Before taking an AP art history class my senior year of high school I never understood why people were so fascinated with Stonehenge. My teacher was so passionate about Stonehenge that she had visited it several times and even was escorted away from it by the police for getting to close to the prehistoric monument. My initial thought was that nothing could be special about a bunch of rocks. I would not have considered it to be a piece of art at the time until I learned more about it and even had the opportunity to see it in person.
Stonehenge is estimated to have been constructed in about 3100 BC and is located in Wiltshire, England. When Stonehenge was originally constructed it was symmetrically balanced but now after the effects weathering it is asymmetrically balanced. Stonehenge is composed of artificial changes in land level surrounding a circular setting of large stones set vertically in the ground. The orientation of the stones in the monument are arranged vertically and some a placed horizontally on two vertical stones to make a trilithon. The stones all appear to be on the same level and there appears to be no focal point.
One of the most interesting things about Stonehenge is the mystery of how it came to be and the purpose it served. There are hundreds of myths and legends about the creation of Stonehenge. Some of the theories of who was responsible for the monument range from the Romans, Greeks, and even some attribute the construction to aliens. One of the more popular theories of the purpose of Stonehenge is it was used as an advanced astronomical calendar. The sun often aligns with the stones at the summer and winter solstice and it is thought to be more than a coincidence. With the alignment it seems that whoever constructed Stonehenge had precise astronomical knowledge of the path of the sun. The builders also knew before
A picture of me at Stonehenge
they began construction exactly where the sun rose at dawn on midsummer’s morning while standing on the site. Others argue that the builders were too primitive to create an astronomical calendar and the monument was used for rituals and sacrifices. More theories can be found at the website: http://www.mendhak.com/85-stonehenge-theories-myths-construction-and-images.aspx.
Very often people believe those responsible for creating the structure to be primitive. One thing I find fascinating about the structure is it is highly accurate for the period. Those who created Stonehenge required a great deal of human power and required high organizational skills. I believe calling the creators primitive is unfair and incorrect. The creators were highly skilled and had great knowledge on how to create a structure so great. I decided to research a theory of how the creators could have moved these stones and found a video that can be seen by clicking here Seeing the video and how this could have been done made it easier for me to understand than just reading about it. This gave me a great respect for the creators and how resourceful they had to be to make the monument.
The actual purpose and creators of Stonehenge will likely be debated about for years to come but I believe the great accomplishment the creators achieved is evident.
A picture I took
