Stonehenge was accompanied by 17 neighboring shrines, 3D laser scans find

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29126854

by benbreen • 12 years ago

51 10 12 years ago

bbc.com

dang• 12 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8295817 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8209351 are related.

toomuchtodo• 12 years ago

Headline is slightly inaccurate. They also used a magnetometer and ground penetrating radar (GPR).

tjradcliffe• 12 years ago

I'm very curious to know what they mean when they say the gaps in one of the structures are oriented toward "dusk" and "dawn", as the direction of sun-rise/set varies about about 90 degrees over the course of the year at that latitude (51N).

Given the well-documented astronomical aspects of Stonehenge it wouldn't be a shock if the layout of associated structures also had astronomical significance, but the way it's reported here is more than a little weird.

DougWebb• 12 years ago

These ancient structures typically have alignments towards sunrise and sunset at the equinox or solstice. It's not an every-day alignment; it's an indicator of the changing seasons.

MCRed• 12 years ago

I think people who haven't visited southern england may not realize this, but stonehenge is just one of many rock-circle formations of various types. When we were there a couple years ago, nearby we visited one that encompassed an entire town and seemed to be 2-3 miles across. It was more impressive than stonehenge (in terms of effort) though in rougher shape than stonehenge. The unique thing about stonehenge is the rocks placed on top of other rocks.

But rock circles are not unusual in that area.

It reminded me a lot of the Yucatan in Mexico where there are a variety of pyramids of similar architecture at various sites (from Cozumel to Palenque to Tikal in Honduras) in a region. Or the mounds in the Louisiana area (also ancient constructions.)

DanBC• 12 years ago

Avebury?

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/

arethuza• 12 years ago

At the other end of the country there is the wonderful "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" - which has stone circles, enormous tombs and an entire stone-build village that still has stone furniture in place, like something from the Flintstones, after 4,500 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Neolithic_Orkney

thesz• 12 years ago

Cannot help myself to share this: http://www.ashtarcommandcrew.net/forum/topics/photo-evidence...

I am not that fascinated with Stonehenge anymore after seeing those photos.

david• 12 years ago

Uh, right, the "Ashtar Command Community" says stonehenge was built from the ground up in 1954, totally credible. Stonehenge is not fascinating anymore at all.

10 seconds on google shows photos and pictures of stonehenge long before 1954 and reveals the monuments were restored several times including once in 1958. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

thrownaway2424• 12 years ago

Hey what do you have against a bunch of cranks dedicated to "Uniting Lightworkers, starseeds, crystals, indigos and healers in a New Age"? Hater.

Stonehenge was accompanied by 17 neighboring shrines, 3D laser scans find

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