Stone Henge

[bonj2]

They've been banging on about Stone Henge quite a bit on the radio recently, this is largely due to the archealogical excavation that's going to take place there next month, with the aim of recovering carbon-datable samples that will possibly serve as evidence as to what sort of times the people who built it lived in, and thus give an indication of the age of the henge itself.

This is no doubt stoking up excitement among historians who are keeping their fingers crossed that bones or other artefacts will surface that will prove that the monument is indeed the four thousand-odd years old that it is commonly believe to be, or even older - but I am keeping an open mind about this.

I'm reserving judgement, because I think there's a chance that it's actually not as old as people think it is, as it is commonly accepted to be. I think we should be looking at evidence that might suggest that it is in fact quite young, rather than specifically concentrating on evidence that it is old - and in thinking about this we might shed more light on a conclusion as to WHY it is there, rather than just assuming it is 'something to do with the pagan religion'.

I would be interested to discuss how old you think StoneHenge really is.

 

[Melvil]

I think it was built in WWII as a decoy bullseye for German Bombers

Next!

 

[Aperitif]

Rock on bonj...

 

[Cathryn]

I LOVE Stonehenge. Home (prior to exile in Yorkshire) was about a mile away from Stonehenge...it makes me feel very homesick.

Really interested in what they come up with ref its age. It's still an amazing place though.

 

[Chuffy]

Rock on bonj...

Was your sig inspired by Bonj by any chance?

Go on then Bonj, how old does your open mind tell you that is is?
Damn, I may have to throw a sicky tomorrow, just to follow this one.

 

[Renard]

Does the same go for Callanish, the Ring of Brodgar etc?

 

[bonj2]

Well I think Melvil's response is a little bit on the extreme side, and possibly a bit tongue in cheek even - (if not, then it's instantly blown out the water I'm afraid Melv - there's no way they'd have had time with the war going on to build a bloody great henge in the middle of a field).
No, I personally think that I'd put it somewhere around just after the end of the industrial revolution - like early to mid 19th century. When all the mills had been mechanised and they'd finished revolutionising manufacturing industry and stuff like that, they had more time free to concentrate on industries such as tourism - and I think it's this that gave rise to the planning, commissioning and building of the Henge.

 

[Renard]

Come on, it has to pre-date the age of photography or there'd be evidence see...

 

[laurence]

isn't this thread a day early?

 

[bonj2]

I don't think there's any concrete evidence that it dates back to any time before 1877. But I think it'd probably been up for a bit before then, possibly fifty years or more - since Vic was on the throne by 1819 and she was quite a political queen and fairly strict, and whether she'd have allowed it apart from in the first few years of her reign before she'd properly got her foot in the door is questionnable.

 

[Maz]

I paid a visit to the Rollright Stones near Oxford a few years ago. Not in the same league as Stone Henge, but very fascinating nonetheless.

Stone Henge was built on Tues October 4th AD 402.
It was meant to have been completed by AD 400, but that's builders for you.

Next!

 

[bonj2]

I paid a visit to the Rollright Stones near Oxford a few years ago. Not in the same league as Stone Henge, but very fascinating nonetheless.

Stone Henge was built on Tues October 4th AD 402.
It was meant to have been completed by AD 400, but that's builders for you.

Next!

I don't think it was somehow. They were far too militant when Julius Ceasar's lot were roaming around to knock up a stone circle.

 

[Aperitif]

I don't think there's any concrete evidence that it dates back to any time before 1877. But I think it'd probably been up for a bit before then, possibly fifty years or more - since Vic was on the throne by 1819 and she was quite a political queen and fairly strict, and whether she'd have allowed it apart from in the first few years of her reign before she'd properly got her foot in the door is questionnable.

Concrete?

 

[tdr1nka]

Melvil your idea is totally flawed, had Stonehenge been a WWII decoy it would have been inflatable.

*And Oh how they danced, the little people of Stone 'enge beneath the haunted moon, for fear that daybreak might come to soon.*

 

[jonesy]

Beat me to it!

"Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow"