Stonehenge
Stonehenge has presented us with endless fields of
possibility for our curiosity and minds to explore. The mystery of these
enchanting stones all assembled in a specific way has given rise to many
explanations considering their purpose and just how they got there.
The first stage of construction dates from about
3100BC, when a circular bank and ditch enclosure were made of chalk. Bones of
various animals and flint tools were placed in the depressions. At about
2600BC, the builders began using stone instead of wood for their constructions
and this is when the bluestones were placed. The heelstone may have been
erected at this time as well as two to three portal stones, of which only one
remains, and the four station stones. From this period to 2400BC, 30 massive
sarsen stones were brought to the area from a quarry about 40km away. These
were erected in a circle and pairs were topped with lintel stones. Within this
circle, five trilithons were arranged in the shape of a horseshoe and ‘daggers’
and ‘axeheads’ were carved into some of the stones. From 2280BC to 1930BC saw
the rearrangement of the bluestones. The altar stone may also have been moved
into the centre of the circle at this time.
The year 1600BC saw the last small changes to the
site and it was probably used lastly during the Iron Age. It is not known if it
was continual usage. There is an opening in the northeast of the monument that
suggests that the solstice and the equinox played a pivotal role in the
significance of religious life and rituals at the time. For during the summer
solstice when the sun rises close to the heelstone, the rays shine into the
centre of the site and betwixt the horseshoe arrangement.
There is a tradition that inextricably links
Stonehenge to the mystical and mysterious people known as the Celts. It is
thought that the structure is associated with the Druids, the chief religious
leaders of the Celts of Britain. Thoughts have ranged from the use of the
formation as a place where human sacrifice was performed to a place where
worship of the gods took place.
The source of the stones has been deduced by
scientists to have come from a quarry in Wales. Fairly enough, there are
numerous questions concerning how whoever constructed Stonehenge transported
such gargantuan blocks from Wales to the Wiltshire. There exists a local legend
that the blocks once levitated into place, and supporters of the ancient
astronaut theory have pounced on this tale. They believe that the stones were
arranged by extraterrestrials wishing to give humans some sort of astronomical
knowledge. Some have thought the site to be a primitive computer, whilst other
theories that it an observatory for analysing the stars and predicting the
seasons. Others maintain it to be a landing site for alien spaceships.
However the sexiest theory that concerns the
monument comes from the perky gynaecologist Anthony Perks, who believes that it
has something to do with sexual rituals associated with the Mother Goddess.
According to him, at a specific time a shadow is cast from the outer stones and
which strikes the centre stone, which has a crack in its face he compared to
the human female vagina. Hence, he believes when this long and thin shadow is
cast over this centre stone it is symbolic of a heavenly penetration between
the Mother Goddess and her male mate. The insertion of the Mother Goddess into
this theory comes from the presumption that her presence, which has its origins
in the Levant and Anatolia, spread all the way across Europe and into Britain
during the Neolithic period. However, no evidence of her presence in terms of
the archaeological record or of the Roman accounts exists to support this
presumption, and the oldest presence of the Mother Goddess on European soil was
introduced into Greece by their settlements in Anatolia under the name of
Cybele in the 6th century BC. Still, he believes that the concentric
circles represent the female anatomy and the place where plants and animals
were given birth to.
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