We have all heard about “those rocks” that are mysteriously placed on Salisbury Plain, an area of Wiltshire, Great Britain. But then we wonder, who put them there? What was its purpose? We are going to solve these and some more doubts about the Stonehenge monument.
What was the Stonehenge monument
The Stonehenge monument is considered a cromlech-style megalithic monument. This is actually a real description about this same monument, that is, a cromlech is a rock-based construction or dolmens (stones placed in the shape of an inverted U) that are introduced into the ground and that make up a generally circular drawing, and sometimes, in the form of an ellipsis.
However, the question about the use or the end of the Stonehenge monument is, even today, a mystery yet to be solved. However, we are going to tell you which are the most important theories that adhere to this prehistoric monument and which are the most supported by those who understand the matter, such as expert archaeologists.
Now we will talk in depth about the stonehenge theoriesbut first we want to offer you a brief overview of the most important and popular ones.
On the one hand, there are the most widespread theories that, in fact, contradict each other: some claim that the Stonehenge monument had a religious character and its primary function was to serve as a temple or monument where funerary rites and burials were performed or took place; and on the other hand, there is a theory that its purpose was astronomicalby which the stars, the moon and the sun could be studied and thus establish the seasons, among others.
Of course, there are also other theories, although somewhat less supported, such as that its appearance was due to the existence of extraterrestrials or that its use was based on serving as a concert hall and/or place to celebrate banquets.
Theories about Stonehenge
Taking up one of the main stonehenge theoriesthe archaeologists determined that the purpose of this monument was to funerary character due to the arrangement of the rocks and the existence of a main altar in which religious rituals could have been performed.
This theory was coined and further supported by the discovery of buried remains within the area of the monument and in the vicinity. However, this could have been due to other circumstances.
The second of the theories, as we said, was based on the study of the stars, the sun and the moon. Thanks to this, the druids of the time could have used these studies to establish the seasons, for example. This monument would also have served them to know the positions of the sun and determine the beginning and end of important dates such as the summer solstice and the winter solstice.
This was due to the position of the rocks that were aligned with the reference position of the sun, both their sunsets and sunrises for the summer solstice, as well as showing the alignments of the moonsets and moonrises for the winter solstice. With this information, the seasons could be defined thanks to the proper study of their cycles, prior to the establishment of a solar and lunar calendar.
The alien theory about Stonehenge it rested, however, on other deductions perhaps somewhat less founded. The question we all ask ourselves is the same: how could such rocks of such weight and size be placed at that time? They did not seem to have the necessary means, so the obvious answer was that they were left there by aliens.
Also, this theory was fed by the way rocks are arranged, understanding it as a landing zone for extraterrestrial ships. Around this, some understood the monument as an observatory of alien activity or as a sign for those who visited our planet at that time and thus understand that the Earth had an advanced form or civilization.
As a fun fact about the alien theory, A rock formation very similar to the Stonehenge Monument, known as Marshenge, has been discovered on Mars.which establishes an obvious relationship between one planet and another.
For its part, the theory that the Stonehenge monument could have been the subject of concerts and banquets is based on the arrangement and type of the rocks that make it up. This is due to the existence of more recent abbeys (500 years old) without roofs.
According to this theory, the Stonehenge monument could have had, between the hollows of the rocks, wood as panels and a thatched roof. Being a construction of much older than the abbeys that are given as an example, it makes sense that these materials were no longer present anywhere.
Reconstruction of the Stonehenge monument
According to what is understood about the Stonehenge monument, it is considered that the one we know and can see today was not the original form of it. It is believed that certain materials could have disappeared due to the passage of timeeven worn out, thus leaving a skeleton that does not pay attention to design first, as happens with most of the ruins that we can visit today.
In the photo we see which is the reconstruction of what is considered to have been the original Stonehenge monument so you can see that maybe it wasn’t such a strange arrangement. In fact, seeing the current situation of Stonehenge, the first thing we think is that its distribution is extremely curious.
Other interesting facts about the Stonehenge monument
Stonehenge is one of the most famous prehistoric monumentsand one of the most talked about not only archaeologists, but all fans of esotericism, magic, and myths and legends.
Stonehenge is a set of standing stones located in Wiltshire, in Great Britain, about eight miles north of Salisbury. What makes it such an interesting site is the configuration of these rocks. They are a set of two erect rectangular rocks, with another on top, which together form a large circle.
It is believed to have been built 5500 years agoalthough the one we see today was not the only lithic structure of the site.
For many years it has been believed that Stonehenge was a kind of prehistoric astronomical observatory, but the latest studies that have been carried out there seem to indicate that it served as a cemetery since its inception.
This was known because they have been able to date cremated remains of funerals held at the site, and they are 5,000 years old, and apparently they continued to be made for 500 years, just when the monument was built, it was stopped. So it is believed that it would be a funerary monument to that royal class. Archaeologists believe that there are about 240 people buried at the site, belonging to different eras, all previously cremated..
But before these latest discoveries, dozens of theories about what Stonehenge was and why and for what it had been built.
The first historians to deal with the matter paid attention to, and were influenced by, folk and supernatural accounts. There were legends that Merlin the magician had built such structures, and that he had even transported them from Mount Killaraus in Ireland. He was also “accused” by the Devil, of having built the monument.
The monument was first written about by Henry of Huntingdon in about 1130, and before long Godfrey of Monmouth also spoke about it and linked it to the myth of King Arthur.
Already by 1655, John Webb, said that it could be a Roman temple, at least it was beginning to speak of historical and not legendary periods. Later it was said that the Germans were its creators, and until well into the 19th century it was believed that the Saxons were the ones who had built it.
Although before it had already been said that it could be the work of the Celtic druids. It was John Aubrey who popularized the idea, and was even the first to make a scale drawing of the monument. And he was the first to say that the monument could have an astronomical significance, according to the shape and location of the stones.
As early as the 19th century, John Lubbock attributed the work to the Bronze Age, thanks to bronze objects discovered nearby.
But the debate soon began to take place around the function of the monument, if it was an astronomical observatory for scientific purposes or for religious purposes. Many studies had already been done regarding how the moon and sun could be tracked as seen from different parts of Stonehenge.
Most of the first theories revolved around an astronomical cult, as a function and motivation for the construction of the monument.
But already in 1906, Joseph Norman Lockyer established that it could be something practical. I mean, It was a gigantic calendar, which was used to know dates, such as the time of harvest, sowing, etc.. And why not, also religious dates.
Already in modernity, the astronomical and religious monument interpretation was maintained, while crazy theories appeared such as that of Erich Von Daniken, who said that paleoastronauts would have built it, as a landing mark for extraterrestrial ships. Numerological and geomantic studies were carried out, and an infinity of powers originating from the site and its stones were “discovered”.
But the truth is you may never know the true meaning of stonehenge, since there was no written or oral material left that makes us know the function of the monument. Although it is now known that it would have been used as a funerary monument, one wonders why such a distribution, when at the time another style of simpler monuments was used.
Perhaps the new excavations that are currently being carried out will finally offer us a definitive answer.