The timeless mystery of Stonehenge, and the secrets buried in stone

Time of India

2 days ago

Stonehenge alone occupies the rolling hills of Wiltshire, England, its enormous stones tall and still in a silent testament to an ancient time. For centuries, travelers, scholars, and mystics have been intrigued by this great monument.
Who created it? Why did they create it? And how, without the aid of modern machinery, were those enormous stones dragged and put into place so precisely? A visit to Stonehenge is not merely a walk through history; it's an entrance into one of the world's most intriguing unsolved mysteries.
A glimpse into the past
Stonehenge was constructed over a series of periods, starting around 3000 BCE, in the Neolithic era. Over the course of the following 1,500 years, the location changed as cultures came and changed the building.
This timeline makes it virtually impossible to attribute it to a single purpose or culture. What never changes is the awe it provokes. When you walk up to the ring of stones, you can easily feel yourself transported away.
The earth is studded with prehistoric burial mounds and ritual earthworks. Stonehenge is not a lone monument; there's so much more to this prehistoric sacred landscape.
The mystery of construction
One of the biggest secrets of Stonehenge is how it was constructed.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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The biggest stones, the sarsens, are as much as 25 tons each and were pulled nearly 20 miles from Marlborough Downs. The smaller bluestones, weighing approximately 4 tons each, were from the Preseli Hills of Wales, approximately 200 miles away. How did Neolithic humans transport these massive stones over such distances without wheels or metal tools? Some have hypothesized that they did this by a combination of sleds, rollers, and waterways.
Others think the stones could have been transported by glaciers during the Ice Age. Although numerous attempts have been made to repeat these efforts, no process has yet been shown to have worked. Even more remarkable is the accuracy with which the stones were fitted. The builders had mortise and tenon joints join the horizontal lintels to the vertical pillars, which is a sophisticated method that looks more like woodworking than stonework.
Theories about its purpose
The largest puzzle is what Stonehenge was actually used for. There is solid evidence that Stonehenge was used as a burial place. Human bones have been discovered in and around the site, and many of them date back to its most ancient stages. Some archaeologists are convinced that only elites or important people were buried there, suggesting that it could be a holy site for the dead.
Stonehenge's alignment with the solstices is perhaps the most celebrated aspect of this monument.
Each year during the summer solstice, the rising sun precisely aligns with the Heel Stone on the outside of the circle and the central Altar Stone. This alignment indicates the site was perhaps utilized to monitor solar and lunar phenomena, essential for agrarian cultures to know when to plant and harvest.
Another theory holds that Stonehenge was a pilgrims' site where individuals came to be healed. The bluestones had mystical or medicinal powers.
A few of the skeletons display evidence of sickness or wounds, tending to prove that individuals came in from far away in the hopes of being healed.
While thousands of years old, Stonehenge remains a cultural and spiritual draw. Today, Druids and Pagans flock to the monument at the time of the solstices to commemorate and hold rituals, tying present beliefs to ancient practices.
Visitors from across the world arrive not only to view the stones but to experience them, to stand in the shadow of the unknown, built by the hands of people forgotten to history. Visiting Stonehenge isn't about gazing at an ancient site; it's about stepping into a world of mystique. Standing under the stones, the questions reach as high as the monument: Was it a temple? A tomb? A cosmic clock? The truth is, it could have been all those things and more.
One thing is for sure: Stonehenge has intrigued people for ages.
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