Stonehenge

[clusterm2]

How Stonehenge was built?http://www.exn.ca/video/?video=exn20031021-stonehenge.asx


Takes a while to load though

 

[Drooper]

I read somwhere that Stonehenge, as we see it today, was almost entirely the result of Victorian "restoration". Most everything you see was put into its present position in relatively recent times.

 

[Darat]

From a reply I made to someone before:


The link I had to a long article about it doesn't work any more, this is a brief article that talks about the 20th century restoration work:

http://www.pip.com.au/~paceman/STONEHENGE.html

...snip...

A million visitors a year go to the site on Salisbury Plain to admire what they believe are the untouched remains of the 4,000-year-old temple. What they do not learn from the official guidebooks is that virtually every stone has been re-erected, straightened or reset in a concrete boot by well-meaning restorers who "improved" the monument between 1901 and 1964.

...snip...

Dave Batchelor, English Heritage’s senior archaeologist, said: "....snip.... If the excavations hadn’t taken place, then Stonehenge would look very different today. Very few of the stones have not been moved."

 

[Darat]

How Stonehenge was built?http://www.exn.ca/video/?video=exn20031021-stonehenge.asx


Takes a while to load though

Thanks for the link. I found it fascinating, whether the builders of Stonehenge used this technique is of course a bit of speculation but its proof that people are ingenious and that we shouldn’t underestimate our ancestors abilities to do amazing things.

 

[richardm]

Dave Batchelor, English Heritage’s senior archaeologist, said: "....snip.... If the excavations hadn’t taken place, then Stonehenge would look very different today. Very few of the stones have not been moved."

While it's true to say that there has been lots of work done one the stones, and I should defer to Dave's opinion, it does seem to me that it is possible to overstate the case. Compare Turner's 1811 painting with the henge today. It is still perfectly recognisable with many stones standing. To my mind Dave gives the impression that it was a heap of rocks before it was restored.

Before:

After:

 

[Darat]

(Off topic: Have you seen the sheep and the dead man in the Turner picture? It looks as if the dog has gone mental savaged them and then attacked the Shepard, and I always thought Turner painted such nice scenes!)

 

[Rolfe]

That picture was featured on BBC2 last week in the "A Picture of Britain" series. The commentator said that the sheep and the shepherd had been struck by lightning, and the dog was howling over his dead master.

Rolfe.