Guess the Architecture! for 1/10/2017

A form of a calendar using the sun to determine the solstices and equinox.

I'm not sayin' aliens did it, but...

Well, okay - Aliens did it.

http://knowmoreaboutaliens.blogspot.com/

Proof that engineers have lived in the UK for 1000's of years, though not in great numbers...Probably also used to hold ceremonies and Saturday night dances....Courtroom drama and the occasional virgin sacrifice, and finally tourist attraction and graffiti target....

<...Probably also used to hold ceremonies and Saturday night dances...>

An early discotheque, then?

Leftovers remnants from the previous Big Bang

Perhaps.

"Mr. Scott? Get us out of here."

There's quite a bit underground and the overall structure is much larger than is apparent from what's visible. Some nearby pieces may not be related as their construction was separated by several hundred years. The structure(s) apparently also served (rather grisly) funerary functions.

Stonehenge in America....

And then there's Foamhenge in America, just down the road from me near Natural Bridge in the Shenandoah Valley.

Though I've heard rumors that the attraction is shutting down.

Hooker

Re: "Stonehenge in America" ...

Lest we forget / fail to recognize: The "original" (UK) monument most certainly WAS "purpose-built".

It was NOT the result of a few weekends of binge-drinking foolishness by a band of naer-do-well pranksters.

And (as linked elsewhere, Post #18), NEITHER was *this* "American Stonehenge".

In the last days will come scoffers, gathering around them teachers who will tell their itching ears what they WANT to hear... and they shall keep their heads in the sand, pretending to be wise (even as they exude foolishness).

...

Has anyone ever witnessed wind excited stone ringing? I wonder if that is even related.

Another thought: maybe this is the round table of old?

There was a documentary on History or Discovery or one of those where part of the show involved an experiment with drums.

They got some unexpected amplified results of reverberation and resonance depending on drum placement and playing style. I don't remember the details but it was quite interesting.

Hooker

You sure that was not the one with the heavy breathing Eskimo girls? LOL

Nah, these guys appeared to be of the beat generation from Greenwich Village. You know, the ones who sat on a stool smoking pot and reciting incomprehensible poetry.

Hooker

HEEEEY! --------------- HEEEEY! ---------------- HEY!HEY!HEY!HEY!

You mean to tell me Stonehenge is where this all started? I am totally gobsmacked!

There were certain things Darwin didn't dare to publish!!

Copy that!

There's one myth about Stonehenge that claims "magic pipers led maidens into the field, and then turned them into the stones present today." Most people quickly dismiss the theory, but others point out that there could be seeds of truth to the myth—namely, the musical component to the story.

One researcher, who believed that sound cancellation qualities could have been the inspiration for Stonehenge’s construction, “experimented by having blindfolded participants walk into a field as two pipers played. He asked the volunteers to tell him whenever they thought a barrier existed between them and the sound. There were no barriers in the field, but acoustic "dead spots" created by sound-wave interference certainly gave the volunteers the impression that there were. [According to the researcher,] "They drew structures, archways and openings that are very similar to Stonehenge.”

Whether or not you believe his theory, it is a pretty cool observation, especially when paired with the way the stones resonate!

Was there the possibility of a psychic (subliminal) suggestion, perhaps?

Had the "victims" ever been to Stonehenge before, or seen a sketch of it before. How scientific was this study, considering it was done before light reached our planet, LOL!

Stonehenge.

Used for determining solstices, equinoxes and as a lunar calendar.

Strange how Stonehenge is not listed as one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

The pyramid of Giza is and is still there.

The Colusus of Rhodes was and is not.

<...is not listed as one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world...>

It is listed as the location of most of the traffic problems on the adjacent A303 trunk road, though.

Years ago, when I was in college, one of my professors was a Stonehenge expert. He loved science fiction (he taught the easiest humanities classes in our school). Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, etc. It was actually fun to take his class and as long as we read the books and paid attention in class, we were guaranteed an A!

His theory on Stonehenge was that we don't know why they made it. A lot of guesses, but he stood by his belief that we just don't know. He did teach us some very interesting facts about Stonehenge. The slabs were moved great distances - his theory was that there was a very large manual labor force (slaves?) who moved the slabs on rollers (tree trunks). He also had a theory on how the slabs were formed. Again manual labor slowly breaking chunks off the slab until it resembled the shapes that the bosses wanted. He also had a theory on how they built the structures. He believed that they dug holes. Then they slid the slab into the hole (down side down) and the slab would sit on an angle. Then they would use levers and manpower to stand the slab up. The top pieces were put there by building huge ramps with a flat area on top. Once on top, they would use logs to roll the slabs on top of the other slabs.

Another fact. There are rings of other stones around the large slabs.

Everything about the purpose is just a guess. From a king's throne to a place for sacrifices to an ancient burial ground. My professor said it could've been an idea a powerful man had and he used his "influences" to build the structure. Then there's the lunatics who believe aliens built it, but we won't go into that here.

Possibly they were quarried for their acoustic properties. The nearby town of Maenclochog (which means 'ringing stone'), just 6 miles from Carn Menyn, used bluestones for church bells until the 18th century. Bluestones produce a distinct metallic ringing sound when struck. If Stonehenge's builders wanted just any old rocks, they had plenty on-site from which to choose, so why go to the tremendous effort to transport many of them from 160 miles away - no easy task! Evidently these rocks had some special property they valued (note: not all of the stones are bluestones, but many of the smaller ones are. The largest are limestone and sarsen). My guess is they chose them for their acoustic properties. Apart from that they're fairly nondescript rocks.

How they transported them is anyone's guess, but you can bet it wasn't FedEx.

The blue stones were thought to have healing properties....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluestone

It's a facility for developing carbon nano tubes and optical computing which at the time were considered to be an iminent breakthrough

Del

When people are complaining about the cost of the space program, I always like to point out that Stonehenge represents 10% of the GDP for 200 years: it must have been very important to someone at the time.

Stonehedge was built as a temple to honor the Alien Gods. It also was a time portal and beam up location.

There are many theories as to the real purpose served by the standing stones, to be sure; what is more rarely discussed is the function of the slots between them. If Edmund Blackadder has any say about it (and I'm sure he would given half a chance), they probably served as drains. To wit:

Blackadder: Have you ever been to Wales, Baldrick?

Baldrick: No, but I've often thought I'd like to.

Blackadder: Well don't. It's a ghastly place. Huge gangs of tough, sinewy men roam the valleys, terrorising people with their close-harmony singing. You need half a pint of phlegm in your throat just to pronounce the place names. Never ask for directions in Wales, Baldrick. You'll be washing spit out of your hair for a fortnight.

The center-most stone(s) were very possibly the original (pulpit?), as placed there by the (predecessor) of the Druid religion. Subsequent iterations of (Druid-ness?) probably added the various stone rings, as the religion expanded, in number of followers, in order to provide more (grandiose proceedings), to better (accommodate) that growth, until the (neighbors) (effectively objected), and/or (nature intervened)...

I was very young at the time, and don't remember it much anymore...

This was the means of telling folks when to plant, based on the seers observations.

Very interesting, the sick sense of British humor surpasses again.

I really don't need to post the answer this week. Unsurprisingly, everyone figured it out! Thanks to everyone for the great discussion on the whys and hows of Stonehenge!