Stonehenge: New Discoveries

Such a mysterious place….

 Stonehenge is a prehistoric site which has engendered loads of hypotheses and speculations for many decades.

Stone comes from Old English and “Henge” comes from “hencg” meaning “hinge” or hen( c )en meaning “hang” or “gallows” or “instrument of torture”. The “henge” has given its name to a class of monument known as henges. Stonehenge evolved in several periods of construction phases.

Next to Stonehenge stands “Heel Stone”, “Friar’s Heel” or “Sun-stone”. If you stand in the center of Stonehenge at the summer solstice and you watch towards “Heel-Stone”, you’ll see the sun rise just above it. This stone gave birth to some legends, such as this one:

 

 “The Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up, and brought them to Salisbury plain. The Devil, then cried out, “No-one will ever find out how these stones came here!” A friar replied, “That’s what you think!, whereupon the Devil threw one of the stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground and is still there.”

Lithology of Stonehenge

After several researches, the last discovery dates from 2010 when The Stonehenge New Landscape Project was launched. They found new henges with a East-West alignment which squares perfectly with solstices. Thus there would have been solar ceremonies (according to religious prehistoric beliefs). To get more information click on: Stonehenge, NewDiscoveries,