Stonehenge - British History - HISTORY.com Google Stonehenge’s Multiphase Construction Archaeologists believe England most iconic prehistoric ruin was built in several stages, with the earliest constructed 5,000 or more years ago. First, Neolithic Britons used primitive tools—possibly made from deer antlers—to dig a massive circular ditch and bank, or henge, on Salisbury Plain. Deep pits dating back to that era and located within the circle—known as Aubrey holes after John Aubrey, the 17th-century antiquarian who discovered them—may have once held a ring of timber posts, according to some scholars. Did You Know? In 1620, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, dug a large hole in the ground at the center of Stonehenge looking for buried treasure. Several hundred years later, it is thought, Stonehenge’s builders hoisted an estimated 80 non-indigenous bluestones, 43 of which remain today, into standing positions and placed them in either a horseshoe or circular formation.

During the third phase of construction, which took place around 2000 B.C., sarsen sandstone slabs were arranged into an outer crescent or ring; some were assembled into the iconic three-pieced structures called trilithons that stand tall in the center of Stonehenge. Some 50 sarsen stones are now visible on the site, which may once have contained many more. Radiocarbon dating suggests that work continued at Stonehenge until roughly 1600 B.C., with the bluestones in particularly being repositioned multiple times. The Megaliths of Stonehenge Stonehenge’s sarsens, of which the largest weighs more than 40 tons and rises 24 feet, were likely sourced from quarries 25 miles north of Salisbury Plain and transported with the help of sledges and ropes; they may even have already been scattered in the immediate vicinity when the monument’s Neolithic architects first broke ground there. The smaller bluestones, on the other hand, have been traced all the way to the Preseli Hills in Wales, some 200 miles away from Stonehenge.

How, then, did prehistoric builders without sophisticated tools or engineering haul these boulders, which weigh up to 4 tons, over such a great distance? According to one longstanding theory, Stonehenge’s builders fashioned sledges and rollers out of tree trunks to lug the bluestones from the Preseli Hills. They then transferred the boulders onto rafts and floated them first along the Welsh coast and then up the River Avon toward Salisbury Plain; alternatively, they may have towed each stone with a fleet of vessels. More recent hypotheses have them transporting the bluestones with supersized wicker baskets or a combination of ball bearings, long grooved planks and teams of oxen. As early as the 1970s, geologists have been adding their voices to the debate over how Stonehenge came into being. Challenging the classic image of industrious Neolithic builders pushing, carting, rolling or hauling the craggy bluestones from faraway Wales, some scientists have suggested that glaciers, not humans, did most of the heavy lifting. The globe is dotted with giant rocks known as glacial erratics that were carried over long distances by moving ice floes.

Perhaps Stonehenge’s mammoth slabs were snatched from the Preseli Hills by glaciers during one of the Ice Ages and deposited a stone’s throw away—at least comparatively—from Salisbury Plain. Most archaeologists have remained cool toward the glacial theory, however, wondering how the forces of nature could possibly have delivered the exact number of stones needed to complete the circle. Who Built Stonehenge? According to the 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose tale of King Arthur and mythical account of English history were considered factual well into the Middle Ages , Stonehenge is the handiwork of the wizard Merlin. In the mid-fifth century, the story goes, hundreds of British nobles were slaughtered by the Saxons and buried on Salisbury Plain. Hoping to erect a memorial to his fallen subjects, King Aureoles Ambrosias sent an army to Ireland to retrieve a stone circle known as the Giants’ Ring, which ancient giants had built from magical African bluestones. The soldiers successfully defeated the Irish but failed to move the stones, so Merlin used his sorcery to spirit them across the sea and arrange them above the mass grave.

Legend has it that Ambrosias and his brother Uther, King Arthur’s father, are buried there as well. While many believed Monmouth’s account to be the true story of Stonehenge’s creation for centuries, the monument’s construction predates Merlin—or, at least, the real-life figures who are said to have inspired him—by several thousand years. Other early hypotheses attributed its building to the Saxons, Danes, Romans, Greeks or Egyptians. In the 17th century, archaeologist John Aubrey made the claim that Stonehenge was the work of the Celtic high priests known as the Druids, a theory widely popularized by the antiquarian William Stukeley, who had unearthed primitive graves at the site. Even today, people who identify as modern Druids continue to gather at Stonehenge for the summer solstice. However, in the mid-20th century, radiocarbon dating demonstrated that Stonehenge stood more than 1,000 years before the Celts inhabited the region, eliminating the ancient Druids from the running. Many modern historians and archaeologists now agree that several distinct tribes of people contributed to Stonehenge, each undertaking a different phase of its construction.

Bones, tools and other artifacts found on the site seem to support this hypothesis. The first stage was achieved by Neolithic agrarians who were likely indigenous to the British Isles. Later, it is believed, groups with advanced tools and a more communal way of life left their stamp on the site. Some have suggested that they were immigrants from the European continent, but many scientists think they were native Britons descended from the original builders. Stonehenge’s Function and Significance If the facts surrounding the architects and construction of Stonehenge remain shadowy at best, the purpose of the arresting monument is even more of a mystery. While historians agree that it was a place of great importance for over 1,000 years, we may never know what drew early Britons to Salisbury Plain and inspired them to continue developing it. There is strong archaeological evidence that Stonehenge was used as a burial site, at least for part of its long history, but most scholars believe it served other functions as well—either as a ceremonial site, a religious pilgrimage destination, a final resting place for royalty or a memorial erected to honor and perhaps spiritually connect with distant ancestors.

In the 1960s, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins suggested that the cluster of megalithic stones operated as an astronomical calendar, with different points corresponding to astrological phenomena such as solstices, equinoxes and eclipses. While his theory has received quite a bit of attention over the years, critics maintain that Stonehenge’s builders probably lacked the knowledge necessary to predict such events or that England’s dense cloud cover would have obscured their view of the skies. More recently, signs of illness and injury in the human remains unearthed at Stonehenge led a group of British archaeologists to speculate that it was considered a place of healing, perhaps because bluestones were thought to have curative powers. Stonehenge Today One of the most famous and recognizable sites in the world, Stonehenge draws more than 800,000 tourists a year, many of whom also visit the region’s numerous other Neolithic and Bronze Age marvels. In 1986 Stonehenge was added to UNESCO’s register of World Heritage sites in a co-listing with Avebury, a Neolithic henge located 17 miles away that is older and larger than its more famous neighbor.

Stonehenge has undergone several restorations over the years, and some of its boulders have been set in concrete to prevent collapse. Meanwhile, archaeological excavations and development of the surrounding area to facilitate tourism have turned up other significant sites nearby, including other henges. Tags Stonehenge | ancient monument, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom | Britannica.com ancient monument, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom Written By: Wiltshire Stonehenge, prehistoric stone circle monument, cemetery, and archaeological site located on Salisbury Plain , about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury , Wiltshire , England . It was built in six stages between 3000 and 1520 bce, during the transition from the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age) to the Bronze Age . As a prehistoric stone circle, it is unique because of its artificially shaped sarsen stones (blocks of Cenozoic silcrete ), arranged in post-and-lintel formation, and because of the remote origin of its smaller bluestones ( igneous and other rocks) from 100–150 miles (160–240 km) away, in South Wales .

The name of the monument probably derives from the Saxon stan-hengen, meaning “stone hanging” or “gallows.” Along with more than 350 nearby monuments and henges (ancient earthworks consisting of a circular bank and ditch), Stonehenge was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. Sunlight shining through a portion of the stone circle at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, Eng. age fotostock/SuperStock Stonehenge, Wiltshire, Eng., designated a World Heritage site in 1986. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Speculation and excavation Stonehenge has long been the subject of historical speculation, and ideas about the meaning and significance of the structure continued to develop in the 21st century. English antiquarian John Aubrey in the 17th century and his compatriot archaeologist William Stukeley in the 18th century both believed the structure to be a Druid temple. This idea has been rejected by more-recent scholars, however, as Stonehenge is now understood to have predated by some 2,000 years the Druids recorded by Julius Caesar .

Stonehenge, on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. © albo/Fotolia Full aerial view of the Stonehenge site, Wiltshire, England. Aerofilms Ltd., London In 1963 American astronomer Gerald Hawkins proposed that Stonehenge had been constructed as a “computer” to predict lunar and solar eclipses; other scientists also attributed astronomical capabilities to the monument. Most of these speculations, too, have been rejected by experts. In 1973 English archaeologist Colin Renfrew hypothesized that Stonehenge was the centre of a confederation of Bronze Age chiefdoms. Other archaeologists, however, have since come to view this part of Salisbury Plain as a point of intersection between adjacent prehistoric territories, serving as a seasonal gathering place during the 4th and 3rd millennia bce for groups living in the lowlands to the east and west. In 1998 Malagasy archaeologist Ramilisonina proposed that Stonehenge was built as a monument to the ancestral dead, the permanence of its stones representing the eternal afterlife.

Similar Topics Westminster Abbey In 2008 British archaeologists Tim Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright suggested—on the basis of the Amesbury Archer, an Early Bronze Age skeleton with a knee injury, excavated 3 miles (5 km) from Stonehenge—that Stonehenge was used in prehistory as a place of healing. However, analysis of human remains from around and within the monument shows no difference from other parts of Britain in terms of the population’s health. The Stonehenge that is visible today is incomplete, many of its original sarsens and bluestones having been broken up and taken away, probably during Britain’s Roman and medieval periods. The ground within the monument also has been severely disturbed, not only by the removal of the stones but also by digging—to various degrees and ends—since the 16th century, when historian and antiquarian William Camden noted that “ashes and pieces of burnt bone” were found. A large, deep hole was dug within the stone circle in 1620 by George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham , who was looking for treasure.

A century later Stukeley surveyed Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments, but it was not until 1874–77 that Flinders Petrie made the first accurate plan of the stones. In 1877 Charles Darwin dug two holes in Stonehenge to investigate the earth-moving capabilities of earthworms . The first proper archaeological excavation was conducted in 1901 by William Gowland. Standing stones at Stonehenge, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. © camerawithlegs/Fotolia Queen Elizabeth I’s Skirt Found About half of Stonehenge (mostly on its eastern side) was excavated in the 20th century by the archaeologists William Hawley, in 1919–26, and Richard Atkinson, in 1950–78. The results of their work were not fully published until 1995, however, when the chronology of Stonehenge was revised extensively by means of carbon-14 dating . Major investigations in the early 21st century by the research team of the Stonehenge Riverside Project led to further revisions of the context and sequence of Stonehenge.

Darvill and Wainwright’s 2008 excavation was smaller but nonetheless important. Stages of Stonehenge British Culture and Politics Stonehenge was built within an area that was already special to Mesolithic and Neolithic people. About 8000–7000 bce, early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers dug pits and erected pine posts within 650 feet (200 metres) of Stonehenge’s future location. It was unusual for prehistoric hunter-gatherers to build monuments, and there are no comparable structures from this era in northwestern Europe. Within a 3-mile (5-km) radius of Stonehenge there remain from the Neolithic Period at least 17 long barrows (burial mounds) and two cursus monuments (long enclosures), all dating to the 4th millennium bce. Between 2200 and 1700 bce, during the Bronze Age, the Stonehenge-Durrington stretch of the River Avon was at the centre of a concentration of more than 1,000 round barrows on this part of Salisbury Plain. Stonehenge (from top) c.

3100 bce, c. 2100 bce, and c. 1550 bce, near … English Heritage First stage: 3000–2935 bce The oldest part of the Stonehenge monument was built during the period from 3000 to 2935 bce. It consists of a circular enclosure that is more than 330 feet (100 metres) in diameter, enclosing 56 pits called the Aubrey Holes, named after John Aubrey, who identified them in 1666. The ditch of the enclosure is flanked on the inside by a high bank and on the outside by a low bank, or counterscarp. The diameters of the outer bank, the ditch, the inner bank, and the circle of Aubrey Holes are equivalent to 270, 300, 330, and 360 long feet (a long foot is an ancient unit of measurement equivalent to 1.056 statute feet or 0.32187 metre), respectively.

Deposits in the bottom of the ditch included antler picks, which were used to dig the ditch itself, as well as bones of cattle and deer that were already centuries old when they were placed there. The circular enclosure had two entrances: the main access on the northeast and a narrower entrance on the south. Connect with Britannica Adolf Hitler Only one of the giant trilithon’s uprights still stands, reaching a height above ground of about 23 feet (7 metres). Only six lintels (out of a total of 230) sit in place on the sarsen circle, with two more lying on the ground. Three of the five sarsen trilithon lintels are in place, with the other two on the ground. Four of the uprights from the sarsen circle are absent, and one is much shorter than the others. Although it is possible that the sarsen circle was never completed, the existence of a hole for an absent sarsen suggests that this stone and others were reused as construction materials for Roman buildings and medieval churches in the vicinity.

The bluestones were observed by Atkinson to have been arranged into a double arc, which, for convenience, he called the Q and R Holes. Atkinson’s records suggested that the Q and R Holes predated the sarsen circle and trilithons, but Darvill and Wainwright’s excavation in 2008 cast doubt on this stratigraphic relationship. It is more likely that the bluestone arc was indeed constructed as part of the sarsen circle and trilithon monument, with bluestones brought from the Aubrey Holes. Bluestones may also have been brought to Stonehenge at this time, or slightly later, from Bluestonehenge (where they had been removed by at least 2280 bce). The bluestones weigh up to 4 tons each, and the taller ones are over 6 feet (2 metres) high. Most of them are unworked natural pillars. Four upright stones, called the Station Stones, were erected near the Aubrey Hole ring, probably also during the second stage of Stonehenge, if not during the period between the monument’s first and second stages.

Only two of the stones—both of sarsen—have survived. The four Station Stones were placed in a rectangular formation, aligned along the same solstitial axis as the great trilithon and the bluestone arc. The two missing Station Stones were partially covered by low mounds known as the South Barrow and the North Barrow. The South Barrow was raised on top of the floor of a 36-by-33-foot (11-by-10-metre) building in the shape of a D that lay immediately to the east of the small southern entrance through Stonehenge’s bank and ditch. From this entrance an undated passageway marked by timber posts led toward the centre of the monument. Other sarsens were erected within the northeastern entrance. Three of them formed a facade across the entrance, of which the sarsen known as the Slaughter Stone is the sole survivor. Beyond them lies the Heelstone, set within a circular ring ditch. From the Slaughter Stone to just past the Heelstone, three evenly spaced stone holes (undated) share the same axis as the timber posts thought to belong to Stonehenge’s first stage.

About the same time the sarsens were erected, two sets of concentric timber circles were built within a large settlement almost 2 miles (3 km) to the northeast of the Stonehenge monument. One of these circles, called the Southern Circle, was set at the centre of an ancient settlement of small houses. The other, the smaller Northern Circle, was built on the north side of the settlement. Nine houses, up to about 18 feet (5.5 metres) square in plan, were excavated in 2004–07 and reckoned to form part of a 42-acre (17-hectare) settlement that may have supported up to 1,000 such dwellings. This seasonally occupied and short-lived community is thought to have been the builders’ camp. By 2460 bce its ruins were enclosed by the bank and ditch of Britain’s largest henge enclosure, Durrington Walls . Outside its south entrance stood a third concentric timber circle—Woodhenge.

Third stage: 2470–2280 bce Radiocarbon dating indicates that the side ditches and banks of a ceremonial avenue almost 2 miles (3 km) long were dug from Stonehenge to the River Avon at some time in the period between 2470 and 2280 bce. It is possible that the avenue traces the path of the bluestones that were moved from the Aubrey Holes and Bluestonehenge to the Q and R holes during Stonehenge’s second stage of construction. The avenue varies in width from about 60 to 115 feet (18 to 35 metres) and terminates at a small henge at the riverside. This henge, measuring 100 feet (30 metres) in diameter, was built after the bluestones at its centre were removed. About the first 1,600 feet (500 metres) of the avenue from Stonehenge are aligned toward the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset.

Excavations in 2008 revealed that this stretch of the avenue’s banks was built upon preexisting natural chalk ridges coincidentally sharing this same solstitial alignment. At Durrington Walls a similar avenue about 560 feet (170 metres) long and 100 feet (30 metres) wide had been built about 2500 bce between the Southern Circle and the River Avon and remained in use for several centuries. The Durrington avenue was aligned toward the summer solstice sunset, while the Southern Circle faced the winter solstice sunrise. This solstitial alignment raises the possibility that Stonehenge and Durrington were built as complementary halves of a single complex, articulated by the River Avon. Aerial view of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, Eng. Jason Hawkes/Corbis Fourth, fifth, and sixth stages: 2280–1520 bce The fourth stage of Stonehenge’s construction occurred between 2280 and 2030 bce. About 2200 bce the bluestones were rearranged to form a circle and an inner oval.

Atkinson thought that this inner oval was subsequently modified in prehistory to form a horseshoe , but this transformation may have been the result of Roman removal of the stones or of later stone-robbing. At some point during Stonehenge’s fifth stage, between 2030 and 1750 bce, a ring of pits known as the Z Holes was dug outside the sarsen circle. A second ring of pits, called the Y Holes, was dug during the monument’s sixth and final stage of construction, between 1640 and 1520 bce. As with all radiocarbon dating, the precise dates of such events can only be estimated within many decades, if not centuries. Diagram of Stonehenge as it appeared c. 1550 bce. English Heritage Stonehenge in the 21st century Stonehenge is the world’s most famous stone circle, visited by more than a million people per year. It stands as an icon for all that is mysterious and awe-inspiring about humanity’s prehistoric past. For well over a century, people have gathered at the monument to celebrate the summer solstice .

Although banned in 1985 as a result of violent clashes with police , the annual gathering resumed in 2000 and now draws a crowd of more than 30,000. Modern-day Druidic societies have claimed Stonehenge as their own temple , even though the identification of Stonehenge with the original Druids is suspect. The first such society, the Ancient Order of Druids, was formed in 1781; more recently, the number of similar Druidic and other Neo-Pagan groups has risen in tandem with the decline in conventional religious belief. Ground-level view of the stone block assemblage at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, Eng. © Photos.com/Jupiterimages In 2009 the British government proposed the construction of a new visitor centre at Airman’s Corner, about 1.5 miles (2 km) from the stones, at the edge of the World Heritage site . In 2010, however, core funding for the project was withdrawn as a part of government budget cuts.

Two more circles of pits—one at Airman’s Corner and the other just to the northwest of Stonehenge proper—were discovered by geophysical survey in 2009 and 2010. The dates of these circles are unknown, and it remains to be determined whether the pits held posts or stones or were merely circles of holes. Mike Parker Pearson In December 2015, archaeologists announced that they had discovered two quarries in the Preseli Mountains from which the bluestones had been extracted about 140 miles (225 km) from Stonehenge. Recesses in rock at both sites matched the dimensions of the bluestones, and several stones that were similar to the bluestones in size and shape remained at the sites. Discovering the quarries allowed archaeologists to establish (by performing radiocarbon dating of hazelnut shells and charcoal left by the workers at the quarries) that the stones had been quarried approximately 500 years before Stonehenge was erected. The archaeologists speculated that the bluestones may have been part of an earlier monument that was dismantled and its stones reused to build Stonehenge.

southern england | Tumblr southern england strangerfhings asked: sun, but like, soft and glowy and sort of faded, like daybreak filtering through windows onto indoor potted plants and the orangish slanted shadow you see on you walls at like six and the sun on your face when you're on a picnic in southern england or smth and lying on the grass this is so beautiful and I can picture it so vividly. thank you thank you thank you what kind of person am i - sun, moon or stars Age: 13 Country: England, UK Hi, my name is Amelia, I am 13 years old and I live in southern England. I’m looking for a friend who I can talk to and gossip with. I would like to talk to someone who is confident, I am quite shy in person but alright over text so don’t be afraid to start a convocation with me. I am interested in lots of things including: art, fashion, interior design, architecture, makeup, music (I can kind of play the piano and guitar), gaming, animals, photography and traveling. I would like to talk to someone over Instagram or other online sites.

I am looking forward to getting to know you if you are interested in talking, I would prefer not to send letters until we knew each other more but eventually would like to Skype call. Preferences: I am looking for someone who is around the age of 13-17, someone who lives in either England or America, someone who has similar likings to me, who I can gossip with and mainly have a laugh with. Thanks, plz contact me, hope to hear from you xx 4 City scapes of the setting of Sweet Dreams. A coastal town in southern England, calling it Silcombe for the moment though I might change that later. Donald Trump praises wrong Ivanka in mistaken Twitter shout-out External image Odd News Donald Trump praises wrong Ivanka in mistaken Twitter shout-out The U.S. president-elect Donald Trump wanted to praise his daughter on Twitter — instead he has accidentally sent his message to another Ivanka. Trump retweeted a message from a Twitter user that said his daughter was “great, a woman with real character and class.” But the user tagged the wrong Ivanka, a mistake repeated by Trump — and the message was directed to a woman named Ivanka Majic in Brighton, southern England.

The tweet quickly gained attention, with thousands of retweets and favourites overnight on Tuesday. Majic replied to Trump, saying on Twitter: “And you’re a man with great responsibilities. May I suggest more care on Twitter and more time learning about climate change. Reblog Donald Trump praises wrong Ivanka in Twitter shout-out LONDON — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wanted to praise his daughter on Twitter — instead he accidentally sent his message to another Ivanka. Trump retweeted a message from a Twitter user that said his daughter was “great, a woman with real character and class.” But the user tagged the wrong Ivanka, a mistake repeated by Trump — and the message was directed to a woman named Ivanka Majic in Brighton, southern England. The tweet quickly gained attention, with thousands of retweets and favourites overnight Tuesday. Majic, a local government worker, replied to Trump Tuesday, saying on Twitter: “And you’re a man with great responsibilities. May I suggest more care on Twitter and more time learning about climate change.” Majic said it wasn’t the first time she had been confused for Ivanka Trump on social media, and that she had previously tried to encourage those who tweeted her to vote for Hillary Clinton.

“It’s quite amusing because I’m getting all this attention, and yet my politics couldn’t be further from Donald Trump’s,” she told Britain’s ITV in a phone interview. The Associated Press Reblog Donald Trump praises wrong Ivanka in Twitter shout-out LONDON (AP) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wanted to praise his daughter on Twitter — instead he accidentally sent his message to another Ivanka. Trump retweeted a message from a Twitter user that said his daughter was “great, a woman with real character and class.” But the user tagged the wrong Ivanka, a mistake repeated by Trump — and the message was directed to a woman named Ivanka Majic in Brighton, southern England. The tweet quickly gained attention, with thousands of retweets and favorites overnight Tuesday. Majic, a local government worker, replied to Trump Tuesday, saying on Twitter: “And you’re a man with great responsibilities. May I suggest more care on Twitter and more time learning about climate change.” Majic said it wasn’t the first time she had been confused for Ivanka Trump on social media, and that she had previously tried to encourage those who tweeted her to vote for Hillary Clinton.

“It’s quite amusing because I’m getting all this attention, and yet my politics couldn’t be further from Donald Trump’s,” she told Britain’s ITV in a phone interview. Real name: Rebecca Jane Miner Date of Birth: February 27th, 1641 Date of Death: September 23rd, 1664 Age: About to be 376 Species: Originally human, currently exiled crossroads demon Origin: A small village in the southern part of England Current Location: Ruby Hill, Nevada Family: Living children:: Biological: Robert, Nia, Evangeline, and Raven. Adopted: Scar, Dex, and Frey. “Gimme three Steps+ - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Live 1976 - Knebworth, England Southern rock pioneers before the crash that killed half the band. They were the best… Reblog UK's Prince Charles co-authors "Ladybird" guide to climate change LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Britain’s Prince Charles, a vocal environmental campaigner, has co-authored a basic guide to the problems posed by climate change.

Charles, 68, has written “The Ladybird Introduction to Climate Change” with the help of former Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper and polar scientist Emily Shuckburgh. The heir to the throne has long been a fierce critic of climate change sceptics and the cover image of the book shows a drawing of the village of Uckfield in southern England, which suffered extensive flood damage in 2000. Ladybird books were popular children’s guides in the 1960s and 70s and publishers Penguin have now launched a new Ladybird Expert series of basic guides of which Charles’ book is one of the first. The book, which goes on sale later this month, has been extensively peer-reviewed by figures within the environmental community, said a Penguin spokesman. Charles’ earlier forays into print include a 1980s children’s book, “The Old Man of Lochnagar,” which was made into an animated film by the BBC.

(Reporting by Luke Bridges; editing by Stephen Addison) Controversial Stonehenge tunnel plan green-lighted Watch Video LONDON — It is one of the most famous landmarks in Britain, an important archeological site, and a sacred place for neo-pagans, but even an ancient monument like Stonehenge can’t avoid the modern problem of traffic jams. Visitors to the stone circles in Wiltshire, southern England, frequently have to contend with lengthy queues of cars. Now the UK government has given the green light… dragonchristianlady97 asked: T or V 😊☺ Lordy, you chose two tough ones! As you’ve given me an option I’m going to go with V as T (3 things I love unconditionally) is a non-starter. V - Big Dreams? The older you get the more realistic your dreams become. Mine is to own my house. Which is a totally unrealistic dream because I’m a self-employed person who lives in Southern England. Ain’t gonna happen. Loading... Show more notes Reblog So being the Food Network addict that I am, I occasionally find myself watching Trisha Yearwood.

And right now, the episode I’m watching features her going and getting a skating lesson from the Hockey Team. So obviously, my brain goes “ZIMBITS AU”, which is only further resolved after Trisha says the following things: - As you can imagine, growing up in Georgia, I didn’t skate a lot - (to her friend who’s doing this misadventure with her) I think, as long as we look cute, it doesn’t really matter how good we are So Bitty has a Food Network show with a vague “southern cooking in new england” theme, and the producers really like to play up the Georgian Fish out of Water angle with the not-actually-cooking segments of the show. So Bitty’s scheduled to do a private skating lesson with Marty and Tater, because the combo of warm and friendly but understated mentor Marty and loud gregarious and enthusiastic rookie (to the NHL - he has a few years in the Russian pros under his belt) Tater will make great television. So Bitty is making both of them their own thank-you food. Bitty has fun experimenting with Russian pastries for Tater, and of course finds a way to incorporate maple into his apple pie for Marty.

The producers are expecting a lot of hilarious and endeering wobbling on the ice. And they get a lot of great footage of Bitty reacting to wearing hockey gear for the first time “I look like a big blue marshmallow, y'all”, but nobody remembers until Bitty’s on the ice that he was a Junior Regionals Figure Skating Champion. He glides effortlessly onto the ice, has some fun learning how to handle a hockey stick (cue some ridiculous and just the right amount of off color for basic cable jokes about stick handling) And of course, Jack Zimmermann, who works harder than god but kind of sucks at acting like a human being in front of cameras, is at the rink to get in some extra practice, and Tater is like “Zimboni! You come and race the tiny baker man!” And Marty winks at Bitty, who gets the message and starts wobbling and skating like he’s never seen ice in his LIFE, and Jack looks warily at the cameras, but George has been on him to do more public relations stuff and he may as well make a “race” against this tv person part of his warmup.

And Bitty’s all “now, I ain’t no professional skater, Mr. Zimmermann, so you’d better go easy on me!” And then proceeds to SMOKE Jack the second Marty calls GO. Marty and Tater are doubled over laughing, and the camera guy is circling Jack to get all angles of his utterly dumbfounded expression. Bitty’s smirking, with his hands on his hips, then says, “do y'all think I could pull off a salchow in all this gear?” And proceeds to pull off a jump in hockey skates and all the gear. Tater, of course insists that Bitty teach him and the footage they get from it is pure gold. So anyway. After they get off the ice, Bitty cuts up his maple apple pie and Jack decides he might actually be in love. Seaside residents evacuated as UK faces severe flood warnings External image UK News Seaside residents evacuated as UK faces severe flood warnings Seaside residents in southern England were ordered to evacuate Friday as Britain faced severe flood warnings, after snow caused flights to be cancelled.

Police officers went door-to-door in the village of Jaywick, southeastern England, on Thursday to warn residents they would be evacuated the next morning ahead of heavy rain and high winds. The order came as the Environment Agency issued seven severe flood warnings, indicating danger to life, and 68 further flood warnings which call for immediate action. This decision has not been taken lightly and has been made in the best interests of all residents to ensure their safety until the severe weather passes. Flights from Paris Beauvais-Tille airport The flood preparations came after heavy snow fell across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of England on Thursday. In anticipation of the snowfall Heathrow cancelled 80 flights arriving at and departing from the airport. The latest forecast is for snow… which will reduce the number of aircraft able to take off and land each hour. Flights from Paris Beauvais-Tille airport Reblog Storm damage hits northern Europe Whilst southeastern Europe has been suffering constant sub-zero weather and disruptive snowfall, the latest winter storm is on its way through northern Europe. This storm started to form in earnest as it crossed southern England during Thursday.

With mild, moist air drawn in from the Atlantic and freezing Arctic air blowing down through northern England, the conditions were ideal for an atmospheric depression, a storm, to form and strengthen. Snow started to fall over London, delaying operations at the international airport of Heathrow. Rain brought temporary surface flooding in southern England from Devon to Kent. But the wind and increasing snow characterise the storm in its passage through northern continental Europe. As the storm was developing, the island of Jersey, just off the French coast, recorded 115 kilometres per hour. Dieppe, on the north coast of France, reported 147km/h and northeastern France suffered a blizzard on Thursday night. The Belgian port of Zeebrugge had gusts of 105km/h overnight, a buoy in the southern North Sea recorded 140km/h just before dawn on Friday. There are gale warnings throughout the North Sea and a storm surge of up to 1.5 metres is accompanying each high tide. Evacuations have taken place from some coastal areas of southeast England, and flood warnings exist all along the Belgian, Dutch and north German coast. The strongest winds around the storm centre during Friday morning were as far south as Bavaria.

The spa town of Fichtelberg suffered repeated gusts of over 150km/h, with snow. The heart of the storm tracks through northern Germany and Poland during Friday, ending up over the Baltic States in the early hours of Saturday, a much weaker beast. It will have left a trail of damage from coastal flooding, disrupting snow and violent wind I Lost Myself, And Found Myself Again. back at it again with my writing obsessed ass summary: 2016 was a shitty year for everybody in general, but for a teenage Dan Howell, it was a year where he lost himself and everything around him, and found himself again. (v slight mentions of platonic phan) warnings: self-deprecating thoughts, word count: 1655 january 2016 In a town located somewhere in Southern England, an alarm breaks the silence of a pretty house situated in the countryside. The sky outside is still dark, the sheep in the fields are dead quiet, but for a young man by the name of Daniel Howell, the time has come to suffer through another day of hell.

A bird sings a joyful song in the distance, which one could perceive as a sign of today being an amazing day for all who had heard its song, and as Dan hoisted himself out of the shitty blow-up double bed with a grunt, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he could only pray that maybe today would be different. January 25th 2016 would start out as a mundane day, just like all the others. Dan would arrive at the train station at 7:20am and board the 7:39 train to the rundown town he went to school in. The train journey would be uneventful as he’d sit there, staring at nothing on his phone as the people he travelled with would spout nonsense that didn’t really interest him. They’d arrive at their destination for 7:45 and begin the walk to school. Dan hated the walk the most, especially on this particular day. He’d forgotten his ugly swamp green parka which had a giant hood to keep him warm and cover his hair, which he considered a work of art, and the gods had decided to forsaken him today, of all days.

The skies seemed to open up and flood the town with heavy rain, washing away all traces of the weekend from the pavement imbedded with puke and piss from drunk clubbers who’d left their mark over the weekend. This was good for the rundown town, but not good for Dan, whose day had already been ruined by awful weather. The rest of the day would carry on, as usual, he’d sit in class, eventually get the overwhelming headache that makes him want to throw up, like he does everyday, then eventually get to lunchtime where he’d desperately try and make conversation with his friends who would ignore him, like they do everyday, and then he’d give up and stay silent for the rest of lunch before leaving for his next two classes before going home. He’d walk to the train station, alone, and assumed he’d sit on the train, alone, like he does everyday. However, for whatever reason, today his ex-boyfriend, of all people, decided to come and sit with him on the train home.

Now, it’s not as if Dan was on bad terms with his ex-boyfriend in anyway, they were still pretty good friends who just didn’t work out in a relationship, but Dan preferred to be alone on the train home and listen to music with his head against the window, looking out at the pretty scenery once they had passed the rundown town which ruined the sights. Reluctantly, though, he decided to make conversation, starting with the generic “Hello, how are you?” which seemed to get every conversation flowing, before the pair moved into other ‘interesting’ topics, such as people at school. This is where Dan finally confessed to someone that he felt like the people he sat with didn’t like him too much, but thought he was being paranoid about it. This is also where his ex-boyfriend confessed to Dan that he’d received messages from Dan’s friends, talking awfully about Dan behind his back, whilst being nice to his face. This is finally where Dan gave up. march 2016 In a town located somewhere in Southern England, an alarm breaks the silence of a pretty house situated in the countryside.

The sky outside is still dark, the sheep in the fields are dead quiet, and so was a young man by the name of Daniel Howell. A bird sings a joyful song in the distance, which one could perceive as a sign of today being an amazing day for all who had heard its song, and as Dan stopped his alarm, slipping back into sleep, he could only pray that maybe today would be different. Eventually waking up way past noon, he checked his phone with a sigh. The only messages he had was from his phone network and his online friend of two years, Phil, ranting about how his brother had pissed him off again. It depresses Dan to no end when nobody from his school tries to contact him and see if he even survived the night. He wants more than anything to just die, but wouldn’t do that to his family, because the thought of them blaming themselves and grieving for the rest of their time on Earth breaks Dan’s heart. March 19th would start out as a mundane day, just like the others. Dan would lay in bed for hours, watching youtube on his phone, or reading, before eventually leaving his room for a brief moment to walk across the cold brick flooring to his kitchen in order to eat something.

He’d stop on the way there to look at himself, and his stomach, in the mirror. He hated the way he looked, he saw nothing but fat, he thought his smile was ugly and his hair was always ratty. Dan usually ignored the fact that he looked tired constantly, even if he got enough sleep. He also ignored the pleas of his parents to help himself and go to the doctors, for they feared he’d given himself serious damage by completely neglecting his health. Dan was drowning, to say the least. And nothing could pull him back to the surface, not even Phil. For the rest of the day, Dan would sit in his room, at his laptop and wait for 4pm to roll around. Phil usually came on at 4pm, unless he got held up doing something. Dan loved Phil with all his heart, but not in the way you’d think. He loved to talk to Phil, he loved to tease Phil and he wanted to be friend’s with Phil forever. It was a friendship he adored, and Dan usually found himself skipping school regularly, just so he could talk to Phil for longer.

For Dan Howell, school was a place of misery, so if he was given the decision as to whether he wanted to skip or not, he would skip school in a heartbeat. Especially once he had found out what his so-called ‘friends’ had done. Although, at that point, he’d completely given up and so stayed silent, choosing to sit in an empty art classroom by himself for the rest of Year 11. His health was getting worse, with the headaches becoming more and more frequent, but at that point he really didn’t care. Daniel Howell just wanted to disappear. june 2016 In a town located somewhere in Southern England, a scream breaks the silence of a pretty house situated in the countryside. The sky outside is so bright, the sheep in the fields are basking in the glorious sun, and for a young man by the name of Daniel Howell, this day is possibly the best day of his life. A bird sings a joyful song in the distance, which one could perceive as a sign of today being an amazing day for all who had heard its song, and it was for Dan. This day was the most special day of the russet-haired teens year, one he had been counting down for months.

Everything terrible that had happened over the year seemed to be forgotten as soon as he stepped through his front door at 10:30am. June 21st was anything but a mundane day, unlike all the others. Dan would get picked up from school by his mother at 10am to go home, and Dan would never be going back to that school ever again. June 21st marked the day that Dan finished Year 11, and would never have to see anyone who hurt him again. The summer had just begun, and he had twelve glorious weeks to relax, before starting at a new college, where he knew absolutely nobody. It was blissful. He couldn’t help but to poke his head out of the window, and tilt his face up to the sky, soaking in the sun that seemed better than usual today. And, at that moment, Dan Howell was absolutely certain that things would be okay finally. Daniel Howell no longer wanted to disappear. … december 2016 In a town located somewhere in Southern England, the yell of many people, counting down from ten breaks the silence of an unfamiliar house situated by a busy road.

The sky outside is dark, but only momentarily, for it is about to be lit up by brightly coloured lights and the sound of people celebrating the new year, and for a young man by the name of Daniel Howell, he is the happiest he could ever be. 3… 2…. 1…. ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ It’s all overwhelming for Dan as the music is turned up, and people start dancing their cares away, basking in the glory of the new year. He’s slightly intoxicated, and his emotions are heightened, but everything he feels in this moment is real and he has to break away from the crowd, followed by a friend from college. Sitting on the cold wooden stair in his friend’s kitchen, Dan puts his head in his hands and starts to cry. His heart burns brightly with absolute adoration for all of his new friends at that moment in time, and he starts thanking his friend for saving him. Because without them, Dan is certain he would have probably died. The air outside is cold, and he may have lost Phil due to stark differences, and one too many conflicts, but in that moment, Dan is warmer than ever. end. Stonehenge, England.

Physical Description of Stonehenge: The 'Avenue' - The outermost element of the site is the 'Avenue' that runs away from the site down a gentle slope for 530m into Stonehenge Bottom (and the River Avon). The Avenue consists of twin banks about 12m (40ft) apart with internal ditches which begin at the entrance to the earthwork enclosure and terminate at the River Avon. The Stonehenge end of the avenue is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise, with the other end terminating at another henge/circle by the River Avon. A similar ceremonial route/avenue (The 'West-Kennet' Avenue), ran from the River Avon past ' The Sanctuary ' and on to Avebury. It was marked along its route by large sarsen-stones alternating between thin (male) and lozenge (female). Stonehenge Fact: Stonehenge lies on the exact latitude at which the Midsummer Sunrise and Sunsets are at 90ï¿½ of the Moons Northerly setting and Southerly rising.

This particular phenomena is only possible within a band of less than one degree, of which Stonehenge lies in the middle-third. (17) In Addition: The only latitude where the four station stones which determine lunar and solar alignments can form an exact rectangle within the limits of the Aubrey circle is at the latitude of Stonehenge (14) The 'Station-stone-rectangle' has a perimeter the same length as one side of the great pyramid. (4) The angle created by connecting SS93 to SS91, the rectangle's hypotenuse, is at an angle of 118ï¿½ degrees, which has been noted as the same azimuth one would follow to reach Giza in Egypt. (3) The Aubrey Holes - (Recently assigned a C14 date of 3,000 BC- 2,300 BC) (15). Immediately adjacent to the bank is a ring of 56 pits, known as the Aubrey Holes, marked by circular concrete spots. The Aubrey holes were suggested by Prof. G.

Hawkins (3), to have been used for calculating the phases of the moon and also for predicting the month of the year in which eclipses would take place. The area between the inner edge of the bank and the outermost stone settings includes at least two further settings of pits: the Y and Z holes. These are currently believed to have originally held the stones for the newly discovered 'bluestonehenge'. The Aubrey Holes as a Lunar eclipse predictor: It is now well known that the simplest means of modelling the movements of the Sun and Moon (Tides) is with a circle of 28 markers around a central earth. Moving a 'Moon-marker' one position per day and a 'Sun-marker' once every 13 days, provides a calendar accurate to 98%. By doubling the sun-moon calendar to 56 markers, one can obtain an accuracy of 99.8%, with the additional benefit of being able to predict eclipses to high accuracy.

(17) The combination of astronomically relevant orientations and means of accurate calculating both solar and lunar cycles with the same 'monument/device' offers the clear possibility that the (original) builders were already aware of 'Metonic' cycle, whereby both the cycles of the sun and moon synchronise over a period of 18.6 solar years or 235 lunations with an error of only 2 hours. (Corrected for over a period of 223.2 solar years or 2820 lunations). (More about Megaliths and the Metonic cycle) The Y and Z holes - Almost every one of the 59, Y and Z holes had fragments of bluestone in them. ...'Both the Y and Z circles are irregularly spaced. The holes are generally rectangular in shape, with the long axis following the circumference of their circles; and the depths average 3 feet for the Y holes, and 5 inches more for the Z's. There were no pressure marks on the bottom of any of these holes which have been excavated-about half the holes of each circle...' ...'The filling material of these holes has been rich with archaeologically interesting finds.

At the bottom and sides of them the diggers have unearthed a thin layer of chalk rubble, presumably the result of a few years of weathering before deliberate filing of the holes took place. In this earliest layer there usually was also found a single bluestone fragment of the variety called "rhyolite"...The rest of the filling of these holes was a rather uniform mass of fine dirt... Why was there at the bottom of practically every one of them that solitary bluestone fragment?...' (3) The Sarsen Stones - In its hypothetical complete form the outermost stone setting would have consisted of a circle of 30 upright sarsens, of which 17 still stand today, each weighing around 25 tons. The tops of these uprights were linked by a continuous ring of another 30 horizontal sarsen lintels, only a small part of which is now still in position. The stones in the sarsen circle were carefully shaped and the horizontal lintels were joined not only by means of mortise-and-tenon joints, but were also locked using what is effectively a dovetail joint. The edges were smoothed into a gentle curve which follows the line of the entire circle.

In the late 19th century Wiliam Petrie Flinders suggested that the stone circle was never completed and left open to the south west. He cited as evidence 'the small, half size sarsen, Stone 11, and Stones 21, 23 being defective in size compared to the other sarsens'. The evidence from the recent laser survey of Stonehenge supports this early conclusion, suggesting that the monument was actually constructed as a large arc in a similar fashion to the arrangement of the bluestones in the Q&R Holes. All that was needed at the south west sector was Stone 16 to mark the axis. Furthermore, 'groundscans and probing have failed to reveal sockets for the missing south-west sector sarsens, providing no evidence for continuation of the sarsen circle from stone 14 to 20 in the north-west, with the exception of the monolith (16) marking the axis'. (23) Stonehenge Fact: Stonehenge is now recognised as having the largest single collection of prehistoric carvings in southern Britain.

'The laser-scan survey carried out in March last year for English Heritage by the Greenhatch Group, revealed 72 previously unknown axe and dagger carvings etched into the faces of five of the giant sarsen megaliths, trebling the number of carvings known at Stonehenge. Prior to this laser survey, 44 prehistoric carvings had been identified at Stonehenge on Stones 3, 4, 5, and 53 commencing with Richard Atkinson's discovery of a number of Bronze Age carvings in 1953 (23). According to Peter Le Mesurier (The Stone Measurer), the Sarsen-ring (whose official inner diameter is 97ft or 1162.8 primitive inches), has a circumference of 3652.4 primitive inches, which he suggested as indicating a knowledge of the Solar year, it is also exactly one 'quarter-aroura', as measured in ancient Egypt (1).

Flinders Petrie calculated the diameter at 1167.9 (+/- 0.7 British inches) (13), which works out at 1166.6 Primitive inches (giving a circumference of 3663.1 primitive inches), which although still accurate to within .03%, is not as exact as Le Mesurier suggested. The Sarsen-ring has the same dimension as the flattened-top of nearby Silbury hill . The Sarsen Horseshoe - Inside these two circles lies the sarsen horseshoe, consisted originally of five sarsen trilithons (a Greek word that means three stones), each comprising two uprights with a horizontal lintel. Although now fragmentary, the arrangement shows the careful grading of the five trilithons, the tallest of which is 6.7m (22ft) high above ground level. Enfolded within this massive horseshoe lies a smaller horseshoe arrangement of upright bluestones.

Stonehenge Fact: The tallest upright stone at Stonehenge is 6.7m (22ft) high, with another 2.4m (8ft) below ground = 9.1m long and has an estimated weight of 40-50 tons. The Bluestones - As many as 85 of the 5+ton bluestones were erected around the centre of the old ridge system, with the stones being placed 6 ft apart and approx 35 ft from the centre point. It appears that the stones formed a double circle, with a pattern of radiating spokes of two stones each. The stones were transported at least 200 miles to the site, from the eastern end of the Preseli Mountain in Wales. (9) (The distance from the quarry to Stonehenge is 140 miles as the crow flies (10), and various routes have been suggested both over-land and by sea. The radius of the 'Bluestone' circle (39.6 ft) is the same as the diameter of the 'Bluestone horseshoe' (4).

The newly discovered 'Bluestonehenge' circle has same dimensions as the inner bluestone circle. The significance of the 'Bluestone' is not yet fully understood. Heath suggested that the location of the quarry was determined through a geometric or geodetic p rocess while Darvill and Wainwright (below), have suggested that the Preseli rock might have been considered to have 'magical' properties, based on inscriptions at the quarry (based on their interpretation of Neolithic rock-carvings). New research suggests that the bluestones have acoustic properties which may have played a part in the 'veneration' of the prehistoric Presily landscape. ( Quick-link ) Wiltshire archaeologist J F S Stone in 1947, excavated an area near the Cursus and discovered a scatter of bluestone fragments with a marked concentration near the Cursus itself, and in 2006 a sizeable fragment of spotted dolerite, or bluestone was discovered in the south-western quadrant of Woodhenge.

At almost exactly the same time, a member of the archaeological team under the direction of Colin Richards discovered another much smaller piece in a test pit in a field close to the western end of the Cursus. Other samples of the same Bluestone granite have been found at other ancient and sacred sites as far removed as Denmark (18) The Altar Stone - Lying in the geometric centre of the monument is a worked recumbent megalith. It was most recently excavated in the 1950s, but no written records of the excavation survive. The Alter Stone measures 16 feet long, 1 foot 9 inches deep and 3 feet 4 inches wide. Hawkins (3) makes note that while all the other stones were either bluestone or sarsen, the so called altar-stone is 'of fine-grained pale green sandstone, containing so many flakes of mica that its surface, wherever freshly exposed, shows the typical mica glitter'. The stone when standing would have reflected the sunlight enhancing the effect of the summer solstice sunrise.

This stone seems to have come from the Cosheston Beds, composed of old red sandstone, at Milford haven on the coast of Wales, some 30miles to the southwest of the Prescilly quarries and is another example of the specific selection of stones by the builders of the European megaliths. Stonehenge has three different types of stone in the overall structure: Over 80 5-10 ton 'Bluestones'' from Wales, The huge 20-50 ton Sarsens from 20km north near Avebury and the mica-sandstone 'Altar stone'. ( BBC News - April, 2013 'Stonehenge Occupied 5,000 years earlier than thought' 'An excavation funded with redundancy money shows Stonehenge was a settlement 3,000 years before it was built. The archaeological dig, a mile from the stones, has revealed that people have occupied the area since 7,500BC. The findings, uncovered by volunteers on a shoestring budget, are 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Dr Josh Pollard, from Southampton University, said the team had "found the community who put the first monument up at Stonehenge". Over the past seven years, the site has yielded the earliest semi-permanent settlement in the Stonehenge area from 7,500 to 4,700BC. And carbon dating of material found at the site show people were there during every millennium in between'. (More about Cursus) Stonehenge 1 - (3,200 BC) (11): Construction of the circular bank and ditch 'The Henge', the 56 Aubrey Holes, and the 'Station stones'. (At this stage, the elements of Stonehenge indicate a lunar observation). In the first construction, the sun apparently, 'did not interest the henge builders'. (11) Traces of the Welsh 'Blue-stone' have been found in the Aubrey Holes suggesting that they originally held stones in them, and might have been an element of the monument even at this early time. (15) Recent discoveries by the Stonehenge Riverside Project have produced radiocarbon dates from cremations within the area bounded by the henge monument.

The earliest, 3030-2880 BC, comes from a cremation of an adult within one of the Aubrey Holes. The most recent dates to between 2570 and 2340 BC. It was the remains of a woman in her mid twenties buried in the northern ditch. In all, around 240 people were buried within the henge. (More about Henges) Stonehenge II - (c. 3,000 BC): Widening of the old ditch-bank (3) with pottery, animal bones, and cremated human remains placed back in the ditch; cremations also deposited in some of the partially filled Aubrey Holes and a complex of posts in the interior and in the entrance causeway. The major structural addition at this time was the erection of roughly 80 bluestones, weighing up to 5 tons each, which were set up in two concentric circles around the centre. It is currently believed that the original 56 stones from the Aubrey holes were used, along with another 24 from the recently discovered 'Bluestonehenge', at the other end of the 'Avenue'.

Stonehenge III - (c. 2,400-2,600 BC): Double circle of bluestones taken down and replaced with around 80 sarsen stones, weighing between 25 and 50 tons each. These were formed into a circle of continuous trilithon's, with a Horse-shoe of five larger independent Trilithon's were erected in the centre. The stones were quarried from the Marlborough Downs about 20 miles north. (9). Article: Antiquity (Volume 81 No. 313 September 2007), by Mike Parker Pearson et al entitled ï¿½The age of Stonehengeï¿½. It is a summary of progress so far on the Stonehenge Riverside Project and the Beaker isotope project , and contains some interesting and important revelations about the Stonehenge and its landscape. It is now thought that the trilithon's were erected not circa 2,300 BCE, but between 2,600-2,400 BCE, making them contemporary with Durrington Walls.

They now predate the earliest Beaker burials in Britain, shaking our understanding of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age.... The Astronomical Significance of Stonehenge: Apart from the inherent prejudice against the Neolithic awareness of astronomy and geometry, there are several stubborn and irrefutable facts about Stonehenge which suggest exactly that... The Latitude of Stonehenge: Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, is the location of the site itself which happens to be on the exact latitude so as to encompass several important astronomical observations from the same location. Indeed, the earliest evidence of construction at Stonehenge are the 'car-park post-holes', which are accurately aligned east-west, and can therefore be considered likely astronomical in nature. The 'Avenue' leading from Stonehenge is orientated at the same angle as the latitude upon which Stonehenge sits. Stonehenge lies at the exact latitude at which the Sun and the Moon have their maximum settings at 90ï¿½ of each other as illustrated by the station-stones.

There are only two latitudes in the world it which, the full moon passes directly overhead on its maximum Zeniths, these are at Stonehenge and Almendres in Portugal (The oldest circle in Western-Europe). The Design of Stonehenge: In addition to having been built on a particularly significant latitude, the layout of the site also incorporates several other intrinsic astronomical features. In particular, from the earliest phase of construction (c. 3,200-3,000 BC). Prof. Hawkins (3), determined that the 56 'Aubrey holes' were placed so as to calculate both the 18.6 year lunar cycle and eclipses. The 'Station-stone' quadrangle, placed into the circumference of the 'Aubrey-holes', can be used to measure the extremes of both the lunar and solar cycles. These two design features make it possible to measure the 'Metonic cycle'.

With regard to the astronomical significance of the ï¿½Station stones,ï¿½ the lines joining 91 (east-south-east) to 92 (south-south-east) and 93 (west-north-west) to 94 (north-north-west) are parallel to the axis of the monument. They point to mid-summer sunrise in one direction, to the North-East, and to mid-winter sunset in the opposite direction, to the South-West. In addition, the diagonal line joining 93 to 91 points to the position where the sun rose, in ancient times, on November 8th and February 4th. Looking in the opposite direction, 91 to 93, the line points to sunset on May 6th and August 8th. These four dates were ï¿½the four great festivals of the Druids,ï¿½ and represented important turning points in the seasons. As well as this, the alignment formed by the 'Avenue', continues in both directions to connect several prominent megalithic sites along the azimuth of the summer solstice sunrise.

In 1965, with the use of computers, Steven Hawkins proposed with regards to the the specific alignments to the Sun and the Moon, that it was ".....less than one chance in ten thousand that the stones had been aligned by accident" (Hawkins 1965, p-136). Geometry and Alignments: The last phase of development (Phase III), at Stonehenge shows a clear geometric foundation, with the 30 equally spaced upright sarsen-stones set in a perfect circle. According to Peter Le Mesurier, the Sarsen-ring (whose official inner diameter is 97ft or 1162.8 primitive inches), has a circumference of 3652.4 primitive inches, which he suggested as indicating a knowledge of the Solar year, it is also exactly one 'quarter-aroura', as measured in ancient Egypt (1). Stonehenge is geodetically aligned with several other ancient sites. The 'Sanctuary', near Avebury is on the same longitude of 1ï¿½ 49' W and is exactly 1/4ï¿½ North.

Stonehenge, Avebury and Glastonbury form a right angled triangle, of which the Glastonbury-Avebury follows the azimuth of the sun on 'May-day' A li ne extended from Stonehenge to Arbor-low extends exactly 2ï¿½ north. (Avebury lies exactly 1/4 of a degree north of Stonehenge along the same line). The three Henge-circles of Stonehenge, Arbor Low and Bryn Celli Ddu form together to make a 3:4:5 Triangle. Perhaps also of interest is the recently excavated Goseck Henge (c. 5,000 BC) in Germany, which is of similar design and lies on the same latitude as Stonehenge. Sir Norman Lockyer, the Astronomer Royal, noticed that Stonehenge, Grovely Castle and Old Sarum formed a near-perfect equilateral triangle, with each side 6 miles in length. The Stonehenge-Old Sarum alignment continues south past Salisbury cathedral (built 1220 AD), Clearbury ring and Frankenbury (6).

The Stonehenge-Grovely castle alignment extends to the North-East beyond St Peters mound, Inkpen beacon, and the Neolithic 'Winterbourne camp'. To the South-West the line continues past Grovely Castle, Castle ditches and the ' Cerne-Abbas ' giant to Puncknowle beacon on the South coast. BBC News - April, 2013 'Stonehenge Occupied 5,000 years earlier than thought' 'An excavation funded with redundancy money shows Stonehenge was a settlement 3,000 years before it was built. The archaeological dig, a mile from the stones, has revealed that people have occupied the area since 7,500BC. The findings, uncovered by volunteers on a shoestring budget, are 5,000 years earlier than previously thought. Dr Josh Pollard, from Southampton University, said the team had "found the community who put the first monument up at Stonehenge". Over the past seven years, the site has yielded the earliest semi-permanent settlement in the Stonehenge area from 7,500 to 4,700BC.

And carbon dating of material found at the site show people were there during every millennium in between'. Article: Heritage Daily (Feb, 2012) 'Stonehenge Design Based on Auditory Illusion'. 'Steven Waller, an independent researcher in California, said the layout of the stones corresponded to the regular spacing of loud and quiet sounds created by acoustic interference when two instruments played at the same note continuously. In Neolithic times, the nature of sound waves - and their ability to reinforce and cancel each other out - would have been mysterious enough to vergew on the magical, Waller said. Quiet patches created by acoustic interference could have created the "auditory illusion" that invisible objects stood between a listener and the instruments being played, he added' stonehenge england | Tumblr stonehenge england Long Meg and her Daughters 9x12 - watercolor/digital Here, at one of the largest prehistoric stone circles, the legend tells that a local witch and her coven were turned to stone. Long Meg herself is a single twelve-foot narrow slip of sandstone, standing just outside the ring of her 59 daughters - though reports indicate there may have originally been as many as 77 stones.

Though some say “Long Meg” was Meg of Meldon - an early seventeenth century witch - she is more likely to have got her name from the saying “As long as Meg of Westminster,” which applied to any particularly tall person. The biographical tract of this particular Meg tells that she was a giantess, and of her similarly large gravestone, but the author, who is of the opinion that no woman would be put to rest among the monks of Westminster, suggests that the gravestone actually marks a mass grave of monks who died in a year of plague. However that suggestion might be, several legends sprang up accounting for Long Meg as a victim of petrifaction. Another historian wrote in 1698 that the “sisters” of “Great Mag” solicited her to an unlawful love by enchantment, and were turned with her to stone. Further texts from the eighteenth century add little else to the story apart from the association with witches. Besides the petrifaction legend, there was a tradition that these were “countless stones,” much like Stonehenge. It was also dangerous to interfere with the stones - if a piece were broken off Meg, she was said to bleed.

When crews tried to blast the circle away in 1790, such a tempest arose that workmen fled in fear. Similar dangers are said to spring up at the desecration of barrows. Reblog Stonehenge Diagram. No place has generated so much speculation and wild theories as the standing stones of Stonehenge. After driving for miles through the rolling hills and plains of the English countryside the sight of this unusual structure makes people gasp. A walk around it only provokes more strange feelings. There’s a sense that this is something very important. It taunts us with its mystery. For over 5000 years it has stood silent vigil over the earth. It has been excavated, x-rayed, measured, and surveyed. Yet despite all that has been learned about its age and construction, its purpose still remains one of the great mysteries of the world. John Aubrey Quotes. QuotesGram Subscribe John Aubrey — English Writer born on March 12, 1626, died on June 07, 1697 John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer.

He is perhaps best known as the author of the Brief Lives, his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England, and who is particularly noted as the discoverer of the Avebury henge monument. The Aubrey holes at Stonehenge are named after him, although there is considerable doubt as to whether the holes that he observed are those that currently bear the name. He was also a pioneer folklorist, collecting together a miscellany of material on customs, traditions and beliefs under the title "Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme". He set out to compile county histories of both Wiltshire and Surrey, although both projects remained unfinished. His "Interpretation of Villare Anglicanum" was the first attempt to compile a full-length study of English place-names. He had wider interests in applied mathematics and astronomy, and was friendly with many of the greatest scientists of the day... (wikipedia) How these curiosities would be quite forgot, did not such idle fellowes as I put them down.

5 Share If Solomon counts the day of one's death better than the day of one's birth, there can be no objection why that also may not be reckoned amongst one's remarkable and happy days. 0 Share The astrologers and historians write that the ascendant as of Oxford is Capricornus, whose lord is Saturn, a religious planet, and patron of religious men. 1 I have been in danger of being drowned twice. 2 The silver Thames takes some part of this county in its journey to Oxford. 3

Question: Where in southern England would you find the Aubrey Holes?
Answer: STONEHENGE