Talk:Stonehenge

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I have a book, Rock and Gem by Ronald Louis Bonewitz, The Smithsonian Institution, ISBN: 0756609623, which has a two page article on Stonehenge. It states that "Stonehenge was built in several stages, the first beginnning in about 3100 BC." There are many other things in the Rock and Gem article that would be helpful in the CP article. I would like to colloborate with someone that could integrate the Rock and Gem article with the CP article, without plagiarizing the book. --Crocoite 20:00, 29 July 2007 (EDT)

Also, should we remove the crop circle reference now that Stonehenge is no longer mentioned in that article? DanH 20:11, 29 July 2007 (EDT)

Dan, I agree since I don't see how the crop circle reference has anything to do with this article. I will remove the reference. --Crocoite 20:36, 29 July 2007 (EDT)

Uncited garbage?

The date of Stonehenge is not "uncited garbage". It's an important part of the article, how old it is. DanH 20:55, 29 July 2007 (EDT)

Vandalism

I've just put a vandalism notice on this. The original editor (who included most of the questionable claims) was subsequently banned for "prank edits", and a quick bit of research leads me to question the following, although I haven't done thorough research to be sure:

  • The Stonehenge stones are made of sandstone or bluestone, so the heel stone is not likely to be quartz.
35-ton Heel Stone made of sandstone.
  • According to one source, the heel stone is the only "naturally shaped sarsen", which seems to rule out it being polished to a mirror surface.
I don't see anything about the heel stone being a mirror surface.
  • "Sarsen", rather than being the name of a particular stone, is the type of stone (sandstone) used.
That is correct.
  • One source said that "Stonehenge" meant "hanging stones", so the reference to "hinge" is probably incorrect.
The word “henge” is the ancestor of the modern verb “to hang”, which derives from the word for a hinge. The name Stonehenge therefore means “hanging stones”, although henge is now used by archaeologists to mean any banked, ditched enclosure.
  • I couldn't quickly find any reference to a proposed demolition for a runway extension.
I didn't find anything about the demolition either.
  • I suspect that the reference to the druids is inaccurate, if only in that I don't think their use of the site has been continuous; rather it is something that has been restarted in modern times.
Given its dates, we can establish that Stonehenge was not built by Druids, whose culture did not begin to flourish until about 300BC. Nor did the Druids apparently commandeer the site for their own ritualistic purposes, which largely took place in wild forest groves.
Despite the centuries-old idea that the monument was built by ancient Druids, it is only relatively recently that Druids have tried to claim Stonehenge as part of their heritage. One famous modern Druid was Sir Winston Churchill, who was initiated into the Albion Druid Lodge at Oxford. A photograph exists of him hosting a gathering of the Ancient Order of Druids at Blenheim Palace in August 1908. The modern Druids were outraged when the last-but-one private owner of the site, Sir Edward Antrobus, began charging admission a century ago.
By the 1960s, Stonehenge had become the focus of an annual midsummer solstice festival, in which the hippies tended to outnumber the Druids. A photo taken in 1966 shows people standing and sitting on the lintels – public access was limited to a pathway around the circumference from 1978. [1] --Crocoite 02:39, 31 July 2007 (EDT)

Philip J. Rayment 06:36, 30 July 2007 (EDT)

Good catch, Philip! DanH 11:46, 30 July 2007 (EDT)

References

  1. http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/stonehenge

Literary Significance

Could it be added that Stonehenge is featured somewhat often in literature and pop culture? At the top of my head, I'm thinking about the role it plays in the end of Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, as well as it's gag reference in Spinal Tap and other "cult" pop culture places. Stryker 12:54, 30 July 2007 (EDT)