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Essays on the stonehenge
Myths of Stonehenge
Essays on the stonehenge
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Stonehenge, a prehistoric stone circle, remains one of the world’s utmost mysterious and archaic structures. Built over 4,000 years ago in Salisbury Plain, scientists and theorists alike are still in the dark as to why Stonehenge was built. Popular belief is that it was used for religious purposes and that it was constructed by the Druids or even the Romans, but the theory was disproved when it was confirmed that the beginning of Stonehenge construction started at least 2000 years before the Celts came. I, on the other hand, believe that Stonehenge operated for scientific or astronomical reasons such as being used as an astronomical calendar and two centuries after being built it was utilized for its healing abilities.
Over the course of several hundred years there have been numerous theories as to why Stonehenge was built, but in 1963 an American astronomer Gerald Hawkins said that “Stonehenge had been constructed as a “computer” to predict lunar and solar eclipses…” (Hawkins). Hawkins found 165 separate points on the structure that linked it to astrological events like eclipses, the rising of the sun, etc. When the summer solstice would happen two nearby stones, The Slaughter and Heel Stones, would both align with the sun and the suns rays went directly into the center of the structure. Since the rocks seem to align with the sun it is safe to say that the ancient builders used it to see and view and keep track of the incoming winter or summer solstice. There is also proof at a nearby settlement that thousands of people traveled to Stonehenge to celebrate and have feasts in honor of the summer/winter solstice. Parker Pearson and his team found the teeth of pigs and cattle at the “builder’s camp” that were slaughtered around ...
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...images to Stonehenge in search of healing. Amesbury Archer’s bones were discovered less than 20 feet from the monument and they told the tale of a sick and injured man. Archer traveled from as far away as the Swiss Alps to Stonehenge to heal his infected kneecap and his abscessed tooth decay that destroyed his jawbone. Darvill and Wainwright say that Archer would have been desperate for relief. Another traveler was discovered just 10 feet away from Archer; this is one being 20 to 25 years old had the same bone abnormalities so they were most likely related. Through the testing of radiocarbon dating Darvill and Wainwright were able to prove that the first bluestones were placed in the inner circle between 2400 BCE and 2200 BCE and that matches up with age Amesbury Archer’s bones which would lend evidence to the theory that Archer came to Stonehenge for healing.
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.
First theory that comes from astronomical angle is usually the more believed one since there was so many close in content interpretations of it with tiny variations. In the structure of this ancient monument, several types of stones can be observed. There are: Sarsen stones, Trilithon, Blue stones, an Altar...
Because of the scarcity of the archaeological record at the stone rings, any attempts to
Powell, Eric A. "Solstice at the Stones." Archaeology 56.5 (2003): 36-41. JSTOR. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. .
Stonehenge is located in Southern England on what is known as the Salisbury Plain. The structure looks different than it once did, however. Today, Stonehenge suffers the effects of time and pernicious acts by people. Originally, in the years after completion, the structure was made up of “several concentric circles of megaliths, very large stones.” (5) Stonehenge consists a circular layout of approximately one hundred megaliths. On the tops of them another flat stone was placed to make a continuous ring of horizontal stones. These structures are known as trilithons.
There are many controversial debates about Stonehenge. Particulary on it’s origins and use. Some of these controversies include Aliens, Glaciers, Merlin the Wizard, the Devil, and sheer man-power.
Not too far away from the town of Montignac, in the western Massif Central and Northern Pyrenees, the cave of Lascaux was discovered. Four teenage boys and their dog discovered it. The four boys, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coenccus, were out on an expedition, but they found more than they bargained for that day. Their dog wandered away and they searched for him. In the process, the four boys discovered a cave that had been right below their feet for the past 17,000 years. They were not able to venture down into the 250-meter deep cave on the first day so they came back the next day prepared to enter the cave. When the boys first wiggled their way down into the cave they did not find anything. It was not until they reached an oval room that they first discovered paintings on the walls. These boys had uncovered paintings dating back to the Aurignacian (30,000-18,000 B.C.E.) (Laming, 34-41) and Magdalenian (15,000-10,000 B.C.E.) periods. It is believed that many of the paintings found in Lascaux were created between 16,000 and 14,000 B.C.E. The boys could no longer keep this cave a secret, so they told one of their teachers, Monsieur Laval. After accompanying the boys down to the cave, M. Laval started alerting historians to this new discovery. Within five days three historians were already on their way to visit the site. On September 17, 1940 three experts on Paleolithic art, Abbé Breuil, Dr. Cheynier and Abbé Bouyssonnie, crawled down into the cave; it was at this point the cave became authenticated.
The name Stonehenge is believed to have been derived from words that mean either “circle of stones,” “hanging stones,” or “stone hinges.” (Wendy Mass 8) it was originally called stanhenge; stan, which means stone in OLD English, and henge, which means “to hang.” There are several theories as to t...
The world has many unsolved mysteries that baffle even the most intelligent minds. One particular mystery, though, has remained truly unsolved. This mystery is the Easter Island heads that were built by people using primitive tools and manpower. Why is this mystery so puzzling and have we any clue about how the people of Easter Island accomplished this amazing task? Well, there are numerous facts, theories, and unanswered questions to be discovered. The following evidence further explains why and how the Easter Island people built the great stone carvings.
The next group to contribute to Stonehenge was the Beaker people, known for the beaker-like pottery they would frequently bury with their dead. These people did not ...
Stonehenge is located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It is a megalithic monument built during the Neolithic Period, approximately between 2750 and 1500 B.C..(Stokstad, p.54-55) The builders of this magnificent monument remain unknown although it was once incorrectly thought to have been built by the Druids.(Balfour)
The Parthenon was built during the Golden age in Athens, Greece. The Parthenon is made of mainly columns; there is a 9:4 ratio. It was almost destroyed in war; the ruins that remained were dedicated to Athena. The purpose of the Parthenon was to house the statue of Athena, made of ivory and gold, and also Athena’s treasure. The ratios and the equations used to make the Parthenon were used as a sign of the harmony in the natural world around us. The mathematical harmony in the world shows how we can work with the world rather than destroy to make it what we want. The Parthenon also has no straight lines. The columns of the Parthenon are angled going up getting smaller the higher they get. This was done so that you could get the best lighting
Human began to revolutionize away from hunting and gathering. Human life begin toward agriculture. During this period was where monumental sculpture began. It started with skull restoration. There were now more human painting instead of animal. There was a lot of megalithic found during this time. Megaliths. (Great stone) was using for honoring the death. There were all unique arrangement of megaliths also known as Stonehenge. Stonehenge it was actually a big, ancient calendar designed to keep track of time and important astronomical events. However, it could had been representation of religious shrine. Majority of the Stonehenge pointed to where the sun rise. Could it mean that they believed in higher being and rebirth? The most famous megalithic monument in Europe is Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in southern England. A henge is an arrangement of megalithic stones in a circle. Could had been some kind of ritual? Even today we still can guess of all the possibility. Art has millions of meanings, there is no one right
In my opinion, based on my understanding from the Stonehenge article and the video in class, the meaning behind the Stonehenge monument was used to perform sacred rituals. People somehow wanted to know where the deity is so they created an idea of a place to connect with the deity and honor the lives that were lost by doing a burial in the monument. These sacred rituals were used to connect with each other out of respect and remembrance of the lives that were lost during those times. Stonehenge was constructed around 3100-2300 BCE and I suppose that people during those times were more connected to a deity. People must have perform these sacred rituals because it was to believe that the deity could honor the lives that were lost. Overall, Stonehenge
One of the first to work with the copies made from the stone (the British had taken the stone during their war with the French) w...