Who built Stonehenge? One of the most important and mysterious ancient sites in history
The first mentions about Stonehenge in the distant past, are believed to come from the "Historia Regum Britanniae" — in English, The History of the Kings of Britain written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth who was one of the authors of the Arthurian cycle. According to him, the incredible structure referred to as Stonehenge was the creation of Merlin, who by magic brought the stones from a quarry in Ireland. With the use of the mysterious forces of the site was able to put all of the stones in a perfect alignment. This is where the English nobles swore their allegiance to King Arthur. British authors John Aubrey and William Stukeley, in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, contributed strongly to maintain the image of Stonehenge as a Druidic temple and important site of Celtic culture. But while the site was certainly used by Druids for their ceremonies, these incredibly heavy monoliths were there long before the arrival of the Celts to British soil, and the mysteries of Stonehenge go back thousands of years.
The monument was constructed in four phases, from 2800 BC, with stones of different origins. Some of the stones originated from Avenbury, about twenty kilometers northwest while other came from Prescelly, over 200 kilometers from Stonehenge, and Milford Haven, 250 kilometers from the historical site. The "blue stones" originated in Ireland. Some of these stones weigh over 50 tons and the entire construction surpasses a weight of 2000 tons. According to history and archaeology, all of this was achieved thousands of years ago by a few hundred late Neolithic people. Is it possible that history is telling us everything and that these ancient builders managed all of that with "ease" thousands of years ago? And if they did, why bother and gather all of these huge stones from site so far away?
The entire construction of Stonehenge is mind-blowing. This incredible ancient site was built according to an extremely precise plan. A circular trench 4 meters wide by 1.50 meters. deep forms the first ring. Inside, a second ring is drawn composed of 56 holes, known by the name "Aubrey holes", derived from the name of the first explorers of the site in 1650. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. In about 2500 BC the stones were set up in the centre of the monument.
The numerous human remains found at the site indicate that the site served often as a burial-place. However, everything points toward the fact that this was not its primary purpose.
In 1961, the layout of Stonehenge was studied by Gerald Hawkins, professor of Astronomy at Cambridge and Fred Hoyle, socialist in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology. According to their thesis, Stonehenge was built as a giant Astronomical observatory with an unparalleled precision.
Stonehenge’s builders hoisted an estimated 80 non-indigenous blue stones incredible right?, 43 of which remain today, into standing positions and placed them in either a horseshoe or circular formation.
Was Stonehenge the product of Merlin's magic or was this incredible ancient site reacted by ancient people thousands of years ago? These questions have not been answered even though, archaeology and science believe it is the result of prehistoric construction, a theory widely rejected among some researchers.
Article posted by Ivan
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