It is located in Wiltshire, England. Built around 3100 BC. It also shows the extraordinary mathematical talent and structural ability of the ancients.
1. The mysterious stonehenge
Stonehenge is located in Wiltshire, England and is the most famous stone building complex in the world. Its form shows the ancients' thorough understanding of the proportions of the parts that make up the whole, and also shows the extraordinary mathematical talent and structural ability of the architects at that time. At the same time, the unique ancient atmosphere here also makes it the starting point for people to go back to history. Stonehenge is completed in three phases, and is ring-shaped and has an amazing layout. The huge bluestone pillars, part of which weigh 50 tons. The role of Stonehenge at that time is still a mystery, but most people think they are related to astronomical phenomena, while others think they are temples worshipped by their ancestors.
2. Construction process
Archaeological evidence that the construction of Stonehenge is completed in three different stages. Around 3100 BC, the first phase of Stonehenge was started. People first dug an annular dry ditch, placed a stone obliquely on the outside of the ditch, and built a soil altar on the inside of the ditch. There were 56 soil pits in the altar, which were arranged into two circles with blue sandstone. From 2100 BC to 1900 BC, people built roads to the center of the stone pillar group, and built a huge Stonehenge, forming the axis of watching the sunrise in the summer solstice. People use huge stones as pillars, and a huge stone is used as a lintel, forming a circle with a diameter of about 30 meters. Inside the circle is a huge stone archway in the shape of a horseshoe. In the following 500 years, people have been tirelessly rearranging the positions of these boulders many times, forming a pattern that can be roughly seen today. They stand one by one on the ground, and the stone pillars are made of huge stone helmets, and some of them are also covered with large stone slabs, just like sky bridges. Judging from the stone pillar group itself alone, they stand there like giants, looking very spectacular. Look at the shadows of the stone pillars. When the sun rises slowly from the eastern horizon, due to the sun's oblique radius, the shadows of the stone pillars lie on the ground, crisscrossing, forming a very wonderful pattern.
3. Concentric Stonehenge
The main body of the Stonehenge is arranged into several complete concentric circles by huge stone pillars. The outer periphery of Stonehenge is an annular grove and ditch with a diameter of about 90 meters, which are dug out in natural lime soil. Close to the inside of the soil hill, another circle is formed by 56 equally distanced pits, which are filled with ash soil. These pits were discovered by John Aubrey, an investigator of the 17th century Stonehenge, and are known as the "Aubry Pit Group". There are two rows of blue sandstone columns in the inner circle of the pit group, which are now incomplete, and some of them only have the original traces left. The most spectacular part of Stonehenge is the sandstone circle in the center of Stonehenge. It is a closed circle formed by 30 stone pillars with beams mounted on them, connected to each other by , tenons and tenons and roots. Inside the sandstone circle are five groups of sandstone three-stone towers arranged in horseshoe shape, also known as arches, two huge stone pillars, each weighing 50 tons, and another beam weighing about 10 tons is embedded on the top of the stone pillars. The horseshoe-shaped shape of the boulders is located on the center line of the entire stonehenge, with the horseshoe-shaped opening facing the direction of midsummer sunrise. There is a channel on the northeast side of the boulder circle. On the central axis of the channel is a complete sandstone boulder, 4.5 meters high and weighs 50 tons, and is called the "heel stone".
4. The sacred land of summer solstice
In the minds of the British, Stonehenge is a very ancient and sacred place. Every summer solstice, people will come here spontaneously for pilgrimage. The majestic momentum of the huge rock under the sky prompted people to worship under the stone and pray for mysterious power to protect themselves. Parents come here to baptize and name them with their children who were not long ago; there are also romantic lovers who lie on the rocks at night, or hold weddings here, and they devoutly hope that their love will be blessed and protected by ancient gods. The sacred activities of the summer solstice originated in the 2nd century BC, when the Celtics moved from the European continent to the British Isle. The lintel of the three stone tower facing the east and facing the sun in the group of stone pillars was chosen by Celtic wizards to serve as a sacrificial platform for sacrifice to gods.From 1781, the Celtic Wizards once again began to come here every year on the summer solstice, and held ancient sacrificial rituals at dawn. This sacrificial ceremony attracted many people to come here without any effort. Every year around the summer solstice, many tents are set up on the grass full of wild flowers, and pyrotechnic bonfires are set up. People gather around the giant pillars and even climb up to the top of the stone tower to sing. However, on the summer solstice of 1984, the numerous tourists slept around Stonehenge aroused the concerns of the British cultural relics protection department. In desperation, the British government ordered a ban on carnival and sacrifices around the stone pillars on the summer solstice. However, more people were reveling here on the summer solstice of 1985, and they had violent clashes with police officers blocking traffic, with more than 500 arrests alone. In 1986, more serious conflicts occurred. On the summer solstice of 1987, the British government was forced to lift the ban and the sacrificial rituals were resumed.
5. Various speculations about Stonehenge
People have made various speculations about Stonehenge: is it a center for holding religious rituals and funerals, an observatory for predicting important astronomical phenomena, or even a building erected by aliens? For hundreds of years, scholars have made various explanations about the use of this monument from the perspectives of witchcraft, religion and science. Whenever sunset, people in the rocks still don’t know how the huge rocks on the top of the stone formation were put on. In the setting sun, huge groups of stone pillars stood quietly on the field. There will be some unusual shadows on the stone and the surrounding ground, and all the arches that make up each concentric circle are facing the sun or constellations. Therefore, some people believe that Stonehenge is likely to be a sophisticated observatory in the beginning. On this basis, it is inferred that over the past 1,000 years, different ethnic groups have successively completed this building, and at the same time lacks the continuity of construction. After more than ten generations, the final builders' true purpose for this building has also been blurred. Therefore, Stonehenge is likely to gradually evolve from a place for astronomical observations to a monument or sacrificial place, or even a place for execution. Some scholars believe that Stonehenge is a place of comprehensive significance. The best answer to all kinds of questions still seems to be a famous saying by the famous British 19th century prime minister Glayton: "This is a noble and awesome monument. It tells how many things it tells people that it hides more things."
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