[Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?

[David Shugarts]

Respectfully, I will give it a go.

It is an elaborate program based on the work of Mike Parker Pearson of the
University of Sheffield, who heads the "Stonehenge Riverside Project, a
seven-year archaeological investigation of the Stonehenge area, supported by
the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration."

First, I should admit right away that I am skeptical of one person who comes
up with a complete tale of a pre-historical culture, filling in religious
and technical details, etc. William Stukeley comes to mind . . .

Anyway, Mike Parker Pearson (who appears on camera quite a bit, so MPP),
says he has found evidence that as many as 1,000 stone age houses were
situated in the area around Durrington Walls.

MPP construes that the houses formed a large village or small city,
comprising the people who constructed the monuments. Also, MPP says that
they were farmers, but brought no farming gear with them, and so they must
have been temporarily working on SH and then going back to their farms.

MPP believes they worked on Stonehenge and also the "Southern Circle," a
massive wooden structure built in reciprocal solar alignment to SH. The
wooden structure is envisioned based on 160 holes in concentric circles.

He envisions a summer ritual of feasting and love in celebration of the
solstice, and then a somber winter ritual about death, and a procession that
connects the two monuments, along with the Avenue and the River Avon. So in
winter, you make the procession in one direction from the SC to SH, and in
summer, the other.

MPP thinks the people cremated their dead and for most remains, put them
into the river, but reserved a place of honor for some remains, and put the
ashes at the monuments. Since ashes of more than 240 people have now been
counted at SH (mainly in the Aubrey Holes), he is saying the monument must
function in part as a cemetery. This is among the Big Revelations that allow
them to title the program "SH Decoded."

MPP's theories involve the idea that wood is temporary, while stone is
timeless, so the SC and SH demonstrate a religious outlook about life and
death.

The two-hour program involves many scenes where actors dress as stone age
Britons and haul a Sarsen stone over hill and dale, execute some of their
number by shooting arrows at them (a la Apocalypto), feast on pig and deer,
by implication engage in orgies, and so on. Somebody who knows these things
should try to figure out what language they used as the basis for the
neolithic utterings. I think they should have included scenes of a jumping
game called Jumping to Conclusions.

Of course, in due course it's time for the Amesbury Archer to appear, and to
represent the shocking, mind-blowing advent of copper axes and knives (not
to mention Beaker culture), which MPP says transformed the existing culture
instantly.

I hope I am representing this fairly, but with skepticism. I encourage
everyone to wait for a chance to see it on a regular channel, DVD or
elsewhere, and judge for themselves. It is being re-aired regularly on our
NatGeo channel here, so I will probably see it four or five times without
any conscious effort.

If I may advance my biggest concern, it is that this program's viewpoint
will trickle down to the public and become the accepted Solution to the
Mystery of Stonehenge, shaping everyone's beliefs for years to come.
Instead, I see it as an elaborate and elegant collection of untested
theories.

--Dave Shugarts
  Newtown, CT


On 6/2/08 4:05 AM, "Merryn Dineley" <merryn at dineley.com> wrote:

> Did anyone see this?
> 
> Could you share the revelations with those of us who do not have Sky?
> 
> Merryn
> 
> Ric wrote:
>> http://natgeochannel.co.uk/Programmes/Custom/Stonehenge/Intro.aspx?Id=819
>> 
>> /Ric/
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