The standing stones of Stonehenge have generated numerous theories and much speculation over the years. The Stonehenge is filled with mystery and over five thousand years it has been a silent vigil over the earth. Stonehenge has over the years been x-rayed, excavated, surveyed, and measured. Despite all the endeavours to gather information on the Stonehenge, the mystery of its age and construction remains a puzzle and a great mystery. Astronomer, Dr. Gerald Hawkins is among the many who strove to demonstrate that there existed a pattern of alignment at Stonehenge consisting of twelve lunar and solar events. This paper analyses the multiple constructions of Stonehenge, the megaliths of the Stonehenge, and functions and significance of the Stonehenge.
Firstly, Hawkins published his findings in his article “Stonehenge Decoded” and later his book in 1965. In the research, Hawkins identified 165 crucial points in the Stonehenge complex and discovered great correlation in their rising and setting positions. Hawkins related such features with the rising and setting of the moon and sun (Aczel 42). Notably, the most important feature of the site is the one that is associated with Aubrey Holes, the four station stones, and the heel stone. According to Hawkins, it is possible to predict moon eclipses using the “Aubrey Holes” (42). Hawkins further argued that Stonehenge was a complex astronomical viewpoint that was intended to predict eclipses (Aczel 42). Aczel (42) notes that the positioning of the stone provides boundless information just as the choice of the site where they were erected. By observing the general alignment, general relationship, and the use of the stones, then it is possible to comprehend the reason behind their construction.
Stonehenge’s Multiphase Construction
According to Mörner and Lind, archaeologists believe that the most iconic prehistoric ruin was built in numerous stages (27). Mörner and Lind note that the first was built more than 5,000 years ago (27). Mörner and Lind also indicate that the Neolithic Britons used primitive tools that were made using deer antlers to dig the ditch on Salisbury Plain (30). The deep pits in the Plain date back to the Stonehenge age and are referred to as Aubrey holes. The holes were discovered by John Aubrey, a 17th century antiquarian, and the scholars indicate that the stones may have once held a hoop of wooden posts.
The Megaliths of Stonehenge
According to Terry (np), some of the largest Stonehenge weigh in excess of 40 tons and have been raised 24 feet. The stones were likely to have been sourced 25 miles north of Salisbury plain and conveyed using sledges and riggings. In keeping with Terry (np), the stone may have been spread in the nearby area by the time the monument’s architects were beginning to put up the structure. Nonetheless, Terry (np), notes that the bluestones may have been transported all the way from Preseli Hills in Wales, approximately two hundred miles away from Stonehenge. The most mystical question is how the prehistoric builders who lacked sophisticated tools hauled the sarsens which weighed approximately four tonnes for long distances.
Aczel indicates that one of the long standing theories is that the Stonehedge builders could push precious stones (blue in color) from Preseli Hills using sophisticated equipment (42). The theory also states that the logs were then transferred to the sarsens and floated along the “Welsh coast and up Avon River to Salisbury Plain” (Aczel 42). It is also possible that the builders used boats and other marine vessels to pull the boulders. Aczel notes that the most recent hypotheses stipulate that the bluestones were transported with the wicker baskets, long grooved planks and oxen (42).
Aczel indicates that for a long time, geologists have made several contributions on how Stonehenge came to existence and challenged the archetypal image of industrious (53). Neolithic builders transporting bluestones from miles away. Scientists argue that glaciers, and not humans, were involved in heavy rock lifting and the entire globe is scattered with huge rocks referred to glacial erratic that were transported by moving ice floes. Aczel argues that maybe these rocks were carried by glacier from the Preseli Hills and deposited at Salibury Plain (53). Nonetheless, most archaeologists have remained quiet on the glacier theory and wondered how natural forces could have pushed the builders such that the boulders delivered to finish the loop came out exactly as required. According to Aczel, the Stonehenge was the work of the wizard Merlin (54). To Aczel, this work was done in the mid of the fifth century (54). Aczel also indicates that many noble Britons were murdered by the Saxon and were buries in the Salisbury plain (54). The king hoped to erect a memorial to his fallen subjects and tasked the army of Ireland to get the blue stones that were referred to as giant rings.
Functions and significance of the Stonehenge
Mörner and Lind argue that if the facts and theories on the Stonehenge remain unclear, the purpose of the arresting monument remains more mysterious (32). Historians have continued to note that it is a place of great importance although it remains unknown why the prehistoric Britons were inspired to develop the Stonehenge (“Stonehenge - British History”). In the recent times, signs of injury and illness in human remains have been discovered at Stonehenge led archaeologists to suspect that the region could have had some spiritual connection because the stones found in the area where believed to have a curative effect. Arguably, there is strong archaeological evidence that the Stonehenge was used as a cemetery. Many scholars also believe the suggested that the place was used for other activities as well. In 1960, Gerald Hawkins suggested that the cluster of megalithic stones was used as an astronomic calendar because it corresponds with astrological phenomenon like the eclipse, equinoxes and the solstices (“Stonehenge by Gerald S. Hawkins”).
Works Cited
Aczel, Amir D. The Cave and the Cathedral: How a Real-Life Indiana Jones and a Renegade Scholar Decoded the Ancient Art of Man. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.
Hawkins, Gerald S. Stonehenge Decoded. Garden City: Doubleday, 1965. Print.
Mörner, Nils-Axel, and Bob G. Lind. "Stonehenge Has Got a Younger Sister Ales Stones in Sweden Decoded." International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics 02.01 (2012): 23-27. Print.
Terry J, "The Mystery of Stonehenge." QSL.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
"Stonehenge - British History." HISTORY.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
"Stonehenge by Gerald S. Hawkins." The New York Review of Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
