solar calendar. A place of worship. UFO landing site. Many uses have been theorized for Stonehenge. Researchers now propose adding another monument to unity, in a study report. archeology international article.
There must be a reason for this, as the stones that make up various aspects of the mysterious structure were brought from all over the British Isles. As it turns out, it’s not the only henge in town. Hundreds of other stone circles have been discovered in Britain. However, almost all of them use locally sourced building materials.
Meaning of distant stones
Stonehenge is unique in that respect. Its components were collected from near and far. The latest and perhaps most famous example is: “Altar stone.“Their main rungs somehow came from Scotland, about 1,100 miles to the north.
“The fact that all of its stones came from far-flung regions, and that it is the only one of the more than 900 stone circles in Britain, suggests that this stone circle had not only a religious purpose but also a political purpose. , suggesting that it may have had a purpose as a monument of unity for the British people.” Britain celebrates its eternal connection to its ancestors and the cosmos. ” mike parker pearsonThe study’s author, an archaeologist at the University of London, said: press release.
However, the altar stone is not a “one-time” item. This article provides a comprehensive list of where each stone is thought to have originated and when it is believed to have been moved. For example, 43 ‘bluestones’ were transported from west Wales, some 140 miles away, while the larger ‘sarsen’ stones came from about 25 miles northwest of the Stonehenge site on Salisbury Plain.
read more: Stonehenge may be an ancient solar calendar
Cultural significance of Stonehenge
Both the provenance and placement of the altar stone suggest that it was moved very far, and not just because it’s a very cool rock. This paper highlights how the horizontal altar stone at Stonehenge matches the size and arrangement of similar stones in the circle of north-east Scotland, where the altar stone originated.
The megalithic stones had ancestral significance, the authors write. They represent the origin of the people. Therefore, the altar stone may have been offered by the peoples of northern Scotland to represent their alliance.
Stonehenge was also built in two stages. The first one seemed to include more local material on the site. The second phase included stones from further afield, including Scotland and Wales. The series of stones may somehow indicate that the area of Stonehenge was increasingly cosmopolitan, at least in the Neolithic sense.
“The distant origins of the altar stone confirm Stonehenge’s unique status as a single stone circle built entirely of non-local stone, a material microcosm jutting out on a gigantic scale. ” concludes the paper. “This suggests that Stonehenge is a monument whose builders tried, ultimately unsuccessfully, to establish some form of political unity and common identity across much of Britain, or even all of Britain. Consistent with recent interpretations, it brings together these unusual and alien rocks that symbolize and embody distant worlds, a complex material and memorial of unity with people, land, ancestors, and heaven. A monumental representation of a distant community.”
read more: Stonehenge poses a new mystery: the altar stone came from far away Scotland
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik was a science journalist for more than 20 years, specializing in U.S. life sciences policy and global scientific career issues. He started his career in newspapers but switched to scientific magazines. His research has appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
