Stonehenge

It's one of the most recognizable places on earth. So it was quite the surprise to be walking through the little town of Salisbury, England and see an ad for Stonehenge on the side of the bus. “Well, duh. The famous Salisbury plains.” So it was wandering around town to find the bus station to see if I could find a ride out there. Unfortunately the last tour bus had already left. The nice people at the tour bus place suggested I take a bus to a nearby town and then catch a cab to Stonehenge. They even introduced me to a Japanese couple trying to do the same thing. We were eventually joined by some American kids. I can't say enough about this tour bus company: they arranged a taxi for all of us, called when the taxi was late, and even negotiated a rate less than the tour bus. The Brits really take care of their tourists!

Bobbie had warned me that this UNESCO world heritage site sat in the middle of a field. It sure does. The road not only runs next to one of the key rocks, but it actually runs through the ancient wider circle that makes up Stonehenge. They have even found more stones and holes in the area where they built the parking lot.

Several of the tourists pointed out that it seemed smaller than they expected. Maybe. The parking lot was much smaller than a typical American highway rest stop, so this thing isn't huge, but the stones used to build Stonehenge were pretty darned impressive.

One thing I didn't realize was how much misinformation is out there about Stonehenge. For example, the experts know exactly where the stones came from – and there are two different types. The rumor of the druids using Stonehenge? False. Never happened. There is a sacrifice stone so it seems clear that the place was an unhappy ending for some. Stonehenge was built in stages: it originally was just some earthen circles called a 'henge' (around 3050BC) and later involved placing some of the smaller stones (2500BC). These were later moved around as the bigger were added (1500BC). So what about the solar and celestial alignment? On that it seems that there is some conflicting evidence. Some of it might be true, but the research exhibit at Stonehenge suggests that it is a coincidence at best.

The bigger stones in the pictures are called Sarsen stones and they were brought from the Marlborough Downs about 19 miles away. The smaller stones are called Bluestones. They have a different feel to them and are from the Preselia Mountains in Wales. They were brought by barge/boat over a distance of about 240 miles. In between the rearranging of the stones there was a wooden structure (est. 2600BC) built right in what is now the circle of Bluestones. An “avenue” led from the outside to the center. There are also ancient burial grounds.

Overall it was a pretty impressive place. It was an unexpected surprise for me to get to see it and I could help but wonder how surprised the farmers must have been who first herded their sheep around these stones. Even today, just mere feet from these ancient rocks you could still find sheep in the pasture.