As a child in the early 60's my father was stationed at Larkhill Military Camp, just to the north of Stonehenge and I remember that we often had a Sunday picnic at Stonehenge. In those days you could walk around the stones as they were not fenced off as they are today. As a child it was exciting, but obviously I had no idea of just what the place was. In fact we visited it so often it hardly seemed as if it was something so special. Over the years I've read many books about this place and get more fascinated with each new journal I digest.
I used to stay at 21 Bingham road in lark hill as dad was stationed at the local ordnance depot for the artillery shells …I went to the local primary and I remember down the side in the estate there was a used and decommissioned light aircraft and an armoured recce vehicle . I was there from 73-75. And I remember walking down the path leading past the bottom of the married quartered section to Stonehenge and wandering round them on my own before the national heritage got the place surrounded by fencing and before they started charging you for the priviledge….
@@rogue1968 I can't remember the number we lived at in Bingham Road. It was the ground floor flat on the corner of Wilson Road. Larkhill was the first school I attended. There was (in my years there - 62 - 65/66) also a swimming pool and a cinema between Gore Road and the Packhorse (Pub). Not too sure if they were there in the early 70's as I know they were removed at some point. It seems a long time ago now, well, I suppose it is, almost 60 years ago. But happy memories. I was in Bingham Road during the bad winter of 1963 and can remember helping (as much as a 5 year old can) to dig the paths clear of snow...
It would've been difficult to picnic " so often" at Stonehenge during the early 60s. Restorations were in progress 1958-59 and 1963-64 when the fallen upright stones were fixed in position using concrete, then the top stones were placed across these by crane and the area gravelled to reduce damage by visitors.
This is outstanding. How few presenters would allow an expert to take center stage like this. Kudos to Mr Snow for having the respect for history… to not interject himself as the “star” and simply allow the woman with the knowledge to share her work and inform viewers.
I thought the "lady" was quite vague at times with the history of the site, makes me think we still don't know much about the site but cling to sunrises 21st June and 21st December., there is also new information that the blue stones did not come from Wales.
He and her are both guilty of talking in made up drivel Kids watching this will then repeat the drivel to their friends and the lie gains traction. These people know ad much about henge building as you do ! And need to stop bullshitting The henges( circles) in Scotland and Spain and Ireland pre date this one by 1000s of years Stone henge is more or less a modern build in millennial terms. The techno used by the builders was already 1000s of years old when stone henge was eventually finished A lot of historical ignorance being displayed by these broadcasters
0:26 Today is August 16, 2024 - This week it has announced the altar stone was actually from Scotland from the area around Inverness to Orkney. How and why are still a big unknown, although I am sure there are theories. I am still astonished the top stones were lifted to the top of the vertical stones. Totally amazing.
I think we give our ancestors too little credit, assuming that they were primitive and technologically underdeveloped, this optic is the reason we don't have the correct answers, humans were always very intelligent and resourceful
Agree, and also that before the industrial revolution, everything took longer than our expectations are aligned to. So its harder to imagine and give them the respect they deserve.
A part of me loves the fact that with all our brilliant technology and minds, we still can't fully understand everything about ancient superstructures like Stonehenge or the Pyramids. So humbling...
Pictures show the birth of Stonehenge. Go figure. I didn't know they had cameras when they constructed the pyramids. Btw, no such pictures of the pyramids. They are genuine, unlike Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a hoax. Remember Time Team and the episode with the sword on top of barbed wire? Stonehenge is the same nonsense.
I blame Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), & Machu Picchu in Peru for inspiring my absolute PASSION for history & archeology. We still gaze on these ancient marvels with wonder.
@@aerokasyeal4840 Well, friend, there're magnificent pyramids all over the world, one of the most impressive being the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico. But the Giza pyramids are the last remaining of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Recall the old saying about them: "Man fears time; time fears the pyramids."
I've had some time to think about how Stonehenge might have come together, being the old bugger I am. Here's some ideas I had over the years: · Could the build have been a winter project, a time when people had little to do farming and gathering-wise? Suggesting they were capable of having enough resources in stock, winter would not at all be a bad time for such jobs. It's cold, so some physical work helps to keep a bum nicely cosy warm from within. Transporting heavy loads without wheels becomes easier as well on frozen ground. You may even melt some snow and pour the water on the ground in places to provide a nicely icy slipway. · The list of tools (Stone axes, antlers, pointy sticks…) probably should be extended by fire and water. From my one visit at Stonehenge back in 1995, I remember learning that blue stone was pretty good at insulating heat, it conducts heat badly. What if erosion techniques were used to shape the stones? Let the stone sit over a fire for a week or two, and when it has heated to a temperature where it fries an egg in two seconds, a bucket of water will cool down small areas in a short time well enough to make heat difference induced tensions to crack the material locally. I guess it is possible to develop pretty good control of such a process, given some time to practice. This could explain why blue stone was the material of choice for the build. From way back when I remember learning that similar techniques were used to break big pieces of stone from rock. Again, given some patience with the work, a mix of generating cracks in rocks by heat and water in summer an then fill the cracks with water to let ice do its work in winter would seem feasible to me. Just some ideas from a silly sod, folks. Maybe worth spending a thought on, or maybe not. You tell me. ☺
Shaping them could certainly have been done on winter evenings when there wasn't much to do but moving them would need a lot of calories. I think they'd be more likely to have moved them during summer when you have long hours of daylight and easy hunting to provide food for the workers. The bluestones were moved from a previous religious site in Wales so weren't chosen for their heat capacity. They must have been so important that when the people relocated they brought them along to enhance their new site.
@@zweispurmopped totally believe you. In Game of thrones it was super easy for the white walkers to order the wights to drag out from icy waters, one of deanerys dead dragons unto the ice grounds for the Night King to wake it up.
Good point. I used to think that they were moved on tree trunks. After all, the Stone Age by that time was at its peak, and the methods of moving them efficiently whould have been passed down thru the generations and the info was lost about 1000 years ago...
I loved visiting Stonehenge. Even on the bus ride to the site I was very excited to see (burial?) mounds in the nearby area. I was very patient with my camera and waited for the crowd to shuffle in a way I wanted and the resulting pictures look like I took the pictures when no one was there when in fact there were several dozen if not more. And if you ever get the chance to take the tour, make sure you stop by Old Sarum (there might have been 8 other people there when I visited) and Salisbury Cathedral. All very magical places.
Actually, the stones have not all stood since they were first erected, as you stated. Stonehenge was repaired three times, in 1901, then a major rebuild in the 1920's and finally in 1964.
In 1958 a lintel was hoisted atop the tall stones. I don't see this as severe tinkering, as it would appear clear that's where it came from. Locals raided the stones for animal enclosures and walls for centuries.
@@bobblue_west my grandad worked on it in the 50s and a lot more than that was done and he had now i have the pictures to prove most of the stones were on the floor
I actually visited Stonehenge many years ago -- what none of the documentaries make clear is that there's a modern highway within spitting distance of it -- and a car park where busses full of tourists stop -- along with a gift center and other modern amenities -- which you'd never know because all of these shots very carefully are designed to exclude all of that stuff. You watch any documentary on Stonehenge, you'd really believe that it's isolated out in the middle of a plain, remote from any human habitation -- when in fact, it must be a real pain in the neck to clear all the tourists away in order to film these things.
The closest road was the A344 which was closed in 2013 the route is now a byway not open to traffic where it passes the stones. Building the tunnel for the A303 will remove that eyesore. Visitor access hours are restricted so this would have been filmed early morning or evening. I have had access to the circle in an English Heritage organised visit. Best way of seeing the monument.
Given that the public isn't allowed to circulate amongst the stones - and that even if we could the fact that so many stones are down - it means the visiting public doesn't really get a "feel" for the place so I've occasionally wondered if it might not be worth building a reconstruction (out of concrete perhaps to get the shapes of the stones as close as possible) nearby on the same line of latitude (likely just to the west) that the public would be able to circulate through. That way the visiting public would also get the "experiential" aspect that is currently missing. Even for researchers there'd be some benefits in terms of things like the auditory characteristics (echoes and such) that aren't really possible right now.
@@davidjames4915 Obviously, much has changed since I paid my visit as part of a student group -- which, alas, must be well over forty years ago, as I remember wandering amongst the stones along with countless other tourists with no one objecting at all. You could photograph them, get right up close, touch them (which I did) -- obviously, much has changed.
In the 1990's, I was taking abus into the Westcountry, and the driver (Because he was a cool bloke) actually took us on a detour to see the stones. It was on that road you refer to...
1:03 that isn't really true now is it? Sure the stone rubble has covered the site, but they rebuild it last century with cranes and what not... it's not like what's standing upright there is actually how it was build; it's merely an artist impression.
@@stijnvdv2 (it's not like what's standing upright there is actually how it was build) How do you know? Do you suspect the lintels were intentionally left on the ground? Hardly an artists impression. (Like the cover of Nat. Geographic on the Egyptian pyramids, where a pyramid was moved with Photoshop for a better image.)
I work in construction and moving heavy objects even today is all about leverage, planning, manpower, and time. I can move an object myself that weighs many tons with a Johnson Bar. It takes time but even today after all the rigging from cranes, big truck, ships etc moving a very large heavy object into place is all about leverage.
Thank you for commenting and explaining the very simple premises that actually govern movement! My comment focused on the expressed need for a spirit level, which made me physically face palm
What a magnificent production. The site and the video! Thank you for sharing this. It shows how important it is to keep looking at the world around us & how much we can still learn.
Absolutely fantastic quality and informative entertainment that’s somehow exciting and relaxing at the same time ! Really appreciate Dan Snow as a host, and Dr. Heather was wonderful and very knowledgeable . Many thanks for the great work made available for free !
Loved watching your father on history channel back in the day Dan, great to see you sparking interest in history for the younger generations. Would be great to see you cover Gobekli Tepe and the other amazing sites in Turkey
You said without a spirit level to level the stones, water, water is always flat, the Egyptians used water troughs around the pyramids to get a common flat level.
If you do the 1st visit of the morning, you can pay more to do a small group visit where you walk within the stones. It’s the best way to visit before the crowds arrive
@@lotsapeachtree5513 when I went recently I was quoted over £25 to see them. A company turns up, makes it tricky and expensive to look at a monument that every Brit has a right to see and claims to ‘maintain’ them. Was so disappointed, our couldn’t even touch them if paid to see them. English heritage
Although this video is just posted here it is so good to get these from history hit as it gives lots of information that may be new to many. I visited Stonehenge as part of an archaeologist led group in 2008 or 2009 and although a lot of the information was known then there is always more. I keep tabs via magazines and news articles and books on what they continue to discover.
Stonehenge , is a world heritage site , one of the greatest achievements of the Stone Age. TO see it, on a beautiful English summers morning, is breathtaking, it looks totally, magnificent, majestic even , it will look even better, when the bloody Irish, finally finished it,
I find it very interesting that while the final stones of Stonehenge were being laid, North American societies were already establishing themselves in much less hospitable landscapes. Here in Arizona, we know that people lived in the Tucson valley since approximately 2600 BCE. With weather climbing up into the triple digits for 3-5 months of the year, and only a few weeks of rain per year, somehow these early humans made their homes and thrived in the harsh desert landscape. We often think about Ancient Europe or Ancient Egypt as something set apart from the rest of the world. Yet, comparing these timelines to each other, help put our humanity into perspective.
but this is about the technology the ancients here posessed , we know modern humans have been around for 40+ thousand years ..they had to live somewhere ...but which ones were advanced ,lol
@@NoliMeTangere1163 It sounds more like a competition because you're characterizing ancient antiquity. You're saying that this group of people had to live harder lives than this other group of people & setting some kind of a standard of superiority because of the fact that the weather & terrain were harsh & that is why it's just as impressive as Ancient Europe or Ancient Egypt. First of all, the only people in Europe that were "set apart" were the Mediterraneans because of their technology & let's not forget about the birth place of democracy & the classical age. Northern Europeans were tribal people that lacked mathematics or Phylosophy just like South Africans & most of the world and as a result were enslaved by far more technologically advanced societies like Southern Europe & Northern Africa. During the time you stated, the Great Pyramids (2613 BCE) with similar weather conditions were being built, so you can see how your comparison becomes a mater of opinion rather than fact.
Would have been good to mention the restoration projects like the 1920 one where the stones were shifted into place and concrete foundations were used to stabilise the rocks. Otherwise interesting
I visited the area 3 times. There is museum nearby that explain how the circle was made and who made it. It part of building that was surrounded with wood and covered. It formed a kind of solar clock that was created to plot the yearly cycle so people can plot plant crops and sowing fields and harvest crops. There was a lot grain grown in area..
And of course without that stone circle there those folk would not have had a clue what time of year it was and would have been carrying out their sowing and harvesting operations at disastrously inappropriate times of year ? Y
The priests and village elders would have regularised planting times so as to have food for celebrations. Besides, English weather always looks rainy. @@barkershill
I think the way to discover the full story of Stonehenge would be to build an exact replica of how the finished henge would have been, as close as possible to the actual Stonehenge, even if the original was never finished, as speculated here. It doesn't have to be made of stone or a permanent structure (although that would be very cool if it was), but it must be accurate in size, dimension and layout. A few years spent studying every aspect of the replica and factoring in the climate of the era might produce some fascinating results.
1:06 "the stones have remained upright since they were erected" - Most have been moved around and re-erected in the past century. Look at the work of Colonel William Hawley
I find Avebury infinitely more interesting. Bigger scale, you can sense it was built for thousands of people to attend and to watch spectacles. There are two circles within a massive circular earthwork that provides an elevated viewing platform and removes the central area from view from the surrounding broader landscape. It's obviously a theatre of major significance and the two circles seem to suggest two events - midsummer, midwinter?
Mike Parker Pearson and his team have solved many of the mysteries of Stonehenge. We know when it was built, who built it, why it was built and why it was largely abandoned. Miraculous how much we now know
Not quite right to say the stones have been upright for 4,000 years when there have been several renovations including in the early 1900s and 1950s / early 1960s involving concrete foundations.
I think the answer to "How?" is simply: Manpower. Lots of people all working on one project can get a lot done, given enough time and resources. Humans built the Pyramids and skyscrapers bordering on the 1km height, we went to the Moon and sent robots to other planets, set up a global network connecting billions of people, etc.
Yup, if you don't have health and safety regulations* turns out you can get a lot of shit done with just people. *granted they now have lots of dead people since they didn't have such regulation
@@TheMoneypresident Sure, except the builders of the Giza pyramids in Egypt received wages in the form of bread and beer rations, which was very common at the time since ancient Egypt didn't use coins as currency up until about 500 BC. Would slaves be treated the same? I don't think so. Personally, I find the theory of using water causeways connected to the Nile and rudimentary floatation devices much more believable since it's ingenious and uses technology widely available in that era.
And probably "boat power" and "animal power" too. I can't imagine they didn't use the waterways to transport the stones to the site, it would've been the obvious route at the time as the waterways would've been the equivalent of the motorways. And I cannot imagine they didn't utilise animals either - bear in mind that they believe Stonehenge was first built around 3500BC, about 500 years after we had started farming and keeping cattle and such like. Therefore, it doesn't take much to imagine we might have begun using cattle and the like to do some of our heavy lifting, perhaps pulling the heavy boats downstream or something.
The why is far far more interesting The first form of the Bible was written in 325BC, 80 years before and Antikythera mechanism, and was called the Vaticanus Graecus, Son of the Devine Serpent, a reference to Fomalhaut, which is shaped like the all seeing eye, in Aquarius, the sign associated with John the Baptist, who was a Setian, the root word of Satan. Just as israel is the Phoenician word for Saturn, or El, Fruit of Isis and Ra. In the Second Century AD Astrologer Vettori Valentinus used the Vaticanus Graecus to construct a lunar zodiac of 13 months, this correlates to the 18.6/ 19 year Metonic Calendar, found in the earliest known ancient temples, the Bible, Antikythera mechanism, New Grange and the Bru na Boinne, the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Celts, Phoenicians, and inscribed into the Golden Enoch Horns of the Magi, the Eunuch Druid Priests of Cybel, or Kythera, the "Great Mother", (who also has 216 names) in Germany and France. A Druid took 19 years to train, and the Phoenix was associated with 19 flames. TLDR; the ancient metric system of time used by the builders of the Megalithic sites all over the world directly correlates to the Astrological Zodiac and allows for the surveying of the entire globe. It's worth noting our current system has 8,640 seconds in a day, just as the sun is 864,000 miles wide. Enoch also wrote 36,525 scrolls, which is 365.25 times 100, the Egyptian number of perfection, which allowed them to calculate things to the second decimal place. The Great Pyramid is a Calendar, based on the Metonic Cycle and the Zodiac, hence the association of Osiris with Orion, and Pleiades Isis, atop the back of Taurus, just as the Phoenician Princess Europa, who rode the Bull. The entire Mediterranean region was also mapped out according to key constellations, marked by these Megalithic structures, which themselves encode these numbers The Byblos Baal, or Book of Baal is the Phoenician Almanac, a coded book of Astrological cycles used by the Priest Class of Egypt; the Phoenicians, to navigate the oceans. Phoenicians, Celts, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians and Jews all celebrated their New Year in September, the 7th month, the Sunsign of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, associated with the healing Gods, and marked by the first New Moon in the 7th month after the start of the Zodiac in Easter, when Ophiuchus is the East Star. In September the East star is Orion, aka Osiris, aka Set, Lord of the Dead. Hence the Aleph, and the Zayim, Alpha and Omega. It's also the Birthday of Jesus, and when he said he would return, at the end of the Age. It's reversed to keep the code secret, and written in metaphor so no one could know what was contained therein. It's an Enigma Code, literally.
At least Victorian weirdos imagined their own Druids. Modern weirdos are completely lacking in creativity and just hang onto their nineteenth century antecedents' coat tails.
So we always discuss "How did they lift the stones up!" and I almost wonder, what if they did landscaping? ie: create the stone form, then dig a hole to place it, then get it standing up, then once you've placed your stones, you dig the dirt out and leave a meter or two of dirt which holds the stones upright? That'd make placing the top stones much easier. Is there any evidence of this method for building stuff out there?
There's another way to move a rectangular shape & that's end over end using ropes. I move hay bales that weigh as much as I do by myself like this. The taller the stone, the farther you've gone with every "flip" ---
@@rameyzamora1018 the problem with that is these stones are like 40,000 lbs each. Youd need...thousands of people. Like at least 5,000 people all lifting in unison. Certainly possible but the populations were barely that large in total.
I thought about this a while ago and my theory was they probably used sleds to move the stones and probably done it during the winter when the river and streams were frozen over and the ground was icy and smooth
Another great way and also used to move ships across land is just to lay down a bunch of logs and push them along, laying logs down in front of them and picking up the ones they’ve rolled over as you go.
What really astounds me is how you can get stones to nest on the pegs of the upright stones without cranes and winches. Would you have erected wooden slopes to push the stones up? Tie massive amounts of rope around to give dozens of men purchase enough to tug them into position?
Katalowins yeah I think that’s possible too, however it would take a very long time to move them all on logs but not impossible. Also they might have used cranes, not the cranes we use today but work in the same way with a weight at one end. However that being said I’d stick to my winter theory, they could of make slopes with ice and snow
They always point out that they we don't know how they moved the stones without the use of the wheel. But if we don't know how they did it, isn't it possible they had the wheel? If you don't know what they had or what they did, how can you say what they didn't have or didn't do?
Having lived my entire life in Wiltshire, I’m always surprised at the attention Stonehenge always gets. In my opinion the stone circle at Avebury is far more impressive, coupled to the Stone causeway to Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow, the whole area is steeped in history that still cannot be explained - The Wansdyke as an example. So if you want to enjoy Wiltshires amazing history and actually get up close and personal to the historical sites - visit Avebury and it’s surrounding area.
None of the above align with the sunrise on the Summer Solstice. That makes it uniquely special. I'm old enough to have walked up Silbury Hill on my own before the age of industrial tourism.
@@mjzigzag older but can't see that it aligns to midsummer. Doesn't matter the place looks earthy and mystical. When I have funds I want to visit Skara Brea.
I have a personal theory concerning Stonehenge (also Skara Brae and other such sites in Britain)... A very controversial one as it also involves Atlantis. In the wake of retreating glaciers, enormous landslides and resultant mega-tsunamis were not uncommon - the Storegga Slide (±6200 BCE) is perhaps the most infamous, annihilating Doggerland and cutting the British Isles free from mainland Europe in the process. It is not unreasonable to speculate that a similar fate befell Atlantis, particularly as seabed formations west and northwest of Scotland indicate circular 'islands' which largely conform to descriptions attributed to Atlantis (itself the namesake of the Atlantic Ocean). The Garth Tsunami (±3500 BCE) is connected to mass burials in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and the timing suggests that the Neolithic settlements of Jarlshof and Skara Brae may well have been established by those who survived it. Though seemingly primitive in construction techniques, these sites are extraordinarily advanced in their design principles. Keep in mind that the ancient Greeks and Romans performed eye surgery on street corners (primitive lasix) and plumbing (derived from Plumbum - lead - which was the primary material used for making pipes), despite these technologies vanishing for centuries before being 'reinvented'. The point to all this exposition is that the design and construction of Stonehenge coincides with a sizable displacement of peoples who might well be descendants from Atlantis. It is also worth noting that River Avon flows near Stonehenge - little more than a meandering brook today, but its basin indicates that it was once a formidable river which could readily have accommodated barges large enough to transport the massive stones - as well as the main quarries where the stones are believed to originate. The motivation is obvious; the technology is obvious; the transportation is obvious. It only seems 'mysterious' to us today because we lack the frame of reference to understand their world. Hardly surprising when, even with advanced heavy equipment, we'd be hard-pressed to replicate monumental feats such as installing all the sewers (which are still in use today, by the way) in London, Chicago, and other major cities during the Sanitary Movement.
The legend of King Arthur and his round table is actually an echo of a much earlier story of political organisation, where those with power sat in a circle to discuss matters of weight, probably under the auspices of the Druids (religious power). Stonehenge was probably chief amongst these places, given the effort involved and reach of those providing materials/labour.
@@alexanderperry1844 I'm not certain Geoffrey is exactly someone to listen to. He made up everything he wrote and was only LOOSELY based on past events. So loosely they might as well have been a lead in the wind. Also I don't know where you got the Livy reference.
No. I desperately want to know what the hell this incredible structure is. I want to know what the people were like, who they were, what technology they developed...I want to know it all. Drives me nuts that we still haven't figured this out...in a good way, of course.
@@LukeDodge916 As the Rolling Stones said, "You can't always get what you want." Any theories we come up with to explain all that will just be speculation at this point. It's not like those Stone Age people wrote down their rationale. Not knowing gives all these people jobs, after all. :-) It's that desperate desire to understand that keeps us searching....
@@LukeDodge916 Yes it is incredible what these people achieved. I bet that with all the knowledge we have, we still could not build this monument today without using modem tools and methods.
Stonehenge is an ancient wonder. On the other side of the world is a similar wonder called Nan Madol, on the island of Ponhpei, Micronesia. The ancients knew a great deal more than our knowledge of them suggests.
I read a book a long time ago which I now have in my hands as I write, called "Stonehenge Decoded", 1965, Doubleday & Co.. It was written by G. S. Hawkins base on studies at the "Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard College Observatory, Boston University and the area around Stonehenge". He had researched the site a few times taking measurements on a line between pairs of the uprights, which actually form two rings of arches. If you walk a straight line down the center of the site toward the Heel or pointer stone point you can see through the pairs of gaps in the stones toward the Aubrey holes. In fact, if (minute 14:48) you look behind Heather Sabre, you can see such an alignment. He took the data back to California and fed the data out to the horizon thinking they may point to a star (indicating they were placed at that site to show that it was ETs who created the structure. Finding nothing he paused his work. then he heard about an ancient Greek writing that spoke of the gods of the sun and moon coming to dance at a spot on the "western isles", a reference to the British Isles. To shorten my story his computer, fed the right data, showed that those pairs actually show lunar/solar events, like midwinter and midsummer sunrise as well as eclipse dates. It showed too that there is an lunar eclipse at either the midwinter or midsummer sunrise (my memory isn't that good) that occurs approximately every 19, 19 & 18 year cycles directly over the Heel (pointer) Stone. That explains to 56 Aubrey holes, which divided by three comes to 18 years and 8 months. And, using only 3 stones you could predict exactly when that would occur. He set up a camera on the next date the event was to happen. When the time came and the sun was sitting on the very tip of the stone, the moon moved in front of the sun for the eclipse. Midwinter sunrise is directly north of that center line. Stonehenge is, in fact, a lunar solar calendar. Perhaps, if you can find that film you could update your show.
West woods still has some big stones about it, there is also a huge track way cut into the camber of the hill side that was likely used to transport the stones up and out of the valley, it starts at the area where the stones were collected and worked and points to stone henge.
As a teenager I went to summer solstice and sold pills to various party people inside the stone circle...makes me laugh thinking about it when I drive past it on the a303 to go to work on site...now I'm obsessed with all the stone age barrows, standing stones and relics around Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset! So much ancient history on our doorsteps in the UK.
Great! In a way, I'm relieved that this doesn't postulate a theory, as, well, we just don't know.. Q. What was the topography of the area like, apart from forest? In particular, was there much water? How high is the site above (today's) sea level? Also the idea of a collective vision of Stonehenge is a strong one. Could there be technologies we have lost? It seems to me that the more we learn about this fascinating monument the more mysterious the damn thing is. Enjoyed this hugely. Cheers me dears! 👍
In ancient times, Hundreds of years before the dawn of history Lived a strange race of people, the Druids No one knows who they were or what they were doing But their legacy remains Hewn into the living rock, of Stonehenge
Half of the stones didn’t remain upright. Stone Henge was rebuilt in 1958 as a restoration project by a couple of blokes in funny hats with a tractor and crane. Did they even get it right? It’s completely plausible that they didn’t which makes the mystery impossible to unravel. We have such sophisticated techniques and technology now. It starts with admitting what happened in 1958 and taking down what they put up on and re-doing it again unless you’re not going to admit it happened to me Stonehenge is just a Disney Theme Park
I don’t agree with these stones just “falling over”, these stones are so heavy, I don’t think the Henge was never fully finished, who ever built it was stopped in doing so and apart from the “help” in the 1950’s is now how it was left.
You mean done by a well-known archaeologist and his team... and don't be silly, it's well known that it was in poor shape and needing restoration work. Perhaps you don'r realise that stone holes are pretty easy to find removing the topsoil and getting down to chalk.. Take off that tinfoil hat. If you want to complain about rebuilding...well, Avebury stones were mostly buried before being re-erected by Keiler who wasn't an archaeologist, and some may even be in upside down!
I love history hit. But Stonehenge has been re built by historians more than twice with stones removed and cemented in place that's y they still standing lol
I believe Stonehenge is a primitive version of the castle and mote. It would function (when completed) as a fortress of security to protect those who got in it before the "bad guys" showed up. I believe the chalk drums found with buried children are representations of what it would "vaguely" look like when completed. There are many ditch and mound circles with pillars in the middle of them through out the British isles. I believe these were all fortresses of security at one time in the past.
"over 4000 years ago, in the Stone Age" While I was pondering the Egyptian history that, if memory serves, tracks pharaohs back to 4000 years BC, more than 6000 years sgo, the presenter says something like 3600 BC, and that is actally just over 4000 years ago. Spirit levels are not necessary, all that was ever needed for vertical and horizontal leveling was three fairly straight pieces if wood or bone and a weight hanging from sone form of string attached to the top edge.
I remember going there in the early 60s. It was a hell of a drive and it was just after my birthday so as a mischievous little boy I sharpened my birthday present - a small pen knife- on one of the stones
The first time i saw stonehenge I was 8 years old and was not impressed at all , a bunch of stones , and it was pouring with rain . In later years i became a lot more interested in stonehenge and to this day it still fascinates me and the more i learn about it the more fascinated I have become
What a great monument 4000 years ago with no tools of any kind but stones to stone to smooth the surface. But how did they manage to bring such a huge stone from so far away? I visited Stonehenge in 1967 just walked it and walked out nobody was there! As a monuments enthusiast, I also visited 55 countries in my 88-year-old life!!
What always fascinates me is, what language for communication must they have used. Because whatever it was, it must have been extremely clear for others to understand.
You don't need a spirit level to measure level. Anything that can contain water will act as a spirit level. No wonder people can't understand how this was built when they can't even comprehend the most simple party of the construction process. 🤦♂️
Are there any plans to re-stand some of the stones that have fallen? I'm thinking of the second upright stone of the trilathon (sp?) and the lintel that have fallen on the altar, mentioned at roughly the 8 minute mark.
The lady was very tactical in what she said. What she didn't say was some upright stones are far too short to have a cap stone on them that also sits on the upright stone next to it. Far far too short. In simpler words the place was never finished or the large stones were mishandled and rearranged badly so nowdays it can't be fixed without another total rebuild. Taking the missing cap stones into account that will never happen. It is what it is right now and that's all it is. Pity.
It looked so authentic and historical. And then I found out that it was dissembled and reassembled at one point. All its authenticity, lost. All the stones were now secured in modern concrete.
Dan Snow is somewhat more relaxed and less central here than he is on TV(also excellent): he manages to throw out a gauntlet of enthusiasm around every rock/stone he sees; he even introduces another relaxed expert and allows her central stage. His ignorance of the vast , unfathomable mysteries of Stonehenge is very much our building blocks of incremental knowledge.
I watch alot of videos on stonehendge and i still have questions. Where did stones that size come from? How were they transported? How were they placed and made to stand erect? How were the toppers lifted that high and placed on top of standing stones? Was it partially destroyed on purpose maybe after it was used? Because no stones that heavy are going to get blown over by winds.
Imagine someone just invented the riding mower and you’re the poor sap who has to use it to navigate one of the oldest and most iconic historical landmarks in the world.
Historian voice: “And you’ll notice these markings here at the base of the stones that indicate Paul getting overzealous with the weed whacker last month.”
I wish someone took the initiative to reassemble the stones that fell down, it would look a lot better. Afterall we do know which stones go where in regards those that fell down.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
As a child in the early 60's my father was stationed at Larkhill Military Camp, just to the north of Stonehenge and I remember that we often had a Sunday picnic at Stonehenge. In those days you could walk around the stones as they were not fenced off as they are today. As a child it was exciting, but obviously I had no idea of just what the place was. In fact we visited it so often it hardly seemed as if it was something so special. Over the years I've read many books about this place and get more fascinated with each new journal I digest.
I used to stay at 21 Bingham road in lark hill as dad was stationed at the local ordnance depot for the artillery shells …I went to the local primary and I remember down the side in the estate there was a used and decommissioned light aircraft and an armoured recce vehicle .
I was there from 73-75. And I remember walking down the path leading past the bottom of the married quartered section to Stonehenge and wandering round them on my own before the national heritage got the place surrounded by fencing and before they started charging you for the priviledge….
@@rogue1968 I can't remember the number we lived at in Bingham Road. It was the ground floor flat on the corner of Wilson Road. Larkhill was the first school I attended. There was (in my years there - 62 - 65/66) also a swimming pool and a cinema between Gore Road and the Packhorse (Pub). Not too sure if they were there in the early 70's as I know they were removed at some point. It seems a long time ago now, well, I suppose it is, almost 60 years ago. But happy memories. I was in Bingham Road during the bad winter of 1963 and can remember helping (as much as a 5 year old can) to dig the paths clear of snow...
It would've been difficult to picnic " so often" at Stonehenge during the early 60s. Restorations were in progress 1958-59 and 1963-64 when the fallen upright stones were fixed in position using concrete, then the top stones were placed across these by crane and the area gravelled to reduce damage by visitors.
they delete all the alien conspiracy nutter comments! :(
Itw
This is outstanding. How few presenters would allow an expert to take center stage like this. Kudos to Mr Snow for having the respect for history… to not interject himself as the “star” and simply allow the woman with the knowledge to share her work and inform viewers.
I thought the "lady" was quite vague at times with the history of the site, makes me think we still don't know much about the site but cling to sunrises 21st June and 21st December., there is also new information that the blue stones did not come from Wales.
He and her are both guilty of talking in made up drivel
Kids watching this will then repeat the drivel to their friends and the lie gains traction.
These people know ad much about henge building as you do ! And need to stop bullshitting
The henges( circles) in Scotland and Spain and Ireland pre date this one by 1000s of years
Stone henge is more or less a modern build in millennial terms.
The techno used by the builders was already 1000s of years old when stone henge was eventually finished
A lot of historical ignorance being displayed by these broadcasters
@@pauls3204 Not to mention the ignorance of the English language displayed by the commenters.
*centre
Woman would have gotten angry if he'd interrupted her
0:26 Today is August 16, 2024 - This week it has announced the altar stone was actually from Scotland from the area around Inverness to Orkney.
How and why are still a big unknown, although I am sure there are theories.
I am still astonished the top stones were lifted to the top of the vertical stones.
Totally amazing.
I really enjoy listening to Dan Snow as he describes the history before him. His enthusiasm is contagious.
He describes his interpretation of history. There are many things that cannot be explained and Stonehenge is one of them
He's talking about a rock ffs. A rock !!!
I think we give our ancestors too little credit, assuming that they were primitive and technologically underdeveloped, this optic is the reason we don't have the correct answers, humans were always very intelligent and resourceful
Yep, they were us in every respect.
They just seem to have neglected to write it down somewhere so we could know how they did it and we’re too stupid to figure it out. 😂🤣😂.
@@mmcnew1 something like that
Agree, and also that before the industrial revolution, everything took longer than our expectations are aligned to. So its harder to imagine and give them the respect they deserve.
Many assume that our predecessors were the same as us mentally & physically when history,especially evolutionary history,has proven that to be wrong.
I luv Dan! He's straightforward - tells it like it is, as does his Dad. Please keep shows like this coming Dan!
Yep I grew up watching their military history docs, like the one on the gulf war 1991. That was a great one.
A part of me loves the fact that with all our brilliant technology and minds, we still can't fully understand everything about ancient superstructures like Stonehenge or the Pyramids.
So humbling...
Pictures show the birth of Stonehenge. Go figure.
I didn't know they had cameras when they constructed the pyramids.
Btw, no such pictures of the pyramids. They are genuine, unlike Stonehenge.
Stonehenge is a hoax.
Remember Time Team and the episode with the sword on top of barbed wire?
Stonehenge is the same nonsense.
absolutely. the need to think we are smarter than our ancestors gets diminished instantly, lol
There’s video of Stonehenge being built. This video is complete fiction
is there? do you have a link?
@@Ggzz19733
@@Ggzz19733😂😂😂
I blame Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), & Machu Picchu in Peru for inspiring my absolute PASSION for history & archeology. We still gaze on these ancient marvels with wonder.
ua-cam.com/video/lO3wAj_UpdI/v-deo.html
there is nothing like the pyramids of egypt, that's the craziest thing
@@aerokasyeal4840 Well, friend, there're magnificent pyramids all over the world, one of the most impressive being the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico. But the Giza pyramids are the last remaining of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Recall the old saying about them: "Man fears time; time fears the pyramids."
@@cdfdesantis699 daaamn sir!
@@aerokasyeal4840 Indeed, my friend!
As an American bloke who watches a lot of American history, I’m glad I found this channel where it’s just pure English history.
WHAT HISTORY?
What American says bloke?
American history is english history
@@revolvermaster4939 not really. It’s just as much as African, Spanish & Native American history as it is English.
@@47buddz97 kinda my point
I've had some time to think about how Stonehenge might have come together, being the old bugger I am. Here's some ideas I had over the years:
· Could the build have been a winter project, a time when people had little to do farming and gathering-wise? Suggesting they were capable of having enough resources in stock, winter would not at all be a bad time for such jobs. It's cold, so some physical work helps to keep a bum nicely cosy warm from within. Transporting heavy loads without wheels becomes easier as well on frozen ground. You may even melt some snow and pour the water on the ground in places to provide a nicely icy slipway.
· The list of tools (Stone axes, antlers, pointy sticks…) probably should be extended by fire and water. From my one visit at Stonehenge back in 1995, I remember learning that blue stone was pretty good at insulating heat, it conducts heat badly. What if erosion techniques were used to shape the stones? Let the stone sit over a fire for a week or two, and when it has heated to a temperature where it fries an egg in two seconds, a bucket of water will cool down small areas in a short time well enough to make heat difference induced tensions to crack the material locally. I guess it is possible to develop pretty good control of such a process, given some time to practice. This could explain why blue stone was the material of choice for the build.
From way back when I remember learning that similar techniques were used to break big pieces of stone from rock. Again, given some patience with the work, a mix of generating cracks in rocks by heat and water in summer an then fill the cracks with water to let ice do its work in winter would seem feasible to me.
Just some ideas from a silly sod, folks. Maybe worth spending a thought on, or maybe not. You tell me. ☺
Shaping them could certainly have been done on winter evenings when there wasn't much to do but moving them would need a lot of calories. I think they'd be more likely to have moved them during summer when you have long hours of daylight and easy hunting to provide food for the workers. The bluestones were moved from a previous religious site in Wales so weren't chosen for their heat capacity. They must have been so important that when the people relocated they brought them along to enhance their new site.
@@Mathemagical55 My key point is: In frost, the ground offers nicely little drag. That makes the transporting a *lot* easier.
@@zweispurmopped totally believe you. In Game of thrones it was super easy for the white walkers to order the wights to drag out from icy waters, one of deanerys dead dragons unto the ice grounds for the Night King to wake it up.
Moving stones ua-cam.com/video/kU1f0_jf6AE/v-deo.html
Good point. I used to think that they were moved on tree trunks. After all, the Stone Age by that time was at its peak, and the methods of moving them efficiently whould have been passed down thru the generations and the info was lost about 1000 years ago...
I loved visiting Stonehenge. Even on the bus ride to the site I was very excited to see (burial?) mounds in the nearby area. I was very patient with my camera and waited for the crowd to shuffle in a way I wanted and the resulting pictures look like I took the pictures when no one was there when in fact there were several dozen if not more. And if you ever get the chance to take the tour, make sure you stop by Old Sarum (there might have been 8 other people there when I visited) and Salisbury Cathedral. All very magical places.
This was how they did the stones ua-cam.com/video/kU1f0_jf6AE/v-deo.html
I just went today. It was awesome
Thanks
Actually, the stones have not all stood since they were first erected, as you stated. Stonehenge was repaired three times, in 1901, then a major rebuild in the 1920's and finally in 1964.
Indeed, Stonehenge has been tampered with several times. Archeology in the early days probably has destroyed a lot.
Thank you! Came looking for this comment after pausing at Dan's bold statement which he should know
In 1958 a lintel was hoisted atop the tall stones. I don't see this as severe tinkering, as it would appear clear that's where it came from. Locals raided the stones for animal enclosures and walls for centuries.
How do you know?
@@bobblue_west my grandad worked on it in the 50s and a lot more than that was done and he had now i have the pictures to prove most of the stones were on the floor
I actually visited Stonehenge many years ago -- what none of the documentaries make clear is that there's a modern highway within spitting distance of it -- and a car park where busses full of tourists stop -- along with a gift center and other modern amenities -- which you'd never know because all of these shots very carefully are designed to exclude all of that stuff. You watch any documentary on Stonehenge, you'd really believe that it's isolated out in the middle of a plain, remote from any human habitation -- when in fact, it must be a real pain in the neck to clear all the tourists away in order to film these things.
Same with the pyramids
The closest road was the A344 which was closed in 2013 the route is now a byway not open to traffic where it passes the stones. Building the tunnel for the A303 will remove that eyesore. Visitor access hours are restricted so this would have been filmed early morning or evening. I have had access to the circle in an English Heritage organised visit. Best way of seeing the monument.
Given that the public isn't allowed to circulate amongst the stones - and that even if we could the fact that so many stones are down - it means the visiting public doesn't really get a "feel" for the place so I've occasionally wondered if it might not be worth building a reconstruction (out of concrete perhaps to get the shapes of the stones as close as possible) nearby on the same line of latitude (likely just to the west) that the public would be able to circulate through. That way the visiting public would also get the "experiential" aspect that is currently missing. Even for researchers there'd be some benefits in terms of things like the auditory characteristics (echoes and such) that aren't really possible right now.
@@davidjames4915 Obviously, much has changed since I paid my visit as part of a student group -- which, alas, must be well over forty years ago, as I remember wandering amongst the stones along with countless other tourists with no one objecting at all. You could photograph them, get right up close, touch them (which I did) -- obviously, much has changed.
In the 1990's, I was taking abus into the Westcountry, and the driver (Because he was a cool bloke) actually took us on a detour to see the stones. It was on that road you refer to...
Always been fascinated by our prehistoric ancestors and how they've managed to construct these amazing monuments.
1:03 that isn't really true now is it? Sure the stone rubble has covered the site, but they rebuild it last century with cranes and what not... it's not like what's standing upright there is actually how it was build; it's merely an artist impression.
@@stijnvdv2 yea haha its literally britains biggest scam really
No one knows who they were - or what they were doing…
Moving stones ua-cam.com/video/kU1f0_jf6AE/v-deo.html
@@stijnvdv2 (it's not like what's standing upright there is actually how it was build) How do you know? Do you suspect the lintels were intentionally left on the ground? Hardly an artists impression. (Like the cover of Nat. Geographic on the Egyptian pyramids, where a pyramid was moved with Photoshop for a better image.)
I work in construction and moving heavy objects even today is all about leverage, planning, manpower, and time. I can move an object myself that weighs many tons with a Johnson Bar. It takes time but even today after all the rigging from cranes, big truck, ships etc moving a very large heavy object into place is all about leverage.
Thank you for commenting and explaining the very simple premises that actually govern movement!
My comment focused on the expressed need for a spirit level, which made me physically face palm
@@eirintowne Get over yourself.
@@StanSwan Whoa! Sure, never mind me!
@@eirintowne No idea what your issue is but buzz off.
What a magnificent production. The site and the video! Thank you for sharing this. It shows how important it is to keep looking at the world around us & how much we can still learn.
Many thanks!
ua-cam.com/video/lO3wAj_UpdI/v-deo.html
We visit Stonehenge every summer & it always has a mysterious, magical atmosphere. We love that place.
Absolutely fantastic quality and informative entertainment that’s somehow exciting and relaxing at the same time ! Really appreciate Dan Snow as a host, and Dr. Heather was wonderful and very knowledgeable . Many thanks for the great work made available for free !
The Constable and especially the turner representation is immaculate. It captures the energy of the space.
Loved watching your father on history channel back in the day Dan, great to see you sparking interest in history for the younger generations. Would be great to see you cover Gobekli Tepe and the other amazing sites in Turkey
Here is dad's part ua-cam.com/video/kU1f0_jf6AE/v-deo.html
Very interesting
You said without a spirit level to level the stones, water, water is always flat, the Egyptians used water troughs around the pyramids to get a common flat level.
My immi thought 😀 Of course they did. People were always smart.
Fascinating stuff and inspiring to see you inside the monument like that.
I was climbing on them when I was a boy in the sixties … serious
If you do the 1st visit of the morning, you can pay more to do a small group visit where you walk within the stones. It’s the best way to visit before the crowds arrive
@@lotsapeachtree5513 when I went recently I was quoted over £25 to see them. A company turns up, makes it tricky and expensive to look at a monument that every Brit has a right to see and claims to ‘maintain’ them. Was so disappointed, our couldn’t even touch them if paid to see them. English heritage
Everyone could in the 70s
It's amazing how somebody who wasn't there and didn't build it knows so much about it. I had no idea Wales even existed 3000 years ago.
What a fascinating documentary, above all because it shows the mystery that finally encircles man's past.
Although this video is just posted here it is so good to get these from history hit as it gives lots of information that may be new to many. I visited Stonehenge as part of an archaeologist led group in 2008 or 2009 and although a lot of the information was known then there is always more. I keep tabs via magazines and news articles and books on what they continue to discover.
Is it true that they used to organize orgies there?
Stonehenge , is a world heritage site , one of the greatest achievements of the Stone Age. TO see it, on a beautiful English summers morning, is breathtaking, it looks totally, magnificent, majestic even , it will look even better, when the bloody Irish, finally finished it,
Dan Snow is one of my favourite people, Thank you.
Stonehenge knocks holes through any notion of a pure noble savage stage in human development.
Outstanding 🧡🌸🧐
I find it very interesting that while the final stones of Stonehenge were being laid, North American societies were already establishing themselves in much less hospitable landscapes. Here in Arizona, we know that people lived in the Tucson valley since approximately 2600 BCE. With weather climbing up into the triple digits for 3-5 months of the year, and only a few weeks of rain per year, somehow these early humans made their homes and thrived in the harsh desert landscape. We often think about Ancient Europe or Ancient Egypt as something set apart from the rest of the world. Yet, comparing these timelines to each other, help put our humanity into perspective.
Brian John: Dispelling The Stonehenge Myth/UA-cam Watch that video and then reconsider
everything you have been told about it.
but this is about the technology the ancients here posessed , we know modern humans have been around for 40+ thousand years ..they had to live somewhere ...but which ones were advanced ,lol
Didn't realise it was a competition
@@almanacofsleep Comparison. Not competition.
@@NoliMeTangere1163 It sounds more like a competition because you're characterizing ancient antiquity. You're saying that this group of people had to live harder lives than this other group of people & setting some kind of a standard of superiority because of the fact that the weather & terrain were harsh & that is why it's just as impressive as Ancient Europe or Ancient Egypt. First of all, the only people in Europe that were "set apart" were the Mediterraneans because of their technology & let's not forget about the birth place of democracy & the classical age. Northern Europeans were tribal people that lacked mathematics or Phylosophy just like South Africans & most of the world and as a result were enslaved by far more technologically advanced societies like Southern Europe & Northern Africa. During the time you stated, the Great Pyramids (2613 BCE) with similar weather conditions were being built, so you can see how your comparison becomes a mater of opinion rather than fact.
Saw it yesterday, it's jaw dropping to think about
Would have been good to mention the restoration projects like the 1920 one where the stones were shifted into place and concrete foundations were used to stabilise the rocks. Otherwise interesting
He is what you are talking about ua-cam.com/video/kU1f0_jf6AE/v-deo.html
Exactly! Very poor details
I take Stonehenge for granted as I live 15 minutes from them and see them most days.
Hi neighbour! I live four miles from the stones.
I visited the area 3 times. There is museum nearby that explain how the circle was made and who made it. It part of building that was surrounded with wood and covered. It formed a kind of solar clock that was created to plot the yearly cycle so people can plot plant crops and sowing fields and harvest crops. There was a lot grain grown in area..
There is no evidence that the circle was surrounded by wood or covered. Nor does the visitor centre mention such claims.
And of course without that stone circle there those folk would not have had a clue what time of year it was and would have been carrying out their sowing and harvesting operations at disastrously inappropriate times of year ?
Y
The priests and village elders would have regularised planting times so as to have food for celebrations. Besides, English weather always looks rainy. @@barkershill
I love Dan. He makes learning so easy and enjoyable.
I think the way to discover the full story of Stonehenge would be to build an exact replica of how the finished henge would have been, as close as possible to the actual Stonehenge, even if the original was never finished, as speculated here.
It doesn't have to be made of stone or a permanent structure (although that would be very cool if it was), but it must be accurate in size, dimension and layout.
A few years spent studying every aspect of the replica and factoring in the climate of the era might produce some fascinating results.
Fascinating. Panoramic video and pictures of the totality of the site don't really bring home just how enormous the stones are like this video did.
1:06 "the stones have remained upright since they were erected" - Most have been moved around and re-erected in the past century. Look at the work of Colonel William Hawley
Yeah, there are a few off the cuff errors, but still very fun.
No, not most. Some. There are photos you know.
I find Avebury infinitely more interesting. Bigger scale, you can sense it was built for thousands of people to attend and to watch spectacles.
There are two circles within a massive circular earthwork that provides an elevated viewing platform and removes the central area from view from the surrounding broader landscape.
It's obviously a theatre of major significance and the two circles seem to suggest two events - midsummer, midwinter?
Mike Parker Pearson and his team have solved many of the mysteries of Stonehenge. We know when it was built, who built it, why it was built and why it was largely abandoned. Miraculous how much we now know
Not quite right to say the stones have been upright for 4,000 years when there have been several renovations including in the early 1900s and 1950s / early 1960s involving concrete foundations.
I think the answer to "How?" is simply: Manpower. Lots of people all working on one project can get a lot done, given enough time and resources.
Humans built the Pyramids and skyscrapers bordering on the 1km height, we went to the Moon and sent robots to other planets, set up a global network connecting billions of people, etc.
@@dizzy2020 oh they had plenty of slaves. They worked in the mines.
Yup, if you don't have health and safety regulations* turns out you can get a lot of shit done with just people.
*granted they now have lots of dead people since they didn't have such regulation
@@TheMoneypresident Sure, except the builders of the Giza pyramids in Egypt received wages in the form of bread and beer rations, which was very common at the time since ancient Egypt didn't use coins as currency up until about 500 BC. Would slaves be treated the same? I don't think so.
Personally, I find the theory of using water causeways connected to the Nile and rudimentary floatation devices much more believable since it's ingenious and uses technology widely available in that era.
And probably "boat power" and "animal power" too. I can't imagine they didn't use the waterways to transport the stones to the site, it would've been the obvious route at the time as the waterways would've been the equivalent of the motorways. And I cannot imagine they didn't utilise animals either - bear in mind that they believe Stonehenge was first built around 3500BC, about 500 years after we had started farming and keeping cattle and such like. Therefore, it doesn't take much to imagine we might have begun using cattle and the like to do some of our heavy lifting, perhaps pulling the heavy boats downstream or something.
The why is far far more interesting
The first form of the Bible was written in 325BC, 80 years before and Antikythera mechanism, and was called the Vaticanus Graecus, Son of the Devine Serpent, a reference to Fomalhaut, which is shaped like the all seeing eye, in Aquarius, the sign associated with John the Baptist, who was a Setian, the root word of Satan. Just as israel is the Phoenician word for Saturn, or El, Fruit of Isis and Ra.
In the Second Century AD Astrologer Vettori Valentinus used the Vaticanus Graecus to construct a lunar zodiac of 13 months, this correlates to the 18.6/ 19 year Metonic Calendar, found in the earliest known ancient temples, the Bible, Antikythera mechanism, New Grange and the Bru na Boinne, the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Celts, Phoenicians, and inscribed into the Golden Enoch Horns of the Magi, the Eunuch Druid Priests of Cybel, or Kythera, the "Great Mother", (who also has 216 names) in Germany and France. A Druid took 19 years to train, and the Phoenix was associated with 19 flames.
TLDR; the ancient metric system of time used by the builders of the Megalithic sites all over the world directly correlates to the Astrological Zodiac and allows for the surveying of the entire globe.
It's worth noting our current system has 8,640 seconds in a day, just as the sun is 864,000 miles wide. Enoch also wrote 36,525 scrolls, which is 365.25 times 100, the Egyptian number of perfection, which allowed them to calculate things to the second decimal place. The Great Pyramid is a Calendar, based on the Metonic Cycle and the Zodiac, hence the association of Osiris with Orion, and Pleiades Isis, atop the back of Taurus, just as the Phoenician Princess Europa, who rode the Bull. The entire Mediterranean region was also mapped out according to key constellations, marked by these Megalithic structures, which themselves encode these numbers
The Byblos Baal, or Book of Baal is the Phoenician Almanac, a coded book of Astrological cycles used by the Priest Class of Egypt; the Phoenicians, to navigate the oceans. Phoenicians, Celts, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians and Jews all celebrated their New Year in September, the 7th month, the Sunsign of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, associated with the healing Gods, and marked by the first New Moon in the 7th month after the start of the Zodiac in Easter, when Ophiuchus is the East Star. In September the East star is Orion, aka Osiris, aka Set, Lord of the Dead. Hence the Aleph, and the Zayim, Alpha and Omega. It's also the Birthday of Jesus, and when he said he would return, at the end of the Age. It's reversed to keep the code secret, and written in metaphor so no one could know what was contained therein.
It's an Enigma Code, literally.
Wow! I found a video of my life's bucket list, Stonehenge. Thank you. ⭐️ 🌠
ua-cam.com/video/lO3wAj_UpdI/v-deo.html
NB there were no druids involved. Especially the Victorian imagining of them as seen today. The 'altar' stone used to be an upright.
At least Victorian weirdos imagined their own Druids. Modern weirdos are completely lacking in creativity and just hang onto their nineteenth century antecedents' coat tails.
This is just so interesting!! I have learned so many new things watching this video.. great job...
ua-cam.com/video/lO3wAj_UpdI/v-deo.html
So we always discuss "How did they lift the stones up!" and I almost wonder, what if they did landscaping? ie: create the stone form, then dig a hole to place it, then get it standing up, then once you've placed your stones, you dig the dirt out and leave a meter or two of dirt which holds the stones upright? That'd make placing the top stones much easier. Is there any evidence of this method for building stuff out there?
There's another way to move a rectangular shape & that's end over end using ropes. I move hay bales that weigh as much as I do by myself like this. The taller the stone, the farther you've gone with every "flip" ---
I mean, I’d probably be a lot better at digging holes than carrying a huge goddamn stone cross continent.
some of the stones aren't from the area, so we know they were transported somehow.
@@rameyzamora1018 the problem with that is these stones are like 40,000 lbs each. Youd need...thousands of people. Like at least 5,000 people all lifting in unison. Certainly possible but the populations were barely that large in total.
Very informative video, thanks dan!
I thought about this a while ago and my theory was they probably used sleds to move the stones and probably done it during the winter when the river and streams were frozen over and the ground was icy and smooth
Another great way and also used to move ships across land is just to lay down a bunch of logs and push them along, laying logs down in front of them and picking up the ones they’ve rolled over as you go.
What really astounds me is how you can get stones to nest on the pegs of the upright stones without cranes and winches. Would you have erected wooden slopes to push the stones up? Tie massive amounts of rope around to give dozens of men purchase enough to tug them into position?
Katalowins yeah I think that’s possible too, however it would take a very long time to move them all on logs but not impossible. Also they might have used cranes, not the cranes we use today but work in the same way with a weight at one end. However that being said I’d stick to my winter theory, they could of make slopes with ice and snow
They always point out that they we don't know how they moved the stones without the use of the wheel. But if we don't know how they did it, isn't it possible they had the wheel? If you don't know what they had or what they did, how can you say what they didn't have or didn't do?
Having lived my entire life in Wiltshire, I’m always surprised at the attention Stonehenge always gets. In my opinion the stone circle at Avebury is far more impressive, coupled to the Stone causeway to Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow, the whole area is steeped in history that still cannot be explained - The Wansdyke as an example. So if you want to enjoy Wiltshires amazing history and actually get up close and personal to the historical sites - visit Avebury and it’s surrounding area.
None of the above align with the sunrise on the Summer Solstice. That makes it uniquely special.
I'm old enough to have walked up Silbury Hill on my own before the age of industrial tourism.
@@neiltaylor8198 Where?
yeah maybe mate..
@@bobblue_west ring of brodgar - Orkney.
@@mjzigzag older but can't see that it aligns to midsummer. Doesn't matter the place looks earthy and mystical. When I have funds I want to visit Skara Brea.
Excellent Documentary! ... fascinating
I have a personal theory concerning Stonehenge (also Skara Brae and other such sites in Britain)... A very controversial one as it also involves Atlantis.
In the wake of retreating glaciers, enormous landslides and resultant mega-tsunamis were not uncommon - the Storegga Slide (±6200 BCE) is perhaps the most infamous, annihilating Doggerland and cutting the British Isles free from mainland Europe in the process. It is not unreasonable to speculate that a similar fate befell Atlantis, particularly as seabed formations west and northwest of Scotland indicate circular 'islands' which largely conform to descriptions attributed to Atlantis (itself the namesake of the Atlantic Ocean).
The Garth Tsunami (±3500 BCE) is connected to mass burials in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and the timing suggests that the Neolithic settlements of Jarlshof and Skara Brae may well have been established by those who survived it. Though seemingly primitive in construction techniques, these sites are extraordinarily advanced in their design principles. Keep in mind that the ancient Greeks and Romans performed eye surgery on street corners (primitive lasix) and plumbing (derived from Plumbum - lead - which was the primary material used for making pipes), despite these technologies vanishing for centuries before being 'reinvented'.
The point to all this exposition is that the design and construction of Stonehenge coincides with a sizable displacement of peoples who might well be descendants from Atlantis. It is also worth noting that River Avon flows near Stonehenge - little more than a meandering brook today, but its basin indicates that it was once a formidable river which could readily have accommodated barges large enough to transport the massive stones - as well as the main quarries where the stones are believed to originate.
The motivation is obvious; the technology is obvious; the transportation is obvious. It only seems 'mysterious' to us today because we lack the frame of reference to understand their world. Hardly surprising when, even with advanced heavy equipment, we'd be hard-pressed to replicate monumental feats such as installing all the sewers (which are still in use today, by the way) in London, Chicago, and other major cities during the Sanitary Movement.
It's almost like our, own version of, Egypt's, valley of the, Kings.Really,enjoyable,Dan.
The legend of King Arthur and his round table is actually an echo of a much earlier story of political organisation, where those with power sat in a circle to discuss matters of weight, probably under the auspices of the Druids (religious power). Stonehenge was probably chief amongst these places, given the effort involved and reach of those providing materials/labour.
Where did you hear that?
@@Fatherofheroesandheroines Geoffrey of Monmouth and similar, plus temporal and spiritual power are always close. Livy, for instance.
@@alexanderperry1844 I'm not certain Geoffrey is exactly someone to listen to. He made up everything he wrote and was only LOOSELY based on past events. So loosely they might as well have been a lead in the wind. Also I don't know where you got the Livy reference.
Livy - Belief in Gods was not universal.
Anyway, what do you think?
@@alexanderperry1844 i think Livy and Geoffrey are too debatable but this kind of archeology is more responsible.
Absolutely mindblowing. 😮 beautiful
Frankly, isn't it great that, here we are in 2022, and there are still mysteries like Stonehenge that we can't figure out?
No. I desperately want to know what the hell this incredible structure is. I want to know what the people were like, who they were, what technology they developed...I want to know it all. Drives me nuts that we still haven't figured this out...in a good way, of course.
@@LukeDodge916 As the Rolling Stones said, "You can't always get what you want." Any theories we come up with to explain all that will just be speculation at this point. It's not like those Stone Age people wrote down their rationale. Not knowing gives all these people jobs, after all. :-) It's that desperate desire to understand that keeps us searching....
@@LukeDodge916
Yes it is incredible what these people achieved. I bet that with all the knowledge we have, we still could not build this monument today without using modem tools and methods.
Aliens
No
Very interesting and informative
Stonehenge is an ancient wonder. On the other side of the world is a similar wonder called Nan Madol, on the island of Ponhpei, Micronesia. The ancients knew a great deal more than our knowledge of them suggests.
And where did THEY, get their knowledge?
True, they were far mor advance in the science of contraception, and that's why there no longer around.
@@MrDaiseymay Well, it was either from the Romulens or the Irish . Which do you think
@@philcooper279 Pleiadians!
@@MrDaiseymay from our superpower indian
I read a book a long time ago which I now have in my hands as I write, called "Stonehenge Decoded", 1965, Doubleday & Co.. It was written by G. S. Hawkins base on studies at the "Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard College Observatory, Boston University and the area around Stonehenge". He had researched the site a few times taking measurements on a line between pairs of the uprights, which actually form two rings of arches. If you walk a straight line down the center of the site toward the Heel or pointer stone point you can see through the pairs of gaps in the stones toward the Aubrey holes. In fact, if (minute 14:48) you look behind Heather Sabre, you can see such an alignment. He took the data back to California and fed the data out to the horizon thinking they may point to a star (indicating they were placed at that site to show that it was ETs who created the structure. Finding nothing he paused his work. then he heard about an ancient Greek writing that spoke of the gods of the sun and moon coming to dance at a spot on the "western isles", a reference to the British Isles. To shorten my story his computer, fed the right data, showed that those pairs actually show lunar/solar events, like midwinter and midsummer sunrise as well as eclipse dates. It showed too that there is an lunar eclipse at either the midwinter or midsummer sunrise (my memory isn't that good) that occurs approximately every 19, 19 & 18 year cycles directly over the Heel (pointer) Stone. That explains to 56 Aubrey holes, which divided by three comes to 18 years and 8 months. And, using only 3 stones you could predict exactly when that would occur. He set up a camera on the next date the event was to happen. When the time came and the sun was sitting on the very tip of the stone, the moon moved in front of the sun for the eclipse. Midwinter sunrise is directly north of that center line. Stonehenge is, in fact, a lunar solar calendar. Perhaps, if you can find that film you could update your show.
West woods still has some big stones about it, there is also a huge track way cut into the camber of the hill side that was likely used to transport the stones up and out of the valley, it starts at the area where the stones were collected and worked and points to stone henge.
Brilliant video! So much information - really well done!
Thanks so much!
As a teenager I went to summer solstice and sold pills to various party people inside the stone circle...makes me laugh thinking about it when I drive past it on the a303 to go to work on site...now I'm obsessed with all the stone age barrows, standing stones and relics around Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset! So much ancient history on our doorsteps in the UK.
You should visit Anglelsey one day. It's a small island, but it has over 500 prehistoric sites.
@@gerryjamesedwards1227 I did when working in Bangor and valley, some amazing burial chambers/tombs/stones there!!
@@Number12lookslikejoe yes, and as with Stonehenge, I just wish we knew more about the people who erected these monuments, and why.
Great! In a way, I'm relieved that this doesn't postulate a theory, as, well, we just don't know.. Q. What was the topography of the area like, apart from forest? In particular, was there much water? How high is the site above (today's) sea level? Also the idea of a collective vision of Stonehenge is a strong one. Could there be technologies we have lost? It seems to me that the more we learn about this fascinating monument the more mysterious the damn thing is. Enjoyed this hugely. Cheers me dears! 👍
Amazing! Thank you. 😊😊😊😊
In ancient times,
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people, the Druids
No one knows who they were or what they were doing
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living rock, of Stonehenge
and it goes up to 11?
no the Druids had nothing to do with it, it predates them by many years
Maybe if they’d used Dobly
@@rbb9753 you'll probably get some clown on here saying ' no it's actually dolby'
*_We still have so much mysteries in the world that even scientists and experts could not explain._*
It was aliens 👽 😂😂
maybe some dude with a flying Delorean did it😂
Thanks so much for posting
Half of the stones didn’t remain upright.
Stone Henge was rebuilt in 1958 as a restoration project by a couple of blokes in funny hats with a tractor and crane. Did they even get it right?
It’s completely plausible that they didn’t which makes the mystery impossible to unravel.
We have such sophisticated techniques and technology now.
It starts with admitting what happened in 1958 and taking down what they put up on and re-doing it again unless you’re not going to admit it happened to me Stonehenge is just a Disney Theme Park
I don’t agree with these stones just “falling over”, these stones are so heavy, I don’t think the Henge was never fully finished, who ever built it was stopped in doing so and apart from the “help” in the 1950’s is now how it was left.
You mean done by a well-known archaeologist and his team... and don't be silly, it's well known that it was in poor shape and needing restoration work. Perhaps you don'r realise that stone holes are pretty easy to find removing the topsoil and getting down to chalk.. Take off that tinfoil hat. If you want to complain about rebuilding...well, Avebury stones were mostly buried before being re-erected by Keiler who wasn't an archaeologist, and some may even be in upside down!
Fascinating. Great post.
I love history hit. But Stonehenge has been re built by historians more than twice with stones removed and cemented in place that's y they still standing lol
Keep up the good work!
I believe Stonehenge is a primitive version of the castle and mote. It would function (when completed) as a fortress of security to protect those who got in it before the "bad guys" showed up. I believe the chalk drums found with buried children are representations of what it would "vaguely" look like when completed. There are many ditch and mound circles with pillars in the middle of them through out the British isles. I believe these were all fortresses of security at one time in the past.
"over 4000 years ago, in the Stone Age"
While I was pondering the Egyptian history that, if memory serves, tracks pharaohs back to 4000 years BC, more than 6000 years sgo, the presenter says something like 3600 BC, and that is actally just over 4000 years ago.
Spirit levels are not necessary, all that was ever needed for vertical and horizontal leveling was three fairly straight pieces if wood or bone and a weight hanging from sone form of string attached to the top edge.
I remember going there in the early 60s. It was a hell of a drive and it was just after my birthday so as a mischievous little boy I sharpened my birthday present - a small pen knife- on one of the stones
A theory on how the stones were transported: Slid on on ice - during the winter.
when was the new path inserted which makes a break in the protective circle.. Totally enjoy your amazing History channel.
They got it done by having a idea and a massive amounts of hard work and dedication.
The first time i saw stonehenge I was 8 years old and was not impressed at all , a bunch of stones , and it was pouring with rain . In later years i became a lot more interested in stonehenge and to this day it still fascinates me and the more i learn about it the more fascinated I have become
What a great monument 4000 years ago with no tools of any kind but stones to stone to smooth the surface. But how did they manage to bring such a huge stone from so far away? I visited Stonehenge in 1967 just walked it and walked out nobody was there! As a monuments enthusiast, I also visited 55 countries in my 88-year-old life!!
Excellent presentation
Seems to be the most successful educational effort in history.
What always fascinates me is, what language for communication must they have used.
Because whatever it was, it must have been extremely clear for others to understand.
Fascinating. Thanks.
Well worth a visit to be part of the history of Stone Henge.
Add it to your bucket list.
Just did it today. Was amazing.
ua-cam.com/video/lO3wAj_UpdI/v-deo.html
You don't need a spirit level to measure level. Anything that can contain water will act as a spirit level. No wonder people can't understand how this was built when they can't even comprehend the most simple party of the construction process. 🤦♂️
Just built by men, I did a few as a quarry manager in middle east not difficult and stones moved by sled
Can't wait to visit again!
going to show us Avebury? 🙂 (talking of antlers)
thankyou.. so interesting and it's obvious your passion too..
thankyou for sharing this..
Antlers, he's not going to suggest deer built Stonehenge, beats aliens.
Are there any plans to re-stand some of the stones that have fallen? I'm thinking of the second upright stone of the trilathon (sp?) and the lintel that have fallen on the altar, mentioned at roughly the 8 minute mark.
The lady was very tactical in what she said. What she didn't say was some upright stones are far too short to have a cap stone on them that also sits on the upright stone next to it. Far far too short. In simpler words the place was never finished or the large stones were mishandled and rearranged badly so nowdays it can't be fixed without another total rebuild. Taking the missing cap stones into account that will never happen. It is what it is right now and that's all it is. Pity.
It looked so authentic and historical. And then I found out that it was dissembled and reassembled at one point. All its authenticity, lost. All the stones were now secured in modern concrete.
I will ser IT next August. I can' t wait.❤
very interesting lady , information without all the theorising
Dan Snow is somewhat more relaxed and less central here than he is on TV(also excellent): he manages to throw out a gauntlet of enthusiasm around every rock/stone he sees; he even introduces another relaxed expert and allows her central stage. His ignorance of the vast , unfathomable mysteries of Stonehenge is very much our building blocks of incremental knowledge.
I watch alot of videos on stonehendge and i still have questions. Where did stones that size come from? How were they transported? How were they placed and made to stand erect? How were the toppers lifted that high and placed on top of standing stones? Was it partially destroyed on purpose maybe after it was used? Because no stones that heavy are going to get blown over by winds.
She's great. Very interesting.
Is the grass at Stonehenge just naturally that short or does someone have to come and mow it?
Imagine someone just invented the riding mower and you’re the poor sap who has to use it to navigate one of the oldest and most iconic historical landmarks in the world.
Historian voice: “And you’ll notice these markings here at the base of the stones that indicate Paul getting overzealous with the weed whacker last month.”
Just been announced by bbc that the altar stone is from NE Scotland 17/8/24
When you could just walk in there, years ago.
Thank you Gemma Louise Archer (from a local village ) when I was stationed at an airbase up that way.
I wonder if Avebury and Stonehenge are linked in someways with the stones at both places
I wish someone took the initiative to reassemble the stones that fell down, it would look a lot better. Afterall we do know which stones go where in regards those that fell down.