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Stonehenge Decoded
Stonehenge has been shrouded
in mystery for more than 4,500 years. Now a British
archaeologist may have found out some of its secrets.
There are
some things that people call "mysteries" that are not
really all that mysterious. Stonehenge, however,
certainly deserves that
description. Rumors of ancient magicians, strange
druids, and the sun god Apollo surround
it.
Located in the English
countryside, Stonehenge is one of the oldest
monuments in the world. It is instantly
recognizable. It consists
of a group of gigantic stones
that stand upright on the ground in a
circle. In some cases, pairs of the
stones have another stone lying across them like a
tabletop. At the
sight of these strange stones, most people think
two things first. One, how did people in
prehistoric times manage
to set up these enormous stones? And two, what
was the purpose of this strange structure ?
No one really knows. But Stonehenge Decoded, a new
program on National Geographic Channel,
takes a
look at a groundbreaking
theory on the origins of Stonehenge. British
archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson leads a team
that investigates
Stonehenge, and comes
up with
some surprises.
Pearson and his crew find evidence
of a 4,500-year-old settlement a few
kilometers from Stonehenge. At the
center of this settlement lie the remains of a second
circle! After testing, it is found that the
second circle was a near replica of the
Stonehenge monument, but made of
wood. Both circles stood at the same time.
So how were these circles connected? What was the
meaning of having one in stone and one in wood? Pearson
believes that Stonehenge was built for the
ancestors of the people that created it. It
may, he claims, have been a monument to
house the spirits of
the dead. The wooden monument may have
represented the
living, while the stone monument represented
the dead. Another amazing discovery is that on the
longest and shortest days of the year, the two monuments
line up with the setting
and rising sun. The effect is very
dramatic.
Tune in to Stonehenge Decoded
on September 6 at 9:00 PM ! |
