent family. Since a large number of skeletons were unearthed in Stonehenge, it was suspected that they were sacrifices for the mausoleum, so some people judged that Stonehenge was a sacrifice site for ancestors.

Others believe that it was a huge prehistoric astronomical observatory, and that the linear formation of boulders in the circle could provide important dates. Such as summer and winter solstice. When astronomers use a computer to check the center of the Stonehenge ring and the heel stone as timekeeping, they can know that the sun rises from the left side of the heel stone at the summer solstice, and the sun at the winter solstice rises from the direction of the three stone towers on the right rise. Therefore, experts believe that ancient people may use the Stonehenge ring to predict the phenomenon of solar and lunar eclipses. In addition, there is also a phenomenon that the celestial cycle is related to the Stonehenge ring, and the values ​​are exactly the same. Whether Stonehenge is a cemetery, an astronomical observatory used to predict astronomical events, or a religious center is still under debate.

Although there are different opinions about it, archaeologists agree that Stonehenge has a religious purpose. However, as long as the winter solstice has seen the sunrise here, no one will question the astronomical use of Stonehenge. At the summer solstice, the sun rises between the heel stone and another boulder that no longer exists. Could it be that the early Stonehenge was used to show the relics of ancestors to the sun that gives life to all things at this important time of year. The cremation graves found in the 56 O'Brigg's caves surface that people used to hold burials here. And these holes may have been used to symbolize the gates to the underworld. As for who built this Stonehenge and when? How were they built? What level of knowledge did the builders have? Why do boulders turn their backs to the northeast to the southwest? It is still an unsolved mystery.

However, all that said, Stonehenge was far more than a meeting place for Neolithic farmers. The construction of Stonehenge was absolutely related to the high-tech civilization of the time. What do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message below for discussion. Friends who like my article can click to follow, and will be notified as soon as the content is updated. I'm Taotao's Notes, see you next time!