Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Sat Feb 13, 2021, 07:18 PM Feb 2021

Stonehenge may be a rebuilt stone circle from Wales

Five thousand years after Stonehenge was built, archaeologists have finally pinpointed exactly where the bluestones that form part of the imposing UK monument came from and how they were unearthed. The researchers revealed in 2019 the stones came from an ancient quarry on the north side of the Preseli Hills in western Wales, which meant the 43 huge bluestones had been moved a staggering distance of 150 miles.

Now, archaeologists have said they think some of the bluestones first formed another stone circle close to the same area as the quarries and were dismantled and rebuilt as part of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain. The identical 110-meter diameters of the stone circle, known as Waun Mawn, and the enclosing ditch of Stonehenge, suggest that at least part of the circle was brought from its location in Wales to Salisbury Plain, according to new research published in the journal Antiquity.

What's more, both stone circles are aligned on the midsummer solstice sunrise, and one of the bluestones at Stonehenge has an unusual cross-section that matches one of the holes left at Waun Mawn, the paper said. Chippings in that hole are of the same rock type as the Stonehenge stone, it added.

Some 43 bluestones survive today at Stonehenge, though many of these remain buried beneath the grass. They were thought to have been the first to be erected at Stonehenge 5,000 years ago, centuries before the larger sarsen stones were brought over just 15 miles from the monument.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/europe/stonehenge-wales-stone-circle-scn/index.html

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Stonehenge may be a rebuilt stone circle from Wales (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Feb 2021 OP
There were engineering geniuses a long time ago. Chainfire Feb 2021 #1
Very few modern people have anywhere near the understanding of sky and nature... lagomorph777 Feb 2021 #6
that's right Chainfire. We will have to rediscover and reinvent the technology of moving large Nitram Feb 2021 #8
I suspect that the builder of the Coral Castle in Miami could have given us some pointers. Chainfire Feb 2021 #9
When at Stonehenge in 2015.... ProudMNDemocrat Feb 2021 #2
Same here. tavernier Feb 2021 #5
Though it is always cheaper to build a new 33-MegaLith circle than upgrade an old slow one... TomVilmer Feb 2021 #3
I have always wondered how they moved wnylib Feb 2021 #4
That's what I've been saying for years, but nobody would listen to me. Nitram Feb 2021 #7
Your grandfather was Welsh? left-of-center2012 Feb 2021 #10
I saw a documentary on YouTube bucolic_frolic Feb 2021 #11
"I saw a documentary ..." left-of-center2012 Feb 2021 #12
Yeah, either the same documentary, or they overlap quite a bit /nt bucolic_frolic Feb 2021 #13
Truly fascinating! ailsagirl Feb 2021 #14
Stonehenge fascinates me. Seems there's a lot BootinUp Feb 2021 #15
I think Ylvis said it best Archetypist Feb 2021 #16
Egyptian wife's thoughts on Stonehenge. Loki Liesmith Feb 2021 #17
... left-of-center2012 Feb 2021 #18
 

Chainfire

(17,757 posts)
1. There were engineering geniuses a long time ago.
Sat Feb 13, 2021, 07:31 PM
Feb 2021

We tend to think of the people of the time to be less than sophisticated than today. It is just not true, they just didn't have the extra few thousand years of experience to draw on. If the species is still around a few thousand years from now, it would be interesting to know how they would view us. Between us and 5,000 years in the future, there is likely to be another dark age that could wipe out most of our history.

Assuming that the future folks will be able to put together the pieces of the puzzle they will say, "Those dumb bastards poisoned themselves. They must have been a sub-species of idiots."

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
6. Very few modern people have anywhere near the understanding of sky and nature...
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 01:31 PM
Feb 2021

...that our ancestors did. It's difficult to even imagine how they could spend so much time studying and building giant things, given the conditions they lived in.

Nitram

(24,714 posts)
8. that's right Chainfire. We will have to rediscover and reinvent the technology of moving large
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 04:52 PM
Feb 2021

objects using only wood, rope, and rock.

 

Chainfire

(17,757 posts)
9. I suspect that the builder of the Coral Castle in Miami could have given us some pointers.
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 05:13 PM
Feb 2021

ProudMNDemocrat

(19,159 posts)
2. When at Stonehenge in 2015....
Sat Feb 13, 2021, 07:32 PM
Feb 2021

I felt an aura when I there. A feeling undescribable, but very real. When one looks at them, there are the questions like.. How did people get them to this place? How did they get up like that?

A very mystical place. So glad I took so many good photos.

Nitram

(24,714 posts)
7. That's what I've been saying for years, but nobody would listen to me.
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 04:50 PM
Feb 2021

Full Disclosure: my grandfather was Welsh.

bucolic_frolic

(47,542 posts)
11. I saw a documentary on YouTube
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 07:07 PM
Feb 2021

that I surely can't find again, that delved into the surrounding topography, the causeway, the river and the stones at that juncture, and showed how you would debark from the river, and follow the causeway uphill, and only at the last moment over the crest of the hill see the entire Stonehenge structure. They thought it a place for religious pilgrimages, perhaps part entertainment with monetary motives.

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
12. "I saw a documentary ..."
Tue Feb 16, 2021, 09:04 PM
Feb 2021

I saw a documentary, maybe PBS, that said there was an annual festival at Stonehenge.
They found evidence from old trash piles.

And from what was found they believed people came from all over the British Isles, walking for days,
and driving herds of domesticated animals to be slaughtered there.

Some of the animals were only raised at the time in what is now most northern Scotland, or Ireland.

Tribes (?) may have been at war with each other during the year but held a truce for the festival.

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
18. ...
Sun Feb 21, 2021, 10:31 AM
Feb 2021

Musk tweeted follow-up messages after his initial tweet.

"The Great Pyramid was the tallest structure made by humans for 3800 years. Three thousand, eight hundred years," he tweeted, sharing a Wikipedia link about the Great Pyramid of Giza.

He also shared a BBC article, which he said "provides a sensible summary for how it was done."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/08/02/spacex-ceo-elon-musk-tweets-aliens-pyramids-egypt-responds/5568089002/

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»World History»Stonehenge may be a rebui...