How much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
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Wednesday, 22 February 2012
The Millennium Stone pull -- a blast from the past
Grateful thanks to Pete G for producing this from the archives. Ah -- I remember it well.....
I had forgotten that before the pull proper was done, there was a big trial on Withybush Aerodrome -- on the runways -- to check on the method (sledge plus lots of ropes and lots of Netlon) under the direction of Nick Price. As he said, even under those pretty well perfect conditions, he was surprised just how many people were needed to get the stone moving........
Brilliant. Just shows how easy things can go when things are working with you, and how tempting it is for modern man to stop for tea just when things are rolling along. My wife does this regularly when I am redecorating - so stuff takes either takes twice as long or never gets finished.
ReplyDeletePersonally I do not doubt that glaciation did a lot of heavy lifting - the onus is on the human transport brigade to prove otherwise.
It is still a cultural puzzle why Stonehenge people gave a high value to these stones. I am reading Julian Thomas's somewhat outdated book on understanding the neolithic at the moment, and it seems obvious that long distance contact occurred, and also that foreign objects were included into monuments even when they came from afar. So why the "Bluestones"?
Thomas's book makes much of pit remnants. Is there evidence from Prescelli pits that might help to either confirm or deny a cultural link?
Another good stonehenge vid .
ReplyDeletehttp://vodpod.com/watch/873495-eddie-izzard-stonehenge
I put that one up ages ago George -- I think everybody in the world has seen it by now! Thanks anyway....
ReplyDelete