Neat!
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9074269-pits-add-to-stonehenge-mystery
QuotePits add to Stonehenge mystery
By Alan Boyle
Researchers say they've found two pits to the east and west of Stonehenge that may have played a role in an ancient midsummer ceremony. The discovery suggests that the 5,000-year-old circle of stones we see today may represent just a few of the pieces in a larger geographical, astronomical and cultural puzzle.
The previously undetected pits could provide clues for solving the puzzle.
"These exciting finds indicate that even though Stonehenge was ultimately the most important monument in the landscape, it may at times not have been the only, or most important ritual focus, and the area of Stonehenge may have become significant as a sacred site at a much earlier date," Vince Gaffney, an archaeology professor at the University of Birmingham, said in a news release issued over the weekend.
The pits, which measure about 16 feet (5 meters wide) and at least 3 feet (1 meter) deep, have been covered over for centuries and can't easily be spotted on the ground. But they showed up in a survey that was conducted using non-invasive mapping techniques such as ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry. The survey is part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project, which was initiated last year with backing from the University of Birmingham's IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Center and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna.
The placement of the pits is intriguing: They were found on the eastern and western sides of the Cursus, a racetrack-style enclosure north of Stonehenge itself that spans 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from east to west and is up to 100 yards (meters) wide. From the perspective of an observer standing at the Heel Stone, a massive upright stone just outside Stonehenge's main circle, the sun would rise just above the eastern pit on the day of the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year. The same observer would see the sun set that evening in line with the western pit.
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A map of the Stonehenge area shows the placement of the stone circle and the Cursus, as well as another monument known as Woodhenge and a suggested ceremonial route between the monuments.
Archaeologists have previously noted that the Cursus was apparently created several hundred years before Stonehenge's 5,000-year-old stone circle was erected. The newly detected pits may have been part of a grand layout that guided the placement of the standing stones.
But to what end?
Gaffney, who led the survey project, speculated that the Cursus was the central stage for a midsummer ritual that was enacted long before Stonehenge's heyday. "The perimeter of the Cursus may well have defined a route guiding ceremonial processions which took place on the longest day of the year," he said.
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In addition to the pits, Gaffney and his colleagues found a previously undetected gap in the middle of the northern side of the eroded earthwork that defines the sides of the Cursus. They propose that ceremonial leaders entered the Cursus through that gap, and then gathered at the eastern pit to conduct sunrise rituals. Over the course of the day, participants in the rituals might have made their way westward, ending up at the western pit at sunset.
"Observers of the ceremony would have been positioned at the Heel Stone, [with] which the two pits are aligned," Gaffney said.
Henry Chapman, another archaeologist at the University of Birmingham, said Stonehenge's position would have added to the symbolism. "If you measure the walking distance between the two pits, the procession would reach exactly halfway at midday, when the sun would be directly on top of Stonehenge," he said in the news release. "This is more than just coincidence, indicating that the exact length of the Cursus and the positioning of the pits are of significance."
The researchers suggested that the pits may have contained tall sighting stones, or wooden posts, or even fires to symbolize the sun. Just imagine how it would feel to watch the sun rise from a fire lit before dawn, follow its movement across the sky in time with a daylong procession, and then see it fall into the flames at sunset.
"Stonehenge may have been emerging as an important area for quite a long time, and sometimes you can't necessarily see that in the standing archaeology," Gaffney said in an MP3 podcast provided by the University of Birmingham. "The stones themselves, which are generally later, don't give you that information. You have to infer it from relationships between multiple monuments."
The researchers aren't anywhere close to finishing the puzzle: Gaffney figures there's at least another two years' worth of survey work to do. Even then, the full story of Stonehenge and its environs may remain wrapped in mystery. How much can stones and earth tell? Stay tuned ...
TL;DR, but I will observe that this is a field where the nutters come out to play in force.
Calling Salisbury 'Domain of the Living' is pushing it a bit.
Quote from: Sheilbh on November 29, 2011, 01:46:52 PM
Calling Salisbury 'Domain of the Living' is pushing it a bit.
Sheep are alive.
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Quote from: Sheilbh on November 29, 2011, 01:46:52 PM
Calling Salisbury 'Domain of the Living' is pushing it a bit.
:huh:
It can at times be quite a fun place to spend an evening. :bowler:
Brit fight!!! :w00t:
Tea and crumpets at dawn!
Quote from: Malthus on December 06, 2011, 04:52:21 PM
Brit fight!!! :w00t:
The first one to get slapped will take a dive and wait for the ref to toss a red card.
Quote from: mongers on December 06, 2011, 04:50:29 PMIt can at times be quite a fun place to spend an evening. :bowler:
That's fair. Especially when the squaddies are in town :ph34r:
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 06, 2011, 05:10:28 PM
Quote from: mongers on December 06, 2011, 04:50:29 PMIt can at times be quite a fun place to spend an evening. :bowler:
That's fair. Especially when the squaddies are in town :ph34r:
See, I didn't even need to allude to this in my post; not regarding me, but as regard your own predelictions. :P
They say that the ghost of Ted Heath haunts the environs of the Cathedral...........still sulking :o !
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on December 06, 2011, 05:17:38 PM
They say that the ghost of Ted Heath haunts the environs of the Cathedral...........still sulking :o !
:lol:
I've a friend from Salisbury who gives me pretty regular updates on Ted Heath's home. He left it to the city if they converted it into a Museum of Ted Heath. Which they did and are currently paying for his gardener to look after the place (apparently there's insufficient volunteers). Unfortunately no-one visits, no wealth donors can be found so it's just an enormous drain on the council. I think they're desperate to sell it (it's huge and on the Close) but can't find a way out of their promise to preserve it as a dedicated Ted Heath Museum.
I read a few reviews of his recent authorised biography. Apparently even his biographer struggled to find many, if any, redeeming features :(
Dominic Sandbrook is pretty sympathetic to the old curmudgeon in his book State of Emergency.
A good read btw, though the mixture of nostalgia and revelation (I was in my teens during the period covered) may have made the book more fascinating for my age-group than subsequent or earlier ones.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on December 06, 2011, 05:36:26 PM
Dominic Sandbrook is pretty sympathetic to the old curmudgeon in his book State of Emergency.
A good read btw, though the mixture of nostalgia and revelation (I was in my teens during the period covered) may have made the book more fascinating for my age-group than subsequent or earlier ones.
I'd looked at his books before and hesitated. They're possibly a project for Christmas.
I'm particularly interested in 'White Heat' because I think he's sympathetic to Wilson as well. I find Wilson interesting but nothing I've read seems to get beyond the fact that he's a confusing man, his time in office was a bit ambiguous and ultimately it's all a bit of a paradox. Which I find really unsatisfying.
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 06, 2011, 05:41:50 PM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on December 06, 2011, 05:36:26 PM
Dominic Sandbrook is pretty sympathetic to the old curmudgeon in his book State of Emergency.
A good read btw, though the mixture of nostalgia and revelation (I was in my teens during the period covered) may have made the book more fascinating for my age-group than subsequent or earlier ones.
I'd looked at his books before and hesitated. They're possibly a project for Christmas.
I'm particularly interested in 'White Heat' because I think he's sympathetic to Wilson as well. I find Wilson interesting but nothing I've read seems to get beyond the fact that he's a confusing man, his time in office was a bit ambiguous and ultimately it's all a bit of a paradox. Which I find really unsatisfying.
And real ?
Maybe Wilson was the UK's LBJ, so to speak ?
Thinking about it I found the Sandbrook book refreshing because it was fairly free of ideological baggage :hmm:
He tries to understand what motivated Heath rather than condemning him for his character flaws, they being treated as "unfortunate".
I'm glad this came up, it's reminded me to read his other books. A sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.
I don't think Wilson's as mammoth in proportions as LBJ. He's not the achievements, failures or the flaws to mach Johnson.
But then I don't think anyone knew they'd want to read a three (or four?) volume biography of LBJ until it was written.
Edit:
QuoteA sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.
I think he's doing up to Thatcher so the next volume will probably have Wilson's less admirable extreme paranoia phase :lol:
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 06, 2011, 05:53:39 PM
I don't think Wilson's as mammoth in proportions as LBJ. He's not the achievements, failures or the flaws to mach Johnson.
But then I don't think anyone knew they'd want to read a three (or four?) volume biography of LBJ until it was written.
Edit: QuoteA sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.
I think he's doing up to Thatcher so the next volume will probably have Wilson's less admirable extreme paranoia phase :lol:
Shelf, I meant from the perspective of him being a paradox, clearly LBJ is in a different league in terms of impact.
Heh, I remember tackling those in my teenage years, must give then another try one day.
edit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson)
And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. :cool:
Quote from: mongers on December 06, 2011, 05:59:24 PMedit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson)
And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. :cool:
Wow. He's the GRR Martin of political biography. He's 76 and the book on the 1960 campaign and Vice-Presidency hasn't been published yet, far less Johnson's Presidency :(
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 06, 2011, 07:47:37 PM
Quote from: mongers on December 06, 2011, 05:59:24 PMedit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson)
And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. :cool:
Wow. He's the GRR Martin of political biography. He's 76 and the book on the 1960 campaign and Vice-Presidency hasn't been published yet, far less Johnson's Presidency :(
I suppose with the advances in medical technology, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility he could spend more time writing about Johnson than LBJ spent living ? :hmm:
Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of PanQuoteStonehenge holds a 'sonic secret'
There is no shortage of theories about Stonehenge, but few are so melodious as this: A recent study carried out by the Royal College of Art in London suggests that the monument holds a "sonic secret."
The researchers' theory surrounds Stonehenge's bluestones, some of which hail from 200 miles away in Wales' Preseli Hills. While archaeologists are still working to establish whether man or, perhaps, glacier carried them to Wiltshire, the Royal College of Art researchers suggest the rocks were intentionally brought to Stonehenge because of their "unique acoustic properties."
As part of a larger study of the acoustic elements of the Pembrokeshire landscape where the bluestones hail from, it was discovered that many of the rocks in the area issue a metallic sound (akin to a bell or gong) when hit with a hammerstone.
In fact, the study notes that one Preseli village used bluestones as its church bells through the 1700s.
The BBC reports that the researchers tested thousands of rocks, and that a high percentage rang "just like a bell," says a lead researcher. "And there's lots of different tones, you could play a tune," he adds.
In July, the team was granted permission to acoustically test Stonehenge's bluestones, and found that a number of them did indeed return a sound, though a slightly muted one, perhaps in part because some of the rocks have been shored up using concrete.
They also saw indications that some of the bluestones featured what could be strike marks; more study is needed on that front.
So musical instrument, calendar, astronomical observatory, temple, burial megalith and landmark for aliens. Is there anything that Stonehenge can't do?
Quote from: Savonarola on March 06, 2014, 03:09:10 PM
Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan
QuoteStonehenge holds a 'sonic secret'
There is no shortage of theories about Stonehenge, but few are so melodious as this: A recent study carried out by the Royal College of Art in London suggests that the monument holds a "sonic secret."
The researchers' theory surrounds Stonehenge's bluestones, some of which hail from 200 miles away in Wales' Preseli Hills. While archaeologists are still working to establish whether man or, perhaps, glacier carried them to Wiltshire, the Royal College of Art researchers suggest the rocks were intentionally brought to Stonehenge because of their "unique acoustic properties."
As part of a larger study of the acoustic elements of the Pembrokeshire landscape where the bluestones hail from, it was discovered that many of the rocks in the area issue a metallic sound (akin to a bell or gong) when hit with a hammerstone.
In fact, the study notes that one Preseli village used bluestones as its church bells through the 1700s.
The BBC reports that the researchers tested thousands of rocks, and that a high percentage rang "just like a bell," says a lead researcher. "And there's lots of different tones, you could play a tune," he adds.
In July, the team was granted permission to acoustically test Stonehenge's bluestones, and found that a number of them did indeed return a sound, though a slightly muted one, perhaps in part because some of the rocks have been shored up using concrete.
They also saw indications that some of the bluestones featured what could be strike marks; more study is needed on that front.
So musical instrument, calendar, astronomical observatory, temple, burial megalith and landmark for aliens. Is there anything that Stonehenge can't do?
Yes, that last one.