The document discusses several mysteries and theories about the origins and purpose of Stonehenge. Archaeologists have uncovered clues but many secrets remain. Some theories suggest it was used for ancient funerary practices or had astronomical alignments. Recent discoveries found people were buried there as early as 3000 BC, showing it was used as a cemetery from the start.

1. mystery Stonehenge Description and Selection by Riquette Mory October 2009

2. Stonehenge Secrets Many secrets remain surrounding the creation of Stonehenge. Archaeologists try to unravel the mystery. New discoveries are made at Stonehenge which uncovers secrets thousands of years old. Stonehenge may have been used for ancient funerary practices. How Stonehenge may have been raised 4500 years ago? Hauling the giant stones to Stonehenge was a monumental devotion. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory

3. Stonehenge from above Stonehenge decoded Stonehenge builder’s village If stones could speak The ruins of Stonehenge The southern circle at mid-summer solstice sunset. Stonehenge UK October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory

4. Stonehenge Builders' Village Found Durrington Walls and its position in relation to Stonehenge. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory

5. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory The people who excavated the immense stones and the smaller bluestones and then arranged them into a circular monument, came and went many centuries ago, without leaving any explanation. It is not surprising, then, that the mysterious monument has generated a wealth of theories, ranging from the mythic belief that it was fashioned by an ancient sorcerer to the notion that it was some sort of gigantic prehistoric computer. Some even have speculated that its origin is extraterrestrial. According to Geoffrey Monmouth (w riter and author ), the monument’s bluestones originated in Africa, where ancient giants digged them up because of their healing properties and transported them to the mythical Mount Killaraus in Ireland, where they formed the Giants’ Circle. Stonehenge Secrets

6. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory According to the English architect Inigo Jones (was asked by King James I) to document the structure of Stonehenge and investigate its origin. In 1655, three years after Jones’ death, his son-in-law John Webb published a book, The Most Remarkable Antiquity of Great Britain, Called Stone-Heng. The book depicts Stonehenge as the ruins of a Tuscan-style temple, built by the Romans during their occupation of Britain in the 1 st through 5 th Centuries AD, to worship Coelus, the Roman god of the sky. But this theory was attacked and it was proven that Stonehenge predated by thousands of years. The Druids - England was visited in 460 BC by travelers from the Middle East—possibly Phoenicians, seafaring people, who lived to the north of ancient Canaan - the land conquered by the Israelites. The visitors, who were followers of the ancient meta-religion, founded the pre-Christian Celtic religion of the Druid priests, and built Stonehenge as a place of worship. Later researchers discovered that Stonehenge actually was far older than the Druids. Stonehenge Secrets

7. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory Several theories proposed a connection between Stonehenge's purpose and astronomy. Lockyer (scientist and astronomer ) developed a theory that ancient temples were aligned according to the position of the sunrise at the time they were built. In 1901, he wrote a paper in which he assumed that portion of Stonehenge known as the Heel Stone had been originally aligned with the Summer Solstice, and on that basis calculated—incorrectly, as we now know-- that the monument had been built in 1800 BC. He pointed to astronomical similarities between Stonehenge and Egyptian temples, and argued that the English monument had been built by people from that region. 57 years later, American astronomer Gerald Hawkins used a computer to do a much more elaborate and exacting study of Stonehenge's astronomical alignments. In his analysis, he found 165 points on the structure associated with movements of the Sun and Moon (but not any stars or visible planets). He proposed that Stonehenge was in itself a sort of ancient computer, designed to predict lunar eclipses. Stonehenge Theories

8. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory Watkins (photographer) theorized that select travel routes highlighted a network of straight lines which connected various ancient landmarks. Danish author Erich von Däniken suggests that alien astronauts had a role in the creation of Stonehenge and other giant structures. Stonehenge stood as giant tombstones to the dead for centuries studies say. The site appears to have been intended as a cemetery from the very start, around 5,000 years ago—centuries before the giant sandstone blocks were erected—the new study says. New analysis of ancient human remains show that people were buried at the southern England site from about 3000 B.C. until after the first large stones were raised around 2500 B.C. "This is really exciting, because it shows that Stonehenge, from its beginning to its zenith, is being used as a place to physically put the remains of the dead," said Mike Parker Pearson of England's University of Sheffield. "It's something that we just didn't appreciate until now." Stonehenge Theories

9. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory Previous excavations indicate that Stonehenge was linked via the River Avon and two avenues to a matching timber monument at nearby Durrington Walls. (see map – page 4) The paired circles—Stonehenge and the wooden circle at Durrington —represented the realms of the living and the dead, according to Parker Pearson. The theory is that the majority of the dead were deposited in the river upstream at Durrington Walls, and only "a select few“ were buried at Stonehenge itself, he said. The site was excavated in 2006 as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The Stonehenge Riverside Project' s other finds in 2007 included further insights into a large seasonal village at Durrington Walls, where the builders of Stonehenge likely lived. "All the little details of daily life were preserved in the floor. Several houses were also uncovered along the avenue to the river, which may have been used by spectators during religious processions,” he said. Stonehenge Theories

10. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory Other team members found evidence that some of the stones at Stonehenge were transported earlier than believed. A new geological study of the Altar Stone suggests it actually came from the Brecon Beacons region of inland Wales, thus it would have been dragged overland to England. Furthermore, fragments of the same type of Welsh stone were identified from the nearby Stonehenge Cursus. The Cursus had been created centuries before the stone circle was constructed. "It's making us think that this connection with Wales might really have been quite long lasting and not just to do with Stonehenge," Parker Pearson said. Last but not least - Professor Darvill (of Bournemouth University ) and Professor Wainwright (of the Society of Antiquaries in the UK ) theorized that ancient people made pilgrimages to Stonehenge in hopes of a cure for their ills. Stonehenge Decoded

11. October 2009 Stonehenge Mystery - Riquette Mory I still have the hope to visit Stonehenge one day!