[Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?

[ewc]

Hi Dave

Thanks - I don't have Sky either

However, I have more than a passing knowledge of some of MPP's  prevous work 
on the LBA and IA - and despite my near total lack of  knowledge of the new 
'findings'  at Stonehenge - I am already shamelessly jumping to the 
conclusion that you are being excessively kind in your criticism.  To be 
fair on the guy, he seems to have a genius for figuring out the things that 
the great unwashed really want to believe, and he works tirelessly to 'find 
the evidence' to satisfy those cravings.

Anyone got a take on Julian Thomas' anti-western Heidegger stuff?  Must 
admit I have (with difficulty) only  forced myself to read one of his 
papers - best I draw a veil over my thoughts on it - unless anyone else want 
to chime in....

best

rob


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Shugarts" <david.shugarts at azimuthcomm.com>
To: "The Stones Mailing List" <stones at stoneslist.org.uk>
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?


>
> 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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