Stonehenge

The standard way to explore Stonehenge these days includes picking up headsets at the visitor's center for a self-paced, audio-guided tour around the ring of rocks along with a few hundred others.

A chain-link fence stops visitors from chipping off a small piece of a massive stone to be carted home as a souvenir.

It wasn't always like this.

A little over 100 years ago, it was actually just a curiosity on privately-owned land that few knew about.  Cecil and Mary Chubb bought Stonehenge for 6,600 pounds in 1915 and proceeded to donate it to the British government on October 26, 1918.

My brother-in-law Brooks said when he visited Stonehenge in the 1950's, he actually wandered freely around the huge sarsen stones.

Those of us who watch the Starz series Outlander realize Brooks was fortunate not to have been transported to another time in history like that TV show's heroine Claire, although undoubtedly that could be fun for an adventurous soul like him.  This show and others involving time travel have found lots of fans over the years who enjoy the vicarious ride.

It is conjecture about that kind of supernatural phenomenon at Stonehenge that attracts so many tourists, in my opinion.

Most archaeologists agree that Stonehenge must have been some sort of temple for ceremonial rites for Neolithic people when constructed about 4500 years ago using massive stones weighing up to 30 tons that had to be transported from as far as 150 miles away using back-breaking methods like rolling them atop logs.

Crossbeam stones have tongue-in-groove joints, with mortise joints to secure them in place.  This would have required advanced stone-shaping with primitive tools made of materials found in nature like antlers, wood and harder stones.




The first question that comes to mind is why would anyone go to the trouble of doing this?

Apparently, the stones were arranged to be a solar/lunar calendar of sorts.  Would moving hundreds of tons of stone and standing them upright in an age before trucks, cranes and motorized earthmoving equipment really be the easiest way to keep track of solar solstices and equinoxes?

Perhaps Druid wizards had magical powers greater than Harry Potter, including the ability to transport stones from long distances.

I've always found theories of advanced aliens from other planets building these rather other-worldly formations strangely logical, in that such extraterrestrial beings might theoretically have advanced technologies or mental powers capable of transporting and arranging the blocks.

History Channel's Ancient Aliens presented the possibility of space stations for which Stonehenge and other "henges" around Salisbury Plain might have been essentially foundational stones that were parts of greater structures.

On the drive to Stonehenge, our amusing guide Mark regaled us with stories of UFO sitings and crop circles in the Wiltshire area that includes Stonehenge.

As he said, there are many videos of strange phenomenon readily available if you wish to check them out for yourself.

These sitings would seem to give more credence to Stonehenge being some sort of interstellar rest stop on trips across the galaxy, if you're someone who thinks Men In Black, Star Trek and The X Files might represent some underlying truth wrapped in entertainment.

The actual audio tour at Stonehenge focuses on what antiquarians and archaeologists believe about the Neolithic origins of Stonehenge.  These are interesting, too, though I think these experts also voice conjecture based on circumstantial evidence.

How do they know the intentions of a soldier whose bones were found in an outer trench?  Maybe that was just where he happened to fall when hit by a fatal arrow, or maybe he thought he could be healed or forgiven for sins if he made it to Stonehenge while he still breathed.

There are a series of numbered viewing stops where guests can play the audio track associated with specific number.  I can't think of a better way to handle the large crowds that want to see Stonehenge.

Guides trying to outshout each other in various languages to groups of people who probably want to see things at varying paces would soon get out of hand.

The audio-guide certainly beats our first encounter with Stonehenge a few years ago when we simply stopped by the side of the road and looked over a chain link fence to see the strange formation in the distance.

There's more to see with the price of admission, including a village of Neolithic houses and a large museum.  Julie and I spent most of our two hours walking around Stonehenge itself, which is accessed by a shuttle included along with the headphones rental for the price of admission.  We went on a packaged tour bundled with transportation, but if you find your way there on your own, tickets cost 19 pounds (about $22).

This was actually a couple of days before we went to Glastonbury, where we first heard legends about Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus visiting England.  If you happened to watch the video at the very bottom of that blog, which you may have noticed mentioned Stonehenge and a similar stone alignment in Israel, it concludes in the video below.

CLICK HERE to see part I of "And Did Those Feet...?" at Glastonbury.