Stonehenge: the stone mystery of England

Stonehenge - the subject of pride of the British, one of the oldest riddles of civilization, the architectural heritage of our ancestors. This monument has attracted attention of scientists-archeologists, geologists, astronomers and thousands of tourists annually visiting excursions to one of the most famous symbols of England. What are the secrets of Stonehenge? What is so worried about the minds of scientists? Why does not there exist a single hypothesis of its origin and destination?

According to archaeologists, Stonehenge was erected between 3500 and 1100.BC.and its construction took place in three stages. During this time Stonehenge has undergone significant changes: from the ring ditch to a kind of colonnade of stones. Modern Stonehenge is a structure of 82 megaliths weighing 5 tons each, 30 stone blocks( each weighing 25 tons) and 5 huge stones called triliths weighing 50 tons. The peculiar arches formed by the folded stone blocks were once the signposts of the world for our ancestors.

Theories and hypotheses of

The version that Stonehenge was built in the 3500-1100 gg. BC.and served exclusively to observe the Sun and the Moon, has been repeatedly questioned by scientists.

So, in 1994, Professor David Bowen, using a completely new approach, proved that the age of Stonehenge is 140,000 years old .This fact is puzzling - after all, ancient people could hardly cut down, transport, process and install large blocks of stone. At the very least, this would require enormous inhuman efforts from them.

Astronomer Fred Hoyle studied the geometric features of Stonehenge and came to the conclusion that the observations of his creators behind the celestial bodies were as deep as it was not supposed before. Thanks to Stonehenge , our ancestors knew the duration of the solar year and the orbital period of the Moon.

The fact that Stonehenge imitates the sky map of ( such as it was 4000 years ago) was proved in 1965 by Gerald Hawkins. But when by astronomers in 1998, with the help of computer technology, the original view of Stonehenge was recreated, the results obtained were discouraged. According to them, Stonehenge is an exact model of the solar system in a cross-section of ( according to ancient people, there are twelve planets in the Solar System), and diameters of the Cretaceous Shaft and Sarsen Ring have absolutely the same ratio as the diameters of the Earth and the Moon.

Using Stonehenge as the most powerful observatory of , our ancestors led an accurate calendar, could predict solar and lunar eclipses, knew the day of the summer solstice, predicted the timing of the beginning of agricultural work.

There is a version that the authors of Stonehenge are the same people who built the Egyptian pyramids .There are many coincidences in favor of this hypothesis.

The version of Stonehenge is also popular as a sacred place for , where ancient Celtic Druids performed their rituals. However, most scientists now deny this fact.

Leon Stover is the author of yet another hypothesis about Stonehenge, according to which this monument was erected by the Mycenaeans, defending from the Atlanteans - the ancient Chinese soldiers who died in 1400 BC.because of the natural cataclysm. True, it is not entirely clear how one could defend with this structure - the distance from one stone to another is too large to use Stonehenge as a cover.

Recently popular is the version of the unearthly origin of Stonehenge - supposedly here "the hand of" aliens. And many it seems quite plausible - so incredible is the fact that such a structure could be built by ancient people.

Over time, Stonehenge has grown and a lot of folk legends .According to one of them, the blue stones of Stonehenge appeared on the earth only as a result of the magic of Merlin, the sorcerer at the court of King Arthur, and have the property of healing. Another legend concerns a huge Heel Stone: as if once the devil saw a monk, hiding among the stones, and launched into him a huge stone that crushed the unfortunate heel. According to the third legend, Stonehenge was erected by giants who inhabited the Earth before the Flood. Whichever version is true in fact, one thing is clear: Stonehenge will continue to amaze people with its greatness, mystery and uniqueness for many more years.