Stonehenge: The 1st World Wonder of the Middle Ages

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StonehengeThe 1st World Wonder of the Middle
Ages

• The stones are great
• And magic power they have
• Men that are stick
• Fare to that stone
• And they wash that stone
• And with that water bathe
• Away their sickness
• Layaman, 1200CE

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Basic Facts

• Neolithic ruin, (Greek large stones),
  1800-1400 BCE
• Stands on open down land of Salisbury Plain, two
  miles west of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, in
  Southern England.
• Consists of 2 concentric rings of stones
  surrounding other stones places in a horseshoe
  shape
• Weighs several tons
• Diameter of Circle 97
• Height of stone 24

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Purpose?

• Druid Temple
• Gallows
• Complex calendar
• Tourist Site
• Photography interest Richard T Nowitz,
• NGS Image Collection (pg. 273)

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About Stonehenge
B
A
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Formation

• Stonehenge was built in three parts over a
  period of 1000 years. The first part was just a
  mound, ditch and holes. The second was when
  timbers were erected systematically all inside
  the circle. The third was when the lentel stones
  were erected and the bluestones set up into the
  Stonehenge we see today.

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Phase 1 (2950-2900 BCE)

• The earliest portion of the complex is comprised
  a circular bank, ditch, and counterscarp bank of
  about 330 feet in diameter. Just inside the earth
  bank is a circle of the 56 Aubrey holes that held
  wooden posts.

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Phase 2 (2900-2400 BCE)

• After 2900 BCE and for approximately the next
  500 years (until 2400 BCE), post holes indicate
  timber settings in the centre of the monument and
  at the north-eastern entrance. The Aubrey Holes
  no longer held posts but were partially filled,
  some with cremation deposits added to the fill.
  The numerous post holes indicate timber
  structures but no clear patterns or
  configurations are discernible that would suggest
  their shape, form, or function.

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Phase 3 (2550-1600 BCE)

• The first stone setting comprised a series of
  Bluestones placed in what are known as the Q and
  R Holes. These were subsequently dismantled and a
  circle of Sarsens and a horseshoe-shaped
  arrangement of Trilithons erected.
• The Trilithons are ten upright stones arranged as
  five freestanding pairs each with a single
  horizontal lintel. They were arranged
  symmetrically and graded in height the tallest
  is in the central position. Only three of the
  five Trilithons are now complete with their
  lintels.

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• Finally, the so-called Altar Stone, a large
  dressed block of sandstone that lies embedded in
  the ground within the Trilithon Horseshoe and "in
  front of" of the central and largest Trilithon
  pair. Two fallen stones now lie across it. The
  stone is believed to be Cosheston Beds Sandstone
  from south Wales, and is the only example of this
  type of stone at Stonehenge. It is 16 feet long,
  3 feet 6 inches wide, and 1 foot 9 inches thick.

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Personally

• Beautiful, Serene, Intricate
• Mysterious
• Symbolic of power and endurance
• Realistic images
• Possible Expressive or Religious meanings

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References

• http//witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMStone
  henge.html

http//www.lingens.com/articles/eric/stonehenge/s
tonefacts.html
http//www.mysteriousplaces.com/stonehenge/megali
ths3.html