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Thursday 8 September 2011

Wainwright finds "the architect of stonehenge"??




If you thought you'd seen and heard it all, folks, think again.  This is obviously the start of something big!  Read on......

   
Stonehenge Architect Linked With Welsh Burial Cairn?

stonehengenews | September 8, 2011
URL: http://wp.me/pQAXF-i0

An impressive tomb discovered in Wales is believed to belong to an important figure involved with the construction of Stonehenge.  (It's not an impressive tomb at all -- it's really rather insignificant as these things go.  And it hasn't been "discovered" either.  It's been known for many years, and is already in all the text books.....  And why is this tomb supposed to be associated with "an important figure" when no comment at all has been passed on the importance -- or otherwise -- of those buried in all the much more impressive Neolithic burial sites in West Wales?)

watch?v=TOPH21xGq7g

The burial chamber is located in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and sits on top of a ceremonial monument.  (That remains to be demonstrated.  The evidence presented thus far doesn't seem to suggest a "ceremonial monument" at all.  All it suggests is that there might have been an earlier phase in the use of the site.)

Nearby, a pair of standing stones embedded in a bank bear a strong resemblance to the pair-arrangement of the stones at Stonehenge, the famous prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, southern England.  (Absolute rubbish.  Which stones?  I think they may be entirely natural.  There are pairs of standing stones all over the place.  Why are these two stones supposed to me more similar to the Stonehenge "pairs" than all the others?)

Stonehenge features earthworks encompassing a circular arrangement of large standing stones. These are mainly two types of rock—the large sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), and a variety of smaller igneous rocks called bluestones (natural columns of while-spotted dolerite).  (Two types of rock?  Why do these two professors seem to be in total denial about all the other types of rock found at Stonehenge?  I think we know why....)

The excavation of the tomb in the Carn Menyn region of west Wales was led by Tim Darvill from Bournemouth University, and Geoffrey Wainwright from the Society of Antiquaries.  (Assume that, for a change, this is a reasonably accurate statement.)

The archeologists believe the 80 bluestones at Stonehenge originated from the same area as the tomb and were transported around 160 miles (nearly 260 kilometers) to the Wiltshire plains about 4,500 years ago (around 2,300BC).  (Still banging on about the 80 bluestones, when we all know that there are no more than 43 "bluestones" at Stonehenge, of a number of different types, and that there is no evidence that there ever were any more on the site.)

Uncovering the reason for this epic journey will unlock the mystery behind Stonehenge’s existence.  (So plenty of time yet for a nice lucrative string of TV spectaculars....)

Darvill and Wainwright first suggested in 2008 that Stonehenge may have been built as a major healing center, rather like a prehistoric version of Lourdes or Santiago de Compostela. They think the bluestones, not the sarsen, were believed to convey healing powers. (Again, not a scrap of evidence to support that contention.)

The Preseli area has many springs linked with ritual healing in prehistory, and this could explain why the bluestones were quarried for Stonehenge, despite being so far away.  (That is sheer nonsense.  There are "healing springs" in Pembrokeshire with long traditions associated with them, but none of them is in this area.)

“We went back to the Preselis and started doing excavations up there," says Wainwright, according to The Guardian. "The first site we explored was a big burial cairn in the shadow of Carn Menyn, where the Stonehenge bluestones come from."  (What he means is "a small burial cairn" and what he means is "where some of the bluestones might have come from.")

The excavation team discovered a stone circle underneath the cairn, built of bluestone, and organic material is being carbon dated.  (How they have determined, from a very small dig, that there is a stone circle under the burial cairn, is a mystery to me.  On the basis of a stone hole or two?  Shades of Bluestonehenge.  Built of bluestone?  Well it would be, wouldn't it, since the bedrock is bluestone....)

“Then this stone circle was covered with the huge burial cairn with a chamber in the middle," Wainright added. "The space turned from a public ceremonial space defined by the stone circle into the burial spot of a very important person."  (Kindly stop using these superlatives, Geoffrey.   It is not huge at all.  And they all had chambers in the middle.  This is wild speculation at best, and deception at worst.)

“We have obviously got a very important person who may have been responsible for the impetus for these stones to be transported," Wainwright BBC News.  (It's not obvious at all -- GW is a victim of his own hubris.)

"It can be compared directly with the first Stonehenge, so for the first time we have a direct link between Carn Menyn—where the bluestones came from—and Stonehenge, in the form of this ceremonial monument."  (That is all absolute nonsense.  What on earth is the link with the first Stonehenge?  The fact that there might be a circle of some sort here, or an embankment or ditch?  But there are circles and henges all over the place.  What does that prove?  Nothing at all.)
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This all becomes increasingly hilarious.  A pity about the science......  who wrote this stuff anyway?  Should we blame lousy journalism, or should be blame the TV utterances and press releases put out by certain eminent professors?  When is the Society of Antiquities going to start to insist on some professional standards in the work which it supports?

PS.  Hubris  means extreme haughtiness, pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power.

19 comments:

Constantinos Ragazas said...

Brian,

Adding to your PS in your post …

Hubris (a Greek word!) was the equivalent of 'sin' to the ancient Greeks. It was an front to the gods and the 'truth' that each embodied – as is so well shown in Greek tragedies. The 'hero' at the peak of his power commits 'hubris' defying a divine and natural principle which results in his 'house of cards' unraveling before him and leading him to total destruction.

We can all take lessons from the natural wisdom of the ancient Greeks!

Kostas

Anonymous said...

for example do not take a bath after walking on purple carpets.
I NEVER do that.
Thomas Rhymer

BOSCOMBE BOWMAN said...

"When is The Society of Antiquaries going to insist on some professional standards in the work it supports?", Brian asks.

Possible answer: When Geoff Wainwright is no longer the President of said Society, and Tim Darvill is no longer its Vice President!*

*Last time I checked.

Tony Hinchliffe said...

HUBRIS

Quite right, Kostas.

Even Geoffrey Boycott warns of the dangers of hubris. He should know.

DENNIS THE DRY said...

In Wales, there is a quaint tradition to name people after their occupation or characteristic, e.g. Jones The Post, Dai The Dairy, Brian The Blue....... Looking at the Character peering at us at the top of this item/ start of the video, could This be Hugh The Bristle? Surely he could get onto the Shaving Brush adverts? Badgers might object, mind.

Anonymous said...

Ah Tim Darvill is no longer on the council
Thomas Rhymer.

BRIAN JOHN said...

So GW is still there? How many years would that be?

Anonymous said...

No he stopped some years ago
His election was contested a VERY rare event!!!! in the Society.
Thomas Rhymer FSA

BOSCOMBE BOWMAN (3rd from right) said...

GW has probably been there for Millenia. To quote from David Bowie's lyrics of his song "Laughing Gnome" (and I recommend taking a look at the COMPLETE lyrics after viewing the video):-

"Ha ha ha hee hee hee
I'm a Laughing Gnome and you can't catch me........."

Alex Gee said...

The Society of Antiquaries obviously have the same rigorous scientific standards as the flat earth society. Brian: If you're serious about the glacial transport theory, Get busy promoting your theory about Faeries. You'll then be considered a responsible member of the soggy minded Archeological establishment, and your bonkers hypothesis should ensure that you'll make president of the Society of Antiquaries in a month or two?.

Then you can undermine them from the inside. It's our only hope.

Barrie Foster said...

Hubris, or overweening pride, was invariably followed by Ate, or retribution, personified in the goddess Nemesis.

INCAPABILITY BROWN said...

I used to think hubris was somethinf to do with gardening. Then I realised my compost heap was creating HUMUS. Silly mistake, oh well.

EDUCATING ARCHIE said...

I notice that Tim Darvill, standing close to Geoffrey, is not moving his lips at all when Geoffrey's lips move. Quite remarkable.

BRIAN JOHN said...

Could it be that TD is a brilliant ventriloquist? Or could it be that he was, er, ever so slightly, er, EMBARRASSED?

BOSCOMBE BOWMAN (2ND FROM LEFT) said...

We are told that we may have A VERY SIGNIFICANT PERSON in the centre of this tomb, by Geoffrey, who just happens to be the ONLY PERSON on-site who is wearing a brilliant yellow day-glo jacket, very noticeable even in the long distance photograph of the burial site.

BRIAN JOHN said...

You mean you were the man with the drawing board? Wouldn't have been you I spotted the other day down beneath the scree slope on Carn Goedog? He too was armed with a drawing board........

Good job I resisted the temptation to roll some boulders down -- but that would have been a very uncivilised thing to do. In these tribal skirmishes, it is always the innocent who get harmed.

BOSCOMBE BOWMAN (2ND FROM LEFT) said...

Nah, I'm the 2nd Boscombe Bowman from the left in our group grave photograph taken in 2008. A little worse for wear, but present for the photo, nontheless. Can you tell where I'm from? I'm saying nothing, I've said too much already!

Some so-called "experts" reckon Us Prehistorics had no sense of humour. What do they know?

BRIAN JOHN said...

Ah -- all is explained. So I could have rolled those boulders after all...

Anonymous said...

Then of course, there was HUgh who went off to BRIStol, and we never saw him again.

A warning to us all.Too big for his boots, if you ask me.