Monday 7 September 2015

One that Stukeley missed


Using radar technology, they have just discovered a 'super-henge' which dwarfs Stonehenge, only 2 miles away from it.

It is so big, that they did not realise it was a henge circle until the map was produced. For some reason, the 15 foot-high stones were pushed over around 4000 years ago and covered in topsoil. It is not aligned to the Solstices as Stonehenge is, so there is much to research and learn. There are more than twice as many stones buried as are standing at Stonehenge. It is huge, and has been described as of 'global importance'.

Let's hope they they manage to glean something from it before either Heron and his mates claim it as his own, or ISIS invades and destroys it for good.

20 comments:

  1. Yes, it is tremendously exciting. I would love it if they could reinstate the whole thing but I can't imagine that's possible. Apart from the fact that archaeologists don't seem to like doing that kind of thing!

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  2. Yes, it is tremendously exciting. I would love it if they could reinstate the whole thing but I can't imagine that's possible. Apart from the fact that archaeologists don't seem to like doing that kind of thing!

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    1. Yes - Knossos was a restoration they have never forgotten, also by an Englishman. Speculation is forbidden these days.

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  3. Isn't this amazing! I wonder if they were buried from the outset, to propitiate the underworld, perhaps. Life could not be all light and gossamer, even then.

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    1. I don't expect even they thought of that, Joanne, but it's a good theory. I wonder how many underground places there are left to be discovered.

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  4. Carnac in Brittany has rows of 10,000 standing stones, I imagine there is some similarity in concept.

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    1. 10,000? Are you sure? I know there is a lot at Carnac, but never suspected there to be that many. I always wondered if there was any connection between Carnac in Brittany and Karnac in Egypt - probably just an accidental similarity of words.

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    2. According to Wikipedia, there are 3000+ stones at Carnac. That's still a hell of a lot.

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    3. It depends where you're counting from (or to) apparently. Some of the lines continue into other areas, and if all are added together there are up to 10,000. That's what I've read.

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    4. Main article: Carnac stones
      Carnac is famous as the site of more than 10,000 Neolithic standing stones, also known as menhirs. The stones were hewn from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Local tradition claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is that they are a Roman legion turned to stone by Pope Cornelius.[1]

      The Carnac stones were erected during the Neolithic period which lasted from around 4500 BC until 2000 BC. The precise date of the stones is difficult to ascertain as little dateable material has been found beneath them, but the site's main phase of activity is commonly attributed to c. 3300 BC. One interpretation of the site is that successive generations visited the site to erect a stone in honour of their ancestors.

      History[edit]

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    5. The above is Wiki too..... who does one believe. I know that when I went with Simon Fletcher, there were an awful lot!

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  5. This is wonderfully exciting!! I'm not sure why I would get a rush from finding out there are many old stones buried under the ground, but I do.

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    1. This survey they are still making has shown the whole area to have been a bit like a giant Glastonbury Festival, with temporary camps set up over square mies. It's great to have a bit of large-scale mystery during these ghastly times.

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  6. Yes Tom, I read about this. It makes one wonder what else there is under the ground about which we know nothing.

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  7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/11851593/Stonehenge-thats-a-right-mess-the-builders-left.html

    In case you missed it. JN

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  8. Norfolk found the wooden henge in the sea. Then they dug it up and took it away. I always thought they should have left it where it was. God knows where it is now.

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    1. I was going to say about not seeing the wood for the trees about Durrington Walls. Yes, as far as I remember, your wood one was exposed by an unusual tide. I don't know if they should have left it there or not really. Oak actually becomes like iron in salt water, so it ought to have survived. Also, what used to be land around the flatlands has turned into sea.

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