What Did the Romans Think About Stonehenge? (Expanded & Updated)

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  • Опубліковано 25 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 201

  • @samsonsoturian6013
    @samsonsoturian6013 16 днів тому +102

    Something to understand about ancient illiterate people is "the distant past" is often more recent than you think. The north Welsh were in the habit of naming every ancient ruin after the Irish because during the Fall of the Roman Empire the Irish came to Wales and set up their own kingdoms, but in the north they were driven out by a Welsh king. Ergo, Roman/Celtic buildings are called "Irishman's house/court/church." DNA evidence said the Irish did not even leave, they simply came under a Welsh king.

    • @mckendrick7672
      @mckendrick7672 8 днів тому +2

      Lots of people don't even realize the Scots aren't native to Scotland - Scots are Irish and they came to Britain at roughly the same time the Romans were leaving and wiped out the native British culture. There are still some Pictish words left in place names and family names, but the language and culture of the Picts was wiped out just as Cumbrian and other Britons were by the English. Wales and Cornwall have the only large surviving native British cultures.

    • @Brinta3
      @Brinta3 2 дні тому +1

      @@mckendrick7672
      How many years does it take to become a native then? The Irish came from somewhere else too!

    • @mckendrick7672
      @mckendrick7672 2 дні тому

      @@Brinta3 Really depends. The English and Scottish are considered "native" by now as in they have no other home they'd really return to nor would anyone expect them to leave, but if you're being extremely pedantic both of their identities are partially encoded with the fact they were specifically not native groups who invaded and conquered the island. The Irish on Ireland, on the other hand, have the identity of being the first surviving peoples who lived on that island - so although they also came from elsewhere, there is no group recorded in history that could possibly stake a claim to being more native to Ireland.

    • @Mejox
      @Mejox 21 годину тому

      @@mckendrick7672 they didn't "wipe out" the Pictish people who still remain and dna confirms this.

    • @mckendrick7672
      @mckendrick7672 15 годин тому

      @@Mejox Of course, as I mentioned Pictish is fossilized in some family and place names with clans attributing their heritage to the Picts (mine own included). My point is more that Scots aren't native just as the English aren't rather than that Picts were entirely wiped out. Populations rarely entirely wipe one another (especially not if they are somewhat closely related), although they can be suppressed by invading forces to varying degrees before being absorbed - which is true whether you look at the English suppression of Britons; the Scottish suppression of the Picts; or heck as far away as the Japanese suppression of the Jōmon (from Chinese populations who now make up the majority of the Japanese genome, and completely supplanted the Jōmon in Korea).

  • @thumper8684
    @thumper8684 16 днів тому +66

    I read Asterix as a kid. I know the Gauls already had dolmens. What I do not understand is how a small village with a miraculous strangth potion never made it into the history books.

    • @FrancisFjordCupola
      @FrancisFjordCupola 16 днів тому +9

      Papyrus is one of the secret ingredients of the potion. Be strong now, tell tales later. And don't leave any Romans around to tell either.

    • @telebubba5527
      @telebubba5527 16 днів тому +22

      What are you talking about? There are 40 books on him! You just went to the wrong school.🤦😜

    • @abrvalg321
      @abrvalg321 15 днів тому +2

      They ran out unicorn milk and got conquered.

    • @abbofun9022
      @abbofun9022 10 днів тому

      Seems like a clear case of English media bias. . . . ,

  • @Bern_il_Cinq
    @Bern_il_Cinq 16 днів тому +72

    A migrant from the Alps may have visited Stonehenge in 2400 BC to be healed? That's insane.

    • @terryhunt2659
      @terryhunt2659 16 днів тому +28

      Well, he was certainly there - I recently saw him in Salisbury Museum. His grave (near Stonehenge) was the richest ever found from the period, and he had a crippled leg (and a bad tooth abcess). Aged 35-45, he had spent his early life in the region of the Alps, and from his grave good he seems to have been a high-status metal worker. A nearby grave contained a man about 20 years younger who was almost certainly a relative (they shared a rare hereditary feature of their foot bones).

    • @blacksage2375
      @blacksage2375 16 днів тому +15

      The Egyptians imported lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and Bronze Age trade routes went to Britain for tin. Most of that would be passing through many many traders not single voyagers, but certain people did travel.
      Also hell its not like the options were all that different in later millennia up until the Industrial Revolution.

    • @r0ky_M
      @r0ky_M 15 днів тому +3

      ​@@terryhunt2659any actual DNA study to show they were relatives?

    • @MarcusAgrippa390
      @MarcusAgrippa390 14 днів тому +4

      Yeah, his name was Steve...
      Sir Steve of Switzerland and he brought his son with him as well, his name was Steve Stevenson.
      100 percent true....

    • @binkwillans5138
      @binkwillans5138 13 днів тому

      I'm afraid I agree with you.

  • @davidpumpkinsjr.5108
    @davidpumpkinsjr.5108 6 днів тому +5

    First there was Woodhenge and Strawhenge, but a big bad wolf blew them down.

  • @chrisloach9658
    @chrisloach9658 16 днів тому +64

    What did ancient people believe about when they got shocked by static electricity?

    • @aardsnark940
      @aardsnark940 16 днів тому +20

      Jupiter shook his dingle dangle and just a bit landed on ya

    • @nuance9000
      @nuance9000 16 днів тому +19

      Magic. Medicine. Electric eels and magnetic stones were used by the ancients for thousands of years.
      That or they'd get upset because they just ruined their $700 GPU

    • @dessertstorm7476
      @dessertstorm7476 16 днів тому +3

      the theory of electricity is only a few hundred years old you don't have to go back that far.

    • @scoon2117
      @scoon2117 16 днів тому

      I actually read up on that and forgot everything I learned lmao. I used ChatGPT and it compiled a list of ancient authors that mentioned electricity so maybe that will work for you.

    • @thomasrussell4674
      @thomasrussell4674 16 днів тому +23

      Electricity is named after elektron, the Greek word for amber. It's one of the first materials that human beings observed to generate static electricity.

  • @markoreilly98
    @markoreilly98 15 днів тому +43

    Hyperborea really sounds like Ireland by this description. "No smaller than Sicily" excludes the Scottish/Scandinavian islands. There being a chapter dedicated to Britain sounds like they're aware of it in its own context so that really only leaves Iceland and Ireland. I'd lean towards Ireland because the circular temple sounds like Newgrange and the "Apollo" worship could be conflated with Lugh, one of the chief members of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology, both of which are warriors often associated with light, the sun and the arts. Lastly, the mention of it being "unusually temperate" and providing good harvest sounds more like Ireland than Iceland - it is warmer here than you'd expect at this latitude (thank you gulf stream). Being Irish, I can tell you the winters certainly feel like the sun never rises sometimes. It wouldn't be unusual to only get ~6 hours of daylight. Even the "cithara" could be some kind of proto-harp - though maybe I'm reaching now.

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому

      Palm trees in a town on the west coast of Ireland. I forget which town (jet lag) but we were going from Shannon Airport to somewhere near Kerry.

    • @user-jt3zv2jc7u
      @user-jt3zv2jc7u 6 днів тому

      I also thought of Ireland at first, but it's not far north enough for the the sun not to set.
      It also couldn't be Iceland, as there were no people living there in Classical Greek or Roman times, and wouldn't be until almost 1,000 years after.

    • @realityhurtstoomuch8830
      @realityhurtstoomuch8830 6 днів тому +1

      Where in Ireland does the sun never set?

    • @roryoneill9444
      @roryoneill9444 6 днів тому

      @@realityhurtstoomuch8830 During the Summer, Ireland's dawn is about 4:30am and about 10:00pm, if you are sleeping for 8 hours, he would be going to bed in the daylight and getting up in the daylight..

    • @user-jt3zv2jc7u
      @user-jt3zv2jc7u 6 днів тому

      @@roryoneill9444 That doesn't count as the sun not appearing to set. That happens in every country in the northern hemisphere during the summer.
      It only applies to places in the arctic circle, where they have several weeks of total daylight during the summer, and the same amount of weeks of total darkness during winter.

  • @FrancisFjordCupola
    @FrancisFjordCupola 16 днів тому +134

    Love how archaeologists sometimes think: "we found loads of garbage. Must be tourists."

    • @samthecan3116
      @samthecan3116 16 днів тому +10

      I mean are the wrong though

    • @chumleyk
      @chumleyk 15 днів тому +20

      It's pretty simple. Throughout all of human history, people don't usually sh*t on their doorstep, but are mindlessly happy to do so on others.

    • @AudieHolland
      @AudieHolland 15 днів тому +8

      @@chumleyk Medieval floors that were just stamped earth, often contains layers of fish bones and other small stuff the occupiers just left on the floor.

    • @Matt_The_Hugenot
      @Matt_The_Hugenot 11 днів тому

      Could be worse, could be ritual.

    • @Ken_Scaletta
      @Ken_Scaletta День тому

      You have no idea how archaeolo0gists think because they don't think this.

  • @Dante-ki4ol
    @Dante-ki4ol 15 днів тому +27

    "Worst Parthenon Ever. Doesn't even have an aquaduct".

  • @bobjackson4720
    @bobjackson4720 16 днів тому +18

    If you imagine Europe at the time of the Roman Empire there were really impressive ruins everywhere. I'm sure the Romans saw Stonehenge but probably thought it so primitive and second rate it wasn't even worth mentioning.

    • @grannyweatherwax8005
      @grannyweatherwax8005 5 днів тому

      I've been taught the Romans had great respect for tradition and were open to the religious beliefs of others, as long as they would also pledge allegiance to the Roman state religion. However we know they hated the Druids so maybe they incorrectly thought Druids built it. But just because English speaking people in the recent past considered other cultures primitive and looked down on them, it's wrong to assign that type of thinking to everyone else.

  • @zeekwolfe6251
    @zeekwolfe6251 12 днів тому +13

    For archeologists every construction no matter where found starts out as a "temple" until proven otherwise, Gobekli Tepe, Anasazi ruins, or Stonehenge are just three examples.

    • @jesperlykkeberg7438
      @jesperlykkeberg7438 10 днів тому +4

      There are other versions of the same archeologist´s bias: Pretty much any trace of a regular Viking age village barn in Scandinavia is claimed by the archeologists to be a "royal hall" solely based on the building being of a larger size.

    • @zeekwolfe6251
      @zeekwolfe6251 9 днів тому +1

      @jesperlykkeberg7438 These same archeologists, to preserve funding and tenure, ruined a number of careers by insisting and heavily promoting the 'Clovis first' scenario. Those who disagreed were disparaged with a sub-text linking them to UFO research and flat earthers. Well, UFOs have now entered the mainstream despite Pentagon sneering aided by the MSM. "Temple" first archeologists now seem to be modern flat earthers. Barns as 'royal halls' in Scandinavia, LOL, easy to see your point. (YT often censors comments, let's hope this one squeaks past the delete algorithm. A recent paragraph about Emperor Constantine the Great and the 325 Council of Nicea, historical, non religious, was deleted after 5 minutes.)

    • @AndyClayton-f5x
      @AndyClayton-f5x 2 дні тому

      Ritual is the handy go to reason for anything the archaeologists don't understand.

    • @Ken_Scaletta
      @Ken_Scaletta День тому

      This is simply not true whatsoever. "Temple" is usually considered a possibility if it is a structure that nobody lived in. There weren't too many non-domestic buildings and if a building was not lived in it had some other purpose. No apparent practical purpose is an indicator, but they also look for stuff like altars (which Stonehenge has), burials (which Stonehenge has) and votive offerings (which Stonehenge has in abundance). If a building has another purpose, hat purpose is pretty easy to figure out.

    • @Ken_Scaletta
      @Ken_Scaletta День тому

      @@zeekwolfe6251 There were no ancient aliens. You sound like you've been suckered by bullshit. What did you say about Constantine. I say he is one of the most destructive personalities in world history. Let's see if that gets deleted.

  • @GrayHand-jz6ie
    @GrayHand-jz6ie 15 днів тому +9

    Just wanted to point out Newgrange in Ireland is a better fit to the description and it;s a smaller island so also a better fit. It's a domed structure unlike Stonehenge. Just scrolled down and someone else mentions Newgrange.

  • @hippomancy
    @hippomancy 16 днів тому +15

    I tend to think of the shaft of animal bones might suggest a ritual sacrifice site, such as cult of Mithras. but I am just a layman who only read Diodorus because I read Conan as a young teen and found out he used Dio of Sicily as a source to imagine a prehistory for his world. heh. very cool stuff, this work of yours, and I do wish the Royal Trust would permit more archaeology on the site so that dimwits like myself don't fall into deeper and sillier theories.

    • @helenamcginty4920
      @helenamcginty4920 15 днів тому +1

      Why Mithras? The Romans had plenty of gods to choose from.

    • @hippomancy
      @hippomancy 15 днів тому

      @@helenamcginty4920 ritual sacrifice

    • @TomMorrison-cc6xw
      @TomMorrison-cc6xw 15 днів тому +1

      ​@@helenamcginty4920Mithris was the special God of soldiers. Vast majority of worshippers were military men. Fairly new God around Roman interaction in Britain. Also a serious "mystery cult." Their rites were secret and, so far anyway, have stayed that way. Needless to say that's allowed for some pretty wild speculation regarding their rituals.

  • @longcastle4863
    @longcastle4863 12 днів тому +2

    For those wondering, the Anglo-Saxon period starts around 410 CE 4:22..

  • @samsonsoturian6013
    @samsonsoturian6013 16 днів тому +32

    One theory about why Britain may be Hyperborea is that the writer is dealing with two accounts of the same place: One wildly exaggerated legends and the other actual traveler's reports

    • @cyan1616
      @cyan1616 16 днів тому +13

      It's not Britain. This story originally came from the Greeks. They said Hyperborea was famous for it's Amber. They said the amber was created when someone (a meteor) fell from the sky and into the water, which corresponds with the impact that occurred over 2 thousand years ago near the coast or border of present day Finland and Eastonia.
      So no, they've already eliminated the British Islands and Siberia.
      The Amber is the clue, please ignore the Anglocentrists.

    • @gitfoad8032
      @gitfoad8032 15 днів тому

      Lots of 'Chinese whispers' in history - just look at flamingo's/pheonix. 'Britain' itself is a spelling mistake - it was originally 'Pritain'.

    • @SiqueScarface
      @SiqueScarface 15 днів тому +2

      @@gitfoad8032 I would not call it a spelling mistaken, because this pressupposes that there was "Pritain" (or actually Pretani) spelled out before in an authorative way. But all we have is Dionysios and Strabo quoting the lost writings of Pytheas and writing "Prettanike" and "Nesoi brettaniai" in their works. A reconstruction of the Celtic word the Greek words were based on leads to the mentioned "Pretani" (Painted ones), for which we have no written evidence, and a reconstructed Proto-Celtic "Kwrit" with a Kw instead of a P.

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому

      @@SiqueScarface Don't forget the Picts.

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому +2

      @@cyan1616 Perfectly happy to be Scandinavian centric. I bought some lovely amber in Denmark, unfortunately after Jurassic park the movie, after it got cool to the average person and even the lesser quality got expensive.
      There is however some amber on the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, and some has been found in gravel beds and coal seams in other places such as London and Scotland. I don't think I will make it back to Finland or Estonia. (Sweden was also awesome but I bought glass there. Apparently, that whole glassmaking industry is gone now.)

  • @kf877
    @kf877 11 днів тому +5

    Curious why Ireland isn't included in the possible locations of Hyperborea and/or Thule?

  • @pokegnome2
    @pokegnome2 16 днів тому +14

    Having been pointed at this video, and as a former staff member there, gonna say it feels a bit odd to just kinda skip by Geoffrey of Monmouth; especially since any notion of washing the stones as part of healing - particularly as supported by the late Timothy Darvill - is taken from him, even if he then also thinks the thing was stolen by Uther Pendragon from the Irish with Merlin's help, and had originally been built there by giants using stone from farthest Africa. I realise that might be why such was discounted for being particularly, blatantly wrong and just a legend Geoffrey seems to have pulled out his ass, but it was also the prevailing theory for half a millennium, and it is worth considering if looking at historical perceptions of the site
    In turn, when bringing up Aubrey and Stukeley, it might have been worth elaborating on what their conclusions (even if Aubrey's were technically unpublished) actually were. Stukeley - which over here we generally pronounce like 'stook-lee' - in particular didn't so much see it as 'prehistoric' as specifically 'pre-Roman', and being an 18th century antiquarian, that meant Celtic to his mind, because no-one else could exist to his understanding. Whereby then if it was 'Celtic', that meant the leaders of such a project would be druids, and he is subsequently the reason we have had a long and difficult time in disentangling the association in pop culture. His idea of a 'Celt' was also 'secretly Phoenicians' too, which causes him to claim everything was built to spec in terms of cubits
    Also any talk of a wooden structure over Stonehenge is fairly fringe and silly, especially if trying to tie Diodorus writing about such for that purported temple to Apollo. Ideas like Ewbank's involve largely fabricating a second structure that can fit around the existing site but that doesn't actually integrate its architecture in any meaningful or structural fashion - where it wouldn't be necessary to have the trilithons to build the space.
    Honestly, it would have been worth highlighting the wider archaeological context in Wiltshire where we know that Roman settlers did build themselves in relative proximity to a number of other prehistoric structures - like the Roman farm next to Wilsford Henge, or the village next to Silbury Hill. They are present in the landscape and likely within Roman awareness, though what that actually meant is the big uncertainty. Even simply having the knowledge that it saw regular and recurring activity in those centuries, maybe even a burial, doesn't shift that much - it's really not that dissimilar from the space we're in today where people can come from afar, with little knowledge of the site or its wider context, and still try to find meaning and potentially act upon ritual there, even if it's just the once. What we can most certainly day is that it was... there, but that itself can hold weight and meaning. It might still have been just because it was neat, or maybe generations of colonial citizens came to feel something special about it. Need the time machine (or maybe another letter from Vindolanda) for that one

    • @terryhunt2659
      @terryhunt2659 16 днів тому +4

      ". . . the thing was stolen by Uther Pendragon from the Irish with Merlin's help, and had originally been built there by giants using stone from farthest Africa."
      Interesting, in that we now now that the bluestones came from Preseli, where they were erected in a circle there for perhaps a century or more before being transported to the Stonehenge area. Preseli is in Dyfed, a kingdom ruled for a period from the 5th century on by an Irish dynasty, and in which Old Irish was spoken. Although Geoffrey eveidently invented a lot, he also did consult various old Welsh documents: perhaps one of them contained a grain of truth.

    • @llywrch7116
      @llywrch7116 15 днів тому +4

      @@terryhunt2659Despite the critically hostile response historians have towards Geoffrey of Monmouth, it is clear where he drew on earlier sources, & where he inserted his own material: where he invented events, the narrative often reads like fanfic, with ridiculous character motivations & outrageous sizes for armies. The earlier material is much more plausible, & tends to find parallels in known folk traditions. So it is likely that a tradition that Merlin was somehow connected to Stonehenge precedes Geoffrey of Monmouth. How much earlier this tradition was, I'm not qualified to say.

  • @WizardofOdd-ws3wg
    @WizardofOdd-ws3wg 16 днів тому +11

    Hyperborea is obviously Ireland and the city is Newgrange.

  • @kayaksamir4695
    @kayaksamir4695 16 днів тому +9

    You need more little ice age edits if you mention hyperboreans

  • @dfgyuhdd
    @dfgyuhdd 16 днів тому +5

    Someone should make biographical films about people like the Stonehenge Archer, Cheddar Man, Ötzi the Iceman. Obviously their stories require some embellishment but as long as they were historically plausible I'd watch them over and over again.

    • @kenyonmoon3272
      @kenyonmoon3272 16 днів тому +1

      There are such, but I'm not sure any one person has made a dedicated playlist or channel about that topic. I would like it as well.

    • @snowmiaow
      @snowmiaow 15 днів тому +2

      They could make a mainstream movie out of Otzi.

    • @snowmiaow
      @snowmiaow 15 днів тому +1

      ​@@kenyonmoon3272f you have some titles, let us know!

    • @dfgyuhdd
      @dfgyuhdd 15 днів тому

      @@snowmiaow They absolutely could, the big studios are just hung up on Marvel or whatever sequel they can squeeze one more dollar from

    • @Venejan
      @Venejan 12 днів тому +1

      @@snowmiaow The murder of Ötzi the iceman is probably the coldest case ever! You could make a cool movie depicting Ötzi's hike over the mountains and his cruel murder by an archer, alternating with scenes in the present where a modern forensic archeologist tries to solve the mystery using modern methods.

  • @Davidium84
    @Davidium84 14 днів тому +1

    The King's Grave in southern Sweden is spherical and very wierd. The runestones inside point to this place being some kind of temple where rituals are all over the stones.

  • @liveliestawfulness
    @liveliestawfulness 12 днів тому +4

    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.

    • @user-jt3zv2jc7u
      @user-jt3zv2jc7u 6 днів тому +1

      Stonehenge had nothing to do with the Druids. They worshipped in oak groves, not stone "temples."

  • @grannyweatherwax8005
    @grannyweatherwax8005 5 днів тому

    I'd love to find out more about theories that Stonehenge was once covered. I've considered that myself and find it intriguing.

  • @eb4661
    @eb4661 3 дні тому +1

    “… where the sun doesn’t set”, cannot be a reference to Britain, Orkney or Iceland. If sailing starboard to land, Bottenvika between Finland and Sweden is just a degree short. Rationally, and assuming the sun was clearly above being set, some northern part of Norway is the only possibility. This corresponds also with large ships being built and used up and down the Norwegian coast, as historically is documented in stone. With fairly good winds, summertime, it takes a day and a night from Shetland to Bergen. Six days from Shetland to Harstad is very doable.

  • @vtvt2690
    @vtvt2690 15 днів тому +2

    I’d assume they didn’t know how old it was nor where the stones came from. So Romans would probably look at this and think “See. These barbarians can’t even finish a building project.”

  • @whateverrandomnumber
    @whateverrandomnumber 15 днів тому +4

    Where the sun doesn't set - Orkneys? Not even Iceland! It's gotta be inside the Arctic circle, for god's sake!

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому +2

      I expect if you came from the Mediterranean it would seem like the sun didn't set Ireland and North of there if you were there in June.

  • @JorgeStolfi
    @JorgeStolfi 15 днів тому +2

    The "spherical" in Diodorus Siculus's account may well have been a translation error, either by him, by his source, or by later translators. The original term may have been something like "round", which could mean either circular or spherical -- and was incorrectly assumed to be the latter. No?

  • @rayrowley4013
    @rayrowley4013 14 днів тому +1

    It surprises me there is not more grafitti. Not just paint, but carvings.

  • @davidc5191
    @davidc5191 16 днів тому +3

    The Romans were certainly familiar with neolithic megaliths, like the Nuraghe on Sardinia, right in their own back yard.

  • @kf877
    @kf877 11 днів тому +1

    Most of the conquered Celtic lands would have had standing stone monuments. Romans were likely not impressed as they had seen so many already.

  • @JohnDelong-qm9iv
    @JohnDelong-qm9iv 4 дні тому

    Noah commissioned his sons to build memorials to the events of the flood . He knew the last generation would deny the knowledge of the deluge. They utilized the soft sediments remaining from the deluge to sculpt motifs that contain clues to the events if the event at many locations worldwide .

  • @snowmiaow
    @snowmiaow 15 днів тому +5

    The problem with those ancient nonfictional accounts is sometimes they made stuff up to make it relatable to their audiences, for example, maybe they werent worshiping Apollo. Where the sun doesnt set is pretty clear though.

    • @grannyweatherwax8005
      @grannyweatherwax8005 5 днів тому

      That's exactly what I just said - that you need to take their accounts with a grain of salt. However even a statement like where the sun never sets could have been an exaggeration. Could even be a translation error.

  • @hendman4083
    @hendman4083 2 дні тому

    They probably thought: the builder should have used arcs!

  • @cyan1616
    @cyan1616 16 днів тому +5

    The missing island may have been the now submerged island of Heligoland, or most likely Rugen which was known as aHoly Island
    Follow the amber.

    • @specialnewb9821
      @specialnewb9821 16 днів тому +1

      Rugen is nowhere close to the size of Sicily.

    • @terryhunt2659
      @terryhunt2659 16 днів тому +1

      And Heligoland is _not_ submerged. It has a population of over 1,200, and is a popular holiday resort.

    • @Venejan
      @Venejan 12 днів тому

      Rügen had an impressive temple to the Slavic god Svantevit, portions of whose enclosure are still visible along the northern coastline. I seriously doubt it was that old, however.

  • @ojassarup258
    @ojassarup258 16 днів тому +2

    "temperate" place that produces two crops a year doesn't sound like iceland 😅
    Pretty crazy though that almost all ancient references to Stonehenge have been lost!

    • @eljanrimsa5843
      @eljanrimsa5843 15 днів тому +2

      Almost all ancient documents have been lost. Not just those about Stonehenge.

    • @jonstfrancis
      @jonstfrancis 15 днів тому

      Vast majority of documents (books, maps, plays etc) in England were burnt during the Reformation.

  • @abandoninplace2751
    @abandoninplace2751 16 днів тому +1

    Trithilons: Lesser known cousins of Tribbles and Triffids. Odd coincidence, i'd very recently watched the original.

  • @aaronjaben7913
    @aaronjaben7913 15 днів тому +1

    fascinating

  • @jamessmithson-br7rm
    @jamessmithson-br7rm 11 днів тому +2

    They knew it existed. I saw a documentary about it on BBC with Matt Smith in called Doctor Who 🤪

    • @jamessmithson-br7rm
      @jamessmithson-br7rm 11 днів тому

      But in all seriousness, if you didn’t know how old it was Stonehenge isn’t that impressive… we are looking at it through a modern western lense which makes it interesting to us, but that doesn’t mean the Roman’s would have viewed it in the same way or even given it much thought at all.

  • @willmosse3684
    @willmosse3684 12 днів тому

    We might be Hyperborea? That’s badass!

  • @MagnusPalmblad
    @MagnusPalmblad 8 днів тому

    Ale's Stones shown on the first map are younger than the Roman Empire (around 550 CE).

  • @janesda
    @janesda 16 днів тому +1

    How does one differentiate between the actions of Roman-Britons and those of Romans?

  • @WreckedRover
    @WreckedRover 16 днів тому +2

    the shaft was a mithras temple? They had underground temples and ceremonies.

  • @thomasdalton1508
    @thomasdalton1508 16 днів тому +2

    I don't see how a mythical island the size of Sicily could possibly refer to Great Britain. Great Britain wasn't mythical. It was very well known. And it's far too large. That theory doesn't hold water at all.

  • @Paul-lm5gv
    @Paul-lm5gv 2 дні тому

    Very interesting. The diagram at 5:22 serves what purpose if you do not explain it.

  • @Goldenself
    @Goldenself 16 днів тому +2

    How is it that Stonehenge of all places is underexcavated

    • @eljanrimsa5843
      @eljanrimsa5843 15 днів тому +5

      Archeologists don't like to destroy the context. They only excavate when there is a really good reason e.g. a construction project is going to destroy the site anyhow.

    • @rattusrattusrattus6883
      @rattusrattusrattus6883 15 днів тому +2

      @@eljanrimsa5843 Exactly. You've also got to take into account that Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, AND is managed by Historic England. All those three are super super super hard to get permission even to do non-destructive surveys such as geophysics, etc. So when you have all three together your chances of any excavation are very very slim. These organisations are in place to preserve the site.

    • @gitfoad8032
      @gitfoad8032 15 днів тому +2

      No such thing as 'underexcavated': excavation ='s destruction. Can you imagine Schliemann saying "I haven't excavated Troy enough", particularly when he'd already dug through it - & destroyed what he was looking for in the process.

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому +1

      Have you missed the whole laser and lidar scanning of that whole Stonehenge area that has revealed all of the related monuments over the past 10 years? It's impressive, a lot like scanPyramid. Wessex Archeology, English Heritage and others have info. There are little video clips and I have seen several PBS/BBC type documentaries.

  • @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147
    @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147 16 днів тому +10

    Fair play to the Christians for not destroying Stonehenge and many other monuments.
    Credit where it's due.

    • @richardarden4620
      @richardarden4620 16 днів тому +18

      This is simply not true they destroyed hundreds of temples and cult sites throughout the Roman Empire, in addition to thousands of statues and other works of art

    • @tomtaylor5623
      @tomtaylor5623 16 днів тому +12

      is this comment for real? the most ridiculous comment i have ever read. 'credit to the destroyers for not destroying everything'.

    • @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147
      @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147 16 днів тому +2

      @@richardarden4620 Are you saying they destroyed Stonehenge? It's simply true they didn't destroy Stonehenge and many others.

    • @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147
      @voltairedentotalenkrieg5147 16 днів тому +4

      @@tomtaylor5623 Many other cultures destroy stuff.

    • @richardarden4620
      @richardarden4620 16 днів тому +1

      @@voltairedentotalenkrieg5147 Bit confused how you missed the point that thousands of temples and artworks were, in fact, deliberately destroyed by early Christians. This was actually a big effect of the rise of Christianity within the Empire. What makes places like Stonehenge so special is the fact that they are some of the few pagan sites to survive mostly intact.
      Early Christian belief was not to honor pagan sites but in fact the opposite. Many early church leaders called for the destruction of pagan idols and there are countless examples of Christian violence and destruction throughout the Roman Empire. To use a different example, the Greco-Roman temples that survive today are here ONLY because they were turned into churches. Any pagan temple not converted into a church was destroyed or shut down and robbed for stone. Early Christians did not revere pagan sites but in fact destroyed them much more often than they saved them.

  • @junefranklin458
    @junefranklin458 15 днів тому +1

    the romans correctly observed that stonehenge was a circle, just like a pizza.

  • @red.aries1444
    @red.aries1444 15 днів тому

    The question should be more like: Did the Romans ever thought that Stonehenge was something very special?
    There where ancient temples and megalith structures all over the Roman empire. Some Romans might have thought such structures could only have been built with the help of gods. But the Romans also had skilled engineers who moved big stones over long distances and erected huge structures with manual labour. So why should they think other people should be unable to do this? The Romans might not have thought how ancient Stonehenge already was when they came to Britain, but on the other hand they knowed that the pyramides where older than the founding of Rome.
    Local Romans would have visited this site - Why not? - and they might have done some offerings. The Romans where very good in incorporating other religions. But I don't think that Romans would have made long distance travels to Stonehenge. Yes, even in ancient times people did some form of tourism. But why visit such a cold place like Stonehenge in the north of the empire, if there where so much more lovely and warm places to visit?

  • @bcarroll7317
    @bcarroll7317 5 днів тому

    Stonehenge was a pile of rubble when the Romans were here. The Victorians stood the stones up right on concrete foundations. Check out some of the paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries.

  • @CDeBeaulieu
    @CDeBeaulieu 13 днів тому +1

    The Romans killed all the Druids in Britain, finally in Anglesey. If Stonehenge were used by the Druids it may be the Romans who toppled many of the stones.

    • @user-jt3zv2jc7u
      @user-jt3zv2jc7u 6 днів тому +1

      Remember that the Druids were just the priestly class of the Celts. They worshipped and taught in secluded oak groves in wooded areas. If the Celts still used Stonehenge as a place of worship or festivities it certainly wasn't in the same manner as the original Neolithic farmers who built it 2,000 years before them.

  • @stephenpark8133
    @stephenpark8133 9 днів тому

    The Romans said "it'll be nice when it's finished".

  • @noeraldinkabam
    @noeraldinkabam 14 днів тому +1

    If I bring a roman coin to Stonehenge it doesn’t mean romans were at Stonehenge…

  • @craigbenz4835
    @craigbenz4835 16 днів тому +1

    How old is the convention of maps being made with north at the top?

    • @graham2631
      @graham2631 16 днів тому

      Not that old as it only started with the invention of the compass.

    • @eljanrimsa5843
      @eljanrimsa5843 15 днів тому

      16th century

  • @GLB2440
    @GLB2440 3 дні тому

    Apparently it’s just a cemetery for mostly cremated remains

  • @honodle7219
    @honodle7219 10 днів тому

    The world loves a mystery it cannot solve. The best we can do : Stonehenge was built to the greater glory of .....what? by .....who?

  • @rjlchristie
    @rjlchristie 2 дні тому

    They probably laughed about it as they sat chatting in the colosseum and drank chilled water piped straight from an aqueduct.

  • @roryoneill9444
    @roryoneill9444 6 днів тому

    New Grange in Ireland could also be the place the Romans are talking about..

  • @sourcetext
    @sourcetext 13 днів тому

    Romans : look at all the stones, let's cover our faces with hoods and knock them all down then call it Dominos 😂

  • @AudieHolland
    @AudieHolland 15 днів тому

    Since no Roman or Greek travelled that far north, Hyperborea could be anywhere. Iceland or even oral recounts of Doggerland.

  • @alukuhito
    @alukuhito 7 днів тому

    That's cool.

  • @bardmadsen6956
    @bardmadsen6956 16 днів тому +1

    Like the research. Stonehenge is about Solar Worship, it is a gathering place when crossing the nighttime Taurids that take The Sun away via Impact Winters. I still want to know why the missions to The Moon were called Apollo.

  • @helen.hornbomb
    @helen.hornbomb 16 днів тому +2

    I think Hyperborea could have been Gotland. Theres a standing stone circle there and it's probably about the right size and distance from Britain. And if you go north its not far before you reach a land where the sun doesn't set! Or rise... depending on the season

  • @specialnewb9821
    @specialnewb9821 16 днів тому +1

    What is bluestone?

  • @comlitbeta7532
    @comlitbeta7532 13 днів тому

    I fint it amusing that people knew about Stonehenge and apparently didn't bother to write it down. Where cyclopean pile of big rock so numerus that ancient people were absolutely not interested in them ?

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому

      Prior to the Victorians and the rare travelling or scholar most people were only interested in ancient ruins as things to be avoided or sought out for bad or good luck or as a place to scarf worked stone from. I figure some of the missing Stonehenge stones are the base stones for nearby churches, medieval bridges or fort/castles.

  • @CDeBeaulieu
    @CDeBeaulieu 13 днів тому

    The Romans killed all the Druids in Britain, finally in Anglesey around I think 62 c.e. If Stonehenge were used by the Druids it may be the Romans who toppled many of the stones.

  • @alessandrotrucchi8338
    @alessandrotrucchi8338 14 днів тому

    Pretty sure there's something still to be digged out with "Romanes eunt domus" inscribed on it :-)

    • @kitefan1
      @kitefan1 13 днів тому

      "Maximus et Atticus hic erant"

  • @janbrittenson210
    @janbrittenson210 16 днів тому

    4:32 is that runes on the foreground stone???

    • @pokegnome2
      @pokegnome2 16 днів тому

      No, those are very modern bits of graffiti, you can see them from point 8. There's a lot of such on the monument, though for that stone - stone 23 - the biggest chunk is the name of one Sedgfield Anstie, whoever they were. The same stone also has the name Wren carved on it, which is suspected by many to be the work of one Christopher Wren, the architect

  • @rohancooray194
    @rohancooray194 20 годин тому

    How do we know it was Romans at the site, and not local Britons who were continuing to visit stonehenge for religious/cultural reasons while under Roman rule? If an anglo-saxon was later buried there, doesn't it imply that there was a continuation of reverance afforded to it until at least the early medieval period? This is especially because said Saxon was beheaded and buried, which, even if he was a criminal/war prisoner, was still a ritualistically signifcant act.

  • @stevep4131
    @stevep4131 5 днів тому

    Did the Romans get there before English Heritage roped it off?

  • @Mr.Softy2457
    @Mr.Softy2457 16 днів тому

    Pausanieus mentions daidels the works of daedalus father of icarus as primitive stone artworks of religious purposes

  • @QuirijnBesse
    @QuirijnBesse 11 днів тому

    Stonehenge. Where a man is a man.

  • @darkjudge8786
    @darkjudge8786 16 днів тому +5

    Only in the UK would a dig be stopped because it found something just outside the authorised boundary. I doubt things have improved since 2008 given the shit show we call a government and academia since then

    • @TheDanEdwards
      @TheDanEdwards 16 днів тому

      "given the shit show we call a government and academia since then"

    • @letsburn00
      @letsburn00 16 днів тому +4

      It's most likely more a case that they had a very limited archaeology budget. They need to be able to prove that they can refill it before the weather turns so they don't damage the finds forever.
      Almost all the "they aren't searching further." Is just running out of money.

  • @lacolocha75
    @lacolocha75 5 днів тому

    Geoffrey of Monmouth?

  • @juanmansego6267
    @juanmansego6267 15 днів тому

    Native americans canoed over and built them, bringing civilization to europe.

    • @Buckdawg
      @Buckdawg 13 днів тому

      Other way around 😉

  • @floycewhite6991
    @floycewhite6991 11 днів тому

    Shaft seems like animal sacrifice pit.

  • @thepath964
    @thepath964 16 днів тому +2

    My great grandfather owned a green coffee cup with an image of Stonehenge on it. He stole this Stonehenge coffee cup from an old African American man. He saw the old African American man leave church one day and lock the green coffee cup in his Oldsmobile, so when the coast was clear, great grandpa busted the window of the car with a brick and absconded with the cup. When many years later we asked him if he felt badly about having stolen the cup, he just laughed and laughed and laughed. But it wasn't a mischievous laugh, it was maniacal and demonic and utterly frightening. Then he became quiet, but he held the smile on his face for 45 minutes. Just staring forward, silent, but with that unnerving smile still on his face. When our great grandma asked him if he was okay, he finally spoke, and in a deep, devilish voice he said, "Hail Satan" over and over again. He must have said it 40 to 50 times. This was the day before Thanksgiving, 2013. Then he walked out of the front door without saying a word and never returned. He left his wallet, keys, and everything else. He just walked down the street and when we went out after him he was gone. No one could find him. Not even the police. He was 91yo and no one saw him nor heard from him ever again, except for one of our neighbors, who, four years later, saw him one night at 2am in their backyard, swinging on a children's swing set, with that same maniacal smile on his face. They called us and woke us up, but when we ran over to their backyard, great grandpa was gone. No one ever saw him again.

    • @awogbob
      @awogbob 16 днів тому +3

      If you want to share your stories just go to a creative writing class

    • @thepath964
      @thepath964 16 днів тому

      @@awogbob thank you very much!

    • @whosaidthat4299
      @whosaidthat4299 16 днів тому +2

      Yes, that was entertaining 😂.

    • @giustobuffo
      @giustobuffo 16 днів тому +1

      “I don’t think that dog is very shaggy”

  • @DM-dn7rf
    @DM-dn7rf 13 днів тому

    Thule is pronounced Too-lee not Thool.

  • @scoon2117
    @scoon2117 16 днів тому +1

    Stonehenge makes no sense.

  • @vickietaylor2850
    @vickietaylor2850 7 днів тому

    All the time I see Stonehenge, Stonehenge, and the mystery of Stonehenge….etc…..Let’s face it , we will never know everything. But so many archaeologists do films and such on it that it is a very lucrative business. You know, like Christmas.

  • @HomeRudeGirlz
    @HomeRudeGirlz 16 днів тому

    First!

  • @flexiblebirdchannel
    @flexiblebirdchannel 15 днів тому

    All your yellow places do not allow 2 harvests each year. So south england is plausible.

  • @LudosErgoSum
    @LudosErgoSum 16 днів тому +3

    They built these massive structures with alien tech to trap giants and have them die slowly to starvation. The aliens would then take away the corpse to serve as a delicacy on their home planet.

  • @will7its
    @will7its 5 днів тому

    Russia.....

  • @anthonyeaton5153
    @anthonyeaton5153 10 днів тому

    No one knows what other people are thinking especially when they have been dead thousands of years.

    • @Arete37
      @Arete37 6 днів тому

      You never know what anyone today is thinking really, unless you ask them.

  • @dashley2525
    @dashley2525 2 дні тому

    Stone Hinge is the foundation of an earth mound .

  • @AB-by8xu
    @AB-by8xu 8 днів тому +1

    stonehenge is a calendar