tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post2697580665347740466..comments2024-03-28T00:46:01.084+00:00Comments on Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Another flight of fancy?BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-65979841273414983502010-08-10T16:31:21.404+01:002010-08-10T16:31:21.404+01:00Hello Brian, and good to have you back on the sadd...Hello Brian, and good to have you back on the saddle! You write,<br /><br />“ … why on earth can't the academics involved resist the temptation to go into all sorts of wild speculation about the materials used, the age of the structure, and even its purpose?”<br /><br />I have wondered about that myself. I have noticed that typically there are news stories about Stonehenge circulating at the beginning of each summer!<br /><br />While in London visiting earlier this summer I did take a drive to Stonehenge and Salisbury Plain, all the way down along the southern coast, and back again. Stonehenge proper as you forewarned me was closed to the public and could only be seen from a roped trail around it. Its location at a hillside is interesting and raises many questions. Seems more likely, if the purpose was to worship the sun or observe the stars, to have this monument erected at the very top of the hill, rather than on the side.<br /><br />What fascinated me more, however, was the landscape as you go further south and closer to the coast. You see greater elevations and hills, taller trees, and generally more mature soil. At Portland Island you see exposed sarsens, easily comparing in size, shape and composition to the sarsens at Stonehenge. And further east along the coast at Jurassic Park, there is a huge round hill (I know it was huge, I had to climb it!) and on top of the hill was a small round mount with the typical earthen ditch and embankment. The same as you see in all of the 'henges' at Salisbury Plain. I don't know if anyone claims this mount was man-made, but its location and size wont make it likely. <br /><br />These and many other observation Brian raises the following question. Could Salisbury Plain at one time been a lake? Could the Lake District further North be the present day remains of a geological feature that extended all the way down to SW of the UK? And could the draining of these lake masses be attributed to isostatic loading and rebound with the consequent sinking of the SW coastline by some 140 m, as you reported in previous posts? That would create a gradient resulting in the draining of such lakes.<br /><br />Always interested in your thoughts ...Constantinos Ragazashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11368374316165533910noreply@blogger.com