Stonehenge was built on solstice axis

[Grahame]

Stonehenge was built on solstice axis, dig confirms

English Heritage excavations show site has nothing to do with sun worshipping, and find evidence circle was once complete
English Heritage says it has discovered a "missing piece in the jigsaw" in our understanding of Stonehenge, England's greatest prehistoric site. Excavations along the ancient processional route to the monument have confirmed the theory that it was built along an ice age landform that happened to be on the solstice axis, according to Professor Mike Parker Pearson, a leading expert on Stonehenge.

The Avenue was an earthwork route that extended 1.5 miles from the north-eastern entrance to Wiltshire's standing stones to the River Avon at West Amesbury. Following the closure of the A344 road, which cut across the route, archaeologists have been able to excavate there for the first time.

Just below the tarmac, they have found naturally occurring fissures that once lay between ridges against which prehistoric builders dug ditches to create the Avenue. The ridges were created by Ice Age meltwater that happen to point directly at the mid-winter sunset in one direction and the mid-summer sunrise in the other.

Parker Pearson said: "It's hugely significant because it tells us a lot about why Stonehenge was located where it is and why they [prehistoric people] were so interested in the solstices. It's not to do with worshipping the sun, some kind of calendar or astronomical observatory; it's about how this place was special to prehistoric people.

"This natural landform happens to be on the solstice axis, which brings heaven and earth into one. So the reason that Stonehenge is all about the solstices, we think, is because they actually saw this in the land."

Click here for full story.

A fascinating article, which goes a long way towards answering that old earth energies chicken-or-egg question. Yet they seem to be avoiding the more interesting question of why were the ridges aligned with the solstice axis?

[simonwheeler]

Excellent. Seems to me to be the most accurate "interpretation" I've seen. Maybe the question "why?" with regard to the ridges will be answered in the future- or maybe it's irrelevant...or is writing that akin to poking people with a stick?!!

[Ian Pegler]

Related topic here

Prof. Parker Pearson is trying to deny the astronomical function of Stonehenge. I disagree with him.

There must be all sorts of naturally occuring landscape features throughout mainland Britain,
the vast majority of which are, I'll wager, not aligned to the solstice. The odds that the site of Stonehenge,
out of all the other possible places it could have been built, was chosen at random (simply because it was impressive) must be pretty darn long.

It is far more likely that the builders knew about the solstice alignment of this ice-age feature and that was what impressed them the most.

The idea ignores all the other aligments we know about (e.g. the Station Stones. More coincidence?).

Ian

[Ian Pegler]

from English Heritage:

NOTE: This story as reported in the Guardian on 9 September contains a number of inaccuracies. The article, including the headline, failed to distinguish between fact and interpretation, and presented one expert’s view as established fact. It also gives the impression that the expert’s view has been adopted by English Heritage. This is very confusing for your readers. English Heritage is firmly of the view that Stonehenge was built as a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun, contrary to what was implied in the article.

Professor Mike Parker Pearson’s theory about the naturally formed ridges is interesting, but is by no means established. English Heritage’s role was to record any archaeology that survived under the A344 and present the results of the recent discoveries clearly to the public. English Heritage’s interpretation of Stonehenge in general will be presented at the new visitor centre due to open in December 2013.

CLICK HERE (link broken)
for the story.

Ian