Stonehenge, Something Amazing

Beginning this week we started to learn about what I personally believe to be one of the most interesting topics in archaeology, Stonehenge. Stonehenge has always been one my favorite topics. When I was younger I remember watching documentaries and learning about Stonehenge in class. Teachers were always trying to tell you how they thought Stonehenge was created and what they believed were the reasons for why. I have always loved hearing the many different theories that people have on the origins of archaeological sites, and Stonehenge has plenty. It is interesting how we can know so little about the actual origins of Stonehenge yet know so much about the site itself. Even media loves to use the mystery surrounding Stonehenge to draw in an audience. Recently you can see in the movie “Thor the Dark World” the idea that the stones were brought together from many different worlds when portals appear above the site that link the different realms together. I remember reading a book called “The Doom Stone” when I was younger that had a story centered on Stonehenge, and a grisly monster. It is amazing to see what humans will come up with when sites like Stonehenge are blanketed in mystery. It was interesting to hear in class about the four major theories that surrounded the origin of Stonehenge and how some of them were backed by reputable scholars. I was quite surprised today when we didn’t talk about the fact that many people believe Stonehenge was built by aliens. Out of all of the many different theories I have heard the idea that aliens built Stonehenge is the one I have heard the most. It is unbelievable that people believe that humans are so incapable of creating such interesting and astonishing sites such as Stonehenge or even the Pyramids of Giza.

We also learned today about the summer solstice celebration that is held every year at Stonehenge. What I didn’t realize is how big of an event this is. Every year thousands of people of all ages and from all over the world attend the festivities to celebrate the summer solstice. It leaves me in awe that so many people go to Stonehenge to celebrate such an event. Based on the videos and pictures I have seen it looks like a beautiful sight. It must be an amazing feeling standing within Stonehenge and experiencing the sunrise. I hope that someday I am able to witness the event for myself.

3 thoughts on “Stonehenge, Something Amazing

  1. Very interesting ideas! I have never thought of any modern media relating to Stonehenge! Now that you’ve pointed it out, Thor does seem to resemble more than a few components of Stonehenge, myth and fact. Maybe the stones being brought together from distant worlds points to Stonehenge components coming from Wales or distant England? The summer solstice celebration you talked about also made me think of Stonehenge as more than an archaeological wonder, but cultural one, and a monument to many people who may hold greater value in it than we see. Skipping around one more time, you’re point about people’s faith in mankind’s abilities regarding construction, for example the pyramids or Stonehenge, is also somewhat confusing to me. We see incredible monuments such as the palaces of Crete or goddess temples and for the most part accept the true origins, that an ancient human civilization created them, only because we fairly accurately know the stories behind them. On the other hand, knowledge about some sites is more vague, and despite having concrete facts, they are lesser known and people see more room for them to input their creative theories.

  2. I love that you bring up different theories that you learned in school about Stonehenge. When I was in junior high, I was actually taught out of a textbook that it was made as a place of Druidic worship. It’s really interesting to see all of the theories that people have.
    Until we began this lecture, I’d never seen aerial pictures of Stonehenge as a whole in comparison to the Salisbury Plain. To me, with the embankments and the Avenue, Stonehenge looks a little like the USS Enterprise. I can see with that how some people would think that aliens could be involved. Take, for instance, the Nibirans in Star Trek:

    Granted, I’d hope that as we develop and learn that we would grow past these things, but it’s fun to surmise how those theories came about. It’s also fun to play around with theories, as you mentioned they did in Thor: The Dark World. It makes me wonder as to how many people actually bother to find out facts about places like Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza, or if they simply take the first explanation they hear at face value and agree to it.
    If Stonehenge was built by aliens, it’s a shame that they don’t come and hang around anymore on the summer and winter solstices, as those were clearly very important times to them. Instead, we now have tens of thousands of drunk people hanging around, wreaking havoc and slowly but surely eroding the stones and compromising their ability to last for another ten or twenty thousand years.

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