|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
Quick Facts:
|
Sarsen Stone
|
|
The
giant sarsen stones (which form the outer circle), weigh as much as 50
tons each. To transport them from the Marlborough Downs, roughly 20
miles to the north.
|
Blue Stone
|
|
The Blus Stones were from the Prescelly Mountains, located roughly 240 miles away, at the southwestern tip of Wales.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
The Stones... |
|
Stonehenge's position
was carefully chosen by the Ancients because they believed it to be at
the centre of their entire world; the place around which time and the
seasons revolved. It is an awe-inspiring sight for us today, but at the
height of its glory, with its conical wooden covering (a much-
magnified version of ordinary houses and other buildings of the time),
it would have evoked gasps of wonder and admiration from visitors from
all over the known world, who would have been drawn to it as a Temple
and a unique Centre of Excellence.
The Sarsen Circle.
The Sarsen Stones came from the
Marlborough Downs, twenty miles North of Stonehenge. How did they move
these huge stones? What route did they take? The Sarsen Stones are
absolutely huge! The size of some of the bigger ones is 8ft wide by 5ft
thick and 25ft long, and the weight varies from 20 - 30 Tons and more
depending on size. It seems hardly conceivable that with very little
technology and few materials they managed to move them at all.
It was only possible to construct
the Sarsen Circle by raising the soil around Stonehenge, enabling the
builder to manoeuvre the lintel stones up the mound of earth on to the
top, and then position them into a perfect circle.
|
|
|
The Blue Stones.
The Bluestones weigh up to 4 tons
each and 60 were used in all. Given the distance they had to travel,
this presented a huge transportation problem. Modern theories speculate
that the stones were dragged by roller and sledge from the inland
mountains to the headwaters of Milford Haven.
The Bluestones came from the
Preseli Mountains in Wales. They are much smaller than the Sarsen
stones. It has been suggested they may have been moved by glacial
activity and deposited near Stonehenge many years earlier. I believe
this to be highly unlikely. Most people believe the stones were
transported by human power alone. There have been several routes
proposed, but the most popular belief is that they were taken along the
coast of Wales by sea and then overland to Stonehenge.
Several attempts have been made to
re-enact the moving of the Bluestones. The dragging of a stone by
sledge or on wooden rollers proved to be difficult due to their extreme
weight, but it was the steering that caused most of the problems. The
greatest difficulties were encountered when trying to lift the stone
onto a boat; they frequently capsized and sank, proving that it would
have been virtually impossible to have ferried the stones across the
sea. Bruce however has created a Wooden Roller with which the
Bluestone could be encased and rolled overland. It was found that the
Bluestones could be rolled to the shore and then floated across the
water inside the casing. This was made possible by rolling the stone
directly into the sea and then adding ballast, so that the Bluestone
could be floated across the sea and rolled out onto the beach at the
other side.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
