[Stones] Stonehenge Decoded?

[Merryn Dineley]

Thanks Dave, this surely gives me a flavour of the thing! Just one 
question ... at these feasts .... did they just eat pork or were they 
shown making use of the Grooved Ware in any way? I wonder about this 
because ten years ago I did an M Phil into the function of this pottery 
at Manchester University. I concluded Neolithic agriculturalists had the 
necessary equipment and skills to convert barley into malt and ale. It's 
a poor party without ale :-) !

MPP & JT (my former Professor) have always studiously ignored me and my 
research and dismissed it as merely speculative, even though it is 
soundly based on the archaeological evidence and scientific principles.

I am now delighted NOT to be associated with the Stonehenge Riverside 
Project in any way. Would very much like to see their "two hour epic" 
though.

regards

Merryn

David Shugarts wrote:

> 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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