According to a new study published last week in the journal Archeology International, the Stonehenge site fulfilled both functions: it was therefore both a place of worship and a scientific observatory. “The location of the altar stone within Stonehenge is important, because if you stand in the center of the circle of stones, the winter solstice sun sets in the middle of it. In winter, the Neolithic people gathered near Stonehenge, in the village of Durrington Walls, bringing with them pigs and cattle for a feast. Stonehenge was also the largest cemetery of its time, supporting the idea that the site could have been used as both a religious temple, a solar calendar and an ancient observatory“, the lead author of the study, Mike Parker Pearson, told CNN.
A monument of unification?
However, this new study carried out by this professor of late British prehistory also makes it possible to add a political dimension to the monument. As scientists say, the construction of Stonehenge took place in several phases, with rocks of various origins. “The fact that all of these stones come from remote areas, making it unique among more than 900 stone circles in Britain, suggests that the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose – as a monument to unification of the peoples of Great Britain“, explique Parker Pearson.
Blocks transported by sleigh
Once the mystery of the monument's purpose (perhaps) has been resolved, however, the question of how these heavy blocks of stone arrived at the site remains. Here again, Parker Pearson believes he has part of the answer. “Although the wheel had been invented elsewhere, it had not yet reached Britain, so the huge blocks of stone probably had to be dragged by a wooden sled sliding on wooden rails which could be continually lifted and rested“, he theorizes. “Overland travel (which could have lasted about eight months, Editor's note) would have provided far better opportunities for spectacle, pageantry, festivities and celebrations which would have attracted thousands of people to witness and participate in this extraordinary adventure .“
Although it does not determine the precise place of origin of the altar stone, in the north-east of Scotland, which has yet to be determined, this study is praised by archaeologists and historians for the advances that she was able to bring. “The results of this study shed new, unexpected and very impressive light on the history of Stonehenge. A remarkable achievement given the scale of the studies carried out on this famous site“, underlined Duncan Garrow, professor in the department of archeology at the University of Reading (England).
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