http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_henge

What was it used for, how were the stones transported, why would the people use so much effort to build it?

and why do we still care?

it was built to entice aliens to visit us.

yea i can see why aliens came to see some rocks.

important rocks, arranged in a circle.

oh that makes all the difference i would be impresed if they made it the shape of bill gates face but i dout aliens would stil care!

no, a circle, thats the trick.

or maybea square, that's why it's unsecsesful you see?

What was it used for, how were the stones transported, why would the people use so much effort to build it?If you can answer those questions, some really major university like Oxford or the Sarbonne will probably give you a PhD on the spot. This is one of the world's great mysteries. But they are making progress on it. For one thing, IIRC they just found evidence of a similar but smaller artifact having existed not too far away from it.

If you can answer those questions, some really major university like Oxford or the Sarbonne will probably give you a PhD on the spot. This is one of the world's great mysteries. But they are making progress on it. For one thing, IIRC they just found evidence of a similar but smaller artifact having existed not too far away from it.

It is nice that there is one adult here :D

fishtail, either you can't do math or you are a child. :p

What about the astronomical hypothesis? Is that still standing?

What about the astronomical hypothesis? Is that still standing?

Why would a (tribe) want to expend so much energy on building such a structure to study alignments, when a wooden would do the same job
and last a life time.

I've always been curious about the giant white horses myself.

Yes, as far as I am aware the cosmological stuff still stands. There have been some interesting suggestions as well over the years. For example, one guy suggested that the central trilithons may have been covered over with a wooden roof, making an artificial cave similar to the real caves that have been demonstrated to have definite alignments down the passage to the central room. See for example Maes Howe on Orkney.

Isn't Maes Howe a luner one?

No, Maes Howe is not lunar, it's in Scotland.

I have once heard somewhere else that the stones are actually used to keep time. People would relate the position of the sun to the stones.

Another thing I heard is that its used as a temple for something...

Maes Howe, IIRC correctly and I can't be bothered finding the book that mentions it, is more to do with the summer solstice and Venus, not the moon. Google suggests it is the Ring of Brogar that is lunar related.

thanks Guthrie!

Have they figured out the reasons for the horses yet?

No. It would be great to know, and maybe if they ever excavate one they will find some interesting stuff buried, but I'm not holding out much hope.

...if they ever excavate one they will find some interesting stuff buried, but I'm not holding out much hope.

I thought they were continually digging at them to keep the white showing? They haven't found anything then?
hmmm, maybe they could focus on a lost one that no body cares about and dig the hell outta that one.

And I have heard that Druids used Stonehenge and other monolithic places. But is there proof of that? Did they have writings?

IIRC, you get the white by clearing away the top layer of soil and plants, because there is chalk underneath, but they do not need to keep digging in the way you imply.

IIRC, you get the white by clearing away the top layer of soil and plants, because there is chalk underneath, but they do not need to keep digging in the way you imply.

in what way that I imply??
They have to keep digging at them or they will be lost to nature. It gets over grown and lost.

thanks Guthrie!

Have they figured out the reasons for the horses yet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_figure

A good start.

CLearing away the top inch or two of material or plants is not, in my book, the same as digging many feet down to see if there is any hidden treasure.

It's chalk - people tend not to bury stuff in chalk.
Especially in strips a foot or so wide.

So where did the stones that make up the stonehenge come from? and how far did they move them?

So where did the stones that make up the stonehenge come from? and how far did they move them?

The blue stones came from Wales. As for how they got there; could have been deposited in periods of glaciation, or alternatively transported by boat(there is a river nearby with a trackway leading up to the henge).
Other stones came from slightly nearer but I forget where.

Cerne Abbas giant has a new playmate:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/6901543.stm

Cerne Abbas giant has a new playmate:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/6901543.stm

LMAO. I was all geeked and excited about them finding another one.
That's priceless.

A team of people tried to move a stone using rollers and rafts, they failed,
there are no glaciation marks on the stones.

http://www.britannia.com/history/preseli_blue.html

A team of people tried to move a stone using rollers and rafts, they failed,
there are no glaciation marks on the stones.

http://www.britannia.com/history/preseli_blue.html

Actually it says another earlier team tried something similar with a heavier block and succeeded in transporting it and floating it. So it's clearly possible. What it says failed in this attempt was the design of the raft, and then the project was abandoned due to lack of funds. I'm sure the people who built stonehenge suffered the same trial and error problems and a new raft could easily be designed, and for them funding isn't an issue.;)
I'm more inclined to believe they were transported due to them all sharing the same source, the composition of the rocks can easily be matched up to a source as they're as unique as DNA.
It's an interesting link and theory though. I suspect once we find out why other henges were built we'll learn more of an insight into this one.

The best theory as to why henges of various kinds were built is to do with astronomical observations of sunset/ sunrise. That there were variations in and additions to different circles and henges over time does not affect this conclusion. After all, if you just want to worship, a football stadium or barn will do just as well as a gothic cathedral. Yet we have cathedrals.

The best theory as to why henges of various kinds were built is to do with astronomical observations of sunset/ sunrise. That there were variations in and additions to different circles and henges over time does not affect this conclusion. After all, if you just want to worship, a football stadium or barn will do just as well as a gothic cathedral. Yet we have cathedrals.


Populations have increased over time, and at least people had wheels and iron tools to build cathederals.
Why would people bother to drag huge lumps of stone hundreds of miles
just to build an observatory, when they could build from a plentiful supply
of wood, (there was a wood henge), it makes no sence, it would take a huge chunk of peoples lives that could have been used for personal needs.

But they did the same thing for Cathedrals- many using specific stone from many miles away, even from across the sea. You are forgetting the probably importance of religion and how it was tied in with the timing of the seasons and their food crops. You will not be surprised to know that the earliest observatories were made of wood. However it seems likely that over time, partly as a matter of status displays, partly as greater decoration for their gods, etc, they would have upgraded the observatories using stones.

Personal needs? What are they?

But they did the same thing for Cathedrals- many using specific stone from many miles away, even from across the sea. You are forgetting the probably importance of religion and how it was tied in with the timing of the seasons and their food crops. You will not be surprised to know that the earliest observatories were made of wood. However it seems likely that over time, partly as a matter of status displays, partly as greater decoration for their gods, etc, they would have upgraded the observatories using stones.

Personal needs? What are they?

These people would have to be fed and clothed have shelter, i doubt any one could work at moving a great lump of rock and feel like going hunting gathering afterwards, say it took a team of 100 men to haul the rock, then
another 100 to find food and water for them, then you would need people cutting down trees for the rollers ,clearing obstructions.
It would take years to move one lump of rock to the site, and may be the people doing the work would not gain any advantage from their work, their
children or grand children may be.

Maybe they made rope out of hemp tied it around the rock, Probably tied some brushing around the rock to cushion it and than tie the ropes to some cattle?

You doubt?
Well, thats it settled then.
But if you argue that they were hunter gatherers, then consider that the last modern ones, in Africa spent only a few hours a day actually meeting their survival needs, leaving plenty of time for doing other stuff.

In reality, the people who built stonehenge and other places would have been farmers. Farming was spreading across Europe by 5,000BC, and was widespread in Scotland by 3,500BC. By this stage they were already building long cairns, many metres long and 2 or 3 tall, out of lots of small rocks. By the time of Stonehenge, there is no reason at all that the local farmers couldn't have spent a great deal of time working on moving rocks.

There's a guy somewhere who is building a duplicate of stonehenge basically by himself - it's not taking him that long. A few months, once he has the rocks more or less lined up, in his spare time. Clever use of leverage, balance, etc.

These rocks probably didn't take as much work to move as people nowdays assume. Stone age people were very ingenious with their stones.

The Romans, with little difference in basic technology, moved stones weighing tens and hundreds of tons. Search about a place called Baalbek for more information.

and why do we still care?

because its a part of the british heritage thast why, and it is a beautiful and lovely peaceful place, i do the summer soltice there

These people would have to be fed and clothed have shelter, i doubt any one could work at moving a great lump of rock and feel like going hunting gathering afterwardsAs others have pointed out, the Mesolithic Era (hunter-gatherers) had come to an end long before Stonehenge was built. These people were farmers. In an era when the nutrients in the soil had not been depleted, there was still plenty of wood for heat and construction, and--perhaps most importantly--modern medicine was thousands of years off so the infant mortality rate was astronomical and the population was not expanding quickly. Life was fairly easy for these people. Much like it was for the first European settlers in North America, who found a land not yet exploited by civilization and claimed it was their spirit and not their insanely good luck that built our country. The people of Stonehenge had full bellies and lots of free time.and why do we still care?As Captain Picard said, "Humans cannot resist a mystery. It simply must be solved." In addition, to a certain extent most of us appreciate the benefits of civilization and feel a bit of respect--if in most cases unconsciously--toward the people who participated in the early processes of building it. If it weren't for all the little experiments like Stonehenge and Easter Island, proving that a community could accomplish far more by working together than as individuals, we wouldn't have supermarkets, recorded music, antibiotics and the internet.

...Easter Island, proving that a community could accomplish far more by working together than as individuals,....

didn't those people strip their island bare of anything to eat?

didn't those people strip their island bare of anything to eat?
Sort of. They used up the trees, and ended up with some impressive intensive agriculture to survive. Read Jared Diamonds "collapse" for more details.

Fraggle, i hear what you are saying, (the people had a cosy life), so why would they bother to to ruin it by dragging huge blocks of rock about.

For the same reason people ruin their cosy life by fasting, or by taking up marathon running. After all, what possible benefit can you get by risking injury in training intensively for a race which is unlikely to have any real prize at the end of it?

Fraggle, i hear what you are saying, (the people had a cosy life), so why would they bother to to ruin it by dragging huge blocks of rock about.Have you ever had the "cozy life" of a Neolithic human? You raise your crops, you feed your livestock. Do a few repairs to your house, maybe the upkeep on your canoe or fishing nets. If you're the village weaver you make a couple of shirts, if you're the cobbler you make some shoes, if you're the brewer you look in on your vats, if you're the fletcher you make some arrows. You eat, you work, you sleep. Maybe once in a while you go hunting, but the explosion of the human population has reduced the game population severely and your livestock out-competes them for pasture. You have a hundred companions--give or take a factor of two--whom you've known since birth and you see every single day. You have a few primitive musical instruments and maybe ten songs, no books but several of you can recite the tribe's history and they just did it after dinner last Monday when you tried the latest batch of pomegranate wine. The whole bunch of you hasn't had anything new to do or to talk about since Joe made the week-long trek from his village and told you about his boring life three months ago.

I think you'd be looking for something to do. The crazier the better. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_henge

What was it used for, how were the stones transported,
there was video of a dude in Michigan who built stonehenge in his backyard,from big concrete blocks,..and all by himself too
,I think it was on www.ebaumsworld.com could have been www.fungod.com am not sure right now

Ever hear of the Coral Castle?

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/clickit/search?r_aid=CD14CC611BC44B39964DE14123BF9370&r_eop=6&r_sacop=6&r_spf=0&r_cop=main-title&r_snpp=4&r_spp=2&r_wsm=0&qqn=n-N2%3D%26ic&r_coid=239138&rawto=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/FLHOMcoral.html



http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/clickit/search?r_aid=CD14CC611BC44B39964DE14123BF9370&r_eop=2&r_sacop=8&r_spf=0&r_cop=main-title&r_snpp=5&r_spp=3&r_wsm=0&qqn=e.gG5vTK&r_coid=239138&rawto=http://www.coralcastle.com/home.asp

You have a few primitive musical instruments and maybe ten songs, You have maybe a hundred songs, if the stats from the early collectors are any indication. And plenty to do in the way of husbandry, repair, etc - at your neighbor's, if not your own. And various festivals, fairs, weddings, funerals, etc, to get ready for. You are making your own booze, cheese, pickles, winter food; You have to weed, pick bugs, fence, etc. And you play - with your kids, even.

The days are full. But the young folks do travel, with relatives scattered all over - and the travellers do come by, thieves though they tend to be, and untrustworthy around the daughters - - -
there was video of a dude in Michigan who built stonehenge in his backyard,from big concrete blocks,..and all by himself too All by himself wtih hand tools - no power equipment. In a few months.

The modern assumed crudity of people who lack power machinery has always bugged me - the official estimates of the manpower needed to build Stonehenge could easily be an order of magnitude high. Those people knew all about leverage, balance, etc. They were not primitive, as in crude, in their handling of material.

Yes I know....a few months ago I watched a contest in which several groups of 'experts' attempted to build a 10 ft re-creation of an Egytian Pyramid...they all looked more like something that had been extracted from a jelly bowl. Pathetic.

The Egyptians would leave us standing when it comes to construction.

When we create one of the 7 wonders of the world I might be impressed..so far we've come up with a rust bucket called the 'Northern Angel' standing sadly by the side of a motorway on the road to Newcastle..

..the difference is of course that the Ancients could lift our Soul whilst we only lower it to sheer misery. Its no coincidence that the Ancients were a more Spritual people...

Spritual - Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Beethoven.

Nihilistic USA = Kurt Cobain and Violent rap.

Call that progress?

Evolution, my arse! :p

Surely it was some kind of god/people control building, the same as every other ancient building of any standing?

You have maybe a hundred songs, if the stats from the early collectors are any indication. And plenty to do in the way of husbandry, repair, etc - at your neighbor's, if not your own. And various festivals, fairs, weddings, funerals, etc, to get ready for. You are making your own booze, cheese, pickles, winter food; You have to weed, pick bugs, fence, etc. And you play - with your kids, even. The days are full.Well okay, so you're looking at a time-lapse snapshot of the Neolithic Era much later in the series than I am. Agricultural technology had become more pervasive and there were more villages. Since they were closer together there was more contact for the exchange of goods, services, technology, culture and DNA--plant, livestock and human. They were on the verge of coalescing into a civilization so they were already enjoying some of the benefits of it.

I'm glad they have a hundred songs, but I'm a musician who can play many times that number and I would be bored to the point of suicide if that were all the music I could ever experience.But the young folks do travel, with relatives scattered all over - and the travellers do come by, thieves though they tend to be, and untrustworthy around the daughters.And when those young folks managed to find their way to one of the cities they heard of in the fantastic tales of travelers, they often stayed. I would have spent my life searching for the rich catalog of songs that the occasional traveling musician brought with him from one of those supposedly mythical cities.

The modern assumed crudity of people who lack power machinery has always bugged me - the official estimates of the manpower needed to build Stonehenge could easily be an order of magnitude high. Those people knew all about leverage, balance, etc. They were not primitive, as in crude, in their handling of material.Yes you're certainly right about that. Premodern people figured out how to knap flint, string bows, fletch arrows, tan hides, preserve food, weave fibers, cultivate plants, domesticate animals, fire pottery, and an entire catalog of important technologies without knowing they were possible. Things you and I couldn't do in three lifetimes even with the reassurance that they can indeed be done.

They had the same brains as we have, and they were just as good at using them.

Stonehenge was built very late in the British Isles' Neolithic Era, when cities were already thriving within easy sailing distance of Europe. If the Romans hadn't colonized Albion, the pre-Indo-European people who built Stonehenge (perhaps relatives of the Picts) or the Brythonic Celts who supplanted them might well have invented civilization on their own, just as the Olmec and Inca people did without help.