Stonehenge Decoded (spoilers)

[TillyGalore]

Did anyone watch Stonehenge Decoded on Nat Geo last night, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/stonehenge-decoded-3372/Overview?

I had it on and paid attention to most of it. Thought the explanations were really plausible, course they didn't interview anyone who disagrees with Professor Mike Parker Pearson so it was a one-sided program.

The theory is that Stonehenge is sacred ground and that there was also a wooden replica of sorts of the stones. The stone represented the permanence of death and the spirits while the wood represented the living and the limited time we each have here.

There was a circle that surrounded Stonehenge marking sacred ground which explains why archaeologists have never found homes near SH, but outside that circle Professor Parker Pearson's group found homes, evidence of feasts and so forth.

I was pretty impressed with the program. Anyone else want to chime in?

[colchar]

Did anyone watch Stonehenge Decoded on Nat Geo last night, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/stonehenge-decoded-3372/Overview?

I had it on and paid attention to most of it. Thought the explanations were really plausible, course they didn't interview anyone who disagrees with Professor Mike Parker Pearson so it was a one-sided program.

The theory is that Stonehenge is sacred ground and that there was also a wooden replica of sorts of the stones. The stone represented the permanence of death and the spirits while the wood represented the living and the limited time we each have here.

There was a circle that surrounded Stonehenge marking sacred ground which explains why archaeologists have never found homes near SH, but outside that circle Professor Parker Pearson's group found homes, evidence of feasts and so forth.

I was pretty impressed with the program. Anyone else want to chime in?


I can't chime in because I missed it - and I'm sorry I did. I'll definitely try to catch something about it when I am over in Britain as I doubt it will be rebroadcast here before I leave.

[TillyGalore]

I can't chime in because I missed it - and I'm sorry I did. I'll definitely try to catch something about it when I am over in Britain as I doubt it will be rebroadcast here before I leave.

I think it'll be on this Sunday at 4pm.

[2535Miles]

I think it'll be on this Sunday at 4pm.
Cool. I'll see if I can set it up to record. Thanks for posting.
Have you read Stonehenge (http://www.amazon.com/Stonehenge-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0061091944)? It's a fiction piece by Bernard Cronwell. It wasn't the best book I've read, but it was an entertaining piece on the fictional history of Stonehenge.

[TillyGalore]

Cool. I'll see if I can set it up to record. Thanks for posting.
Have you read Stonehenge (http://www.amazon.com/Stonehenge-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0061091944)? It's a fiction piece by Bernard Cronwell. It wasn't the best book I've read, but it was an entertaining piece on the fictional history of Stonehenge.

I can't pull up Amazon on my computer. :( Will look into it as I'm enjoy historical novels. Thanks for the suggestion.

[2535Miles]

I can't pull up Amazon on my computer. :( Will look into it as I'm enjoy historical novels. Thanks for the suggestion.
Here's a link to Stonehenge (http://books.google.com/books?id=oq9XPEZ5DeAC&dq=stonehenge+bernard+cromwell&pg=PP1&ots=dVYR7RXr7f&sig=v-iPJlDEjJ_Epg75_P7jAYdznAI&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fclient%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26q%3DStonehenge%2BBernard%2BCromwell%26ie%3DUT F-8%26oe%3DUTF-8&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail) on Google Books if you want a preview.

[DevilAlumna]

I can't pull up Amazon on my computer. :( Will look into it as I'm enjoy historical novels. Thanks for the suggestion.

Totally not Stonehenge related (unless we're referring to outdated technologies), but the Amazon issue was not your computer, but their service outage:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9962010-7.html?tag=nefd.lede


Amazon.com was inaccessible to many U.S. visitors for more than an hour and a half Friday.

The site went offline completely by 10:21 a.m. PDT, but efforts to restore the site appeared to be taking effect about noon, said Keynote Systems, which monitors Web site responsiveness. As of 12:45 p.m., the site was working intermittently, with many product pages functioning but others still broken.

[DukeUsul]

I'm a huge discovery channel/NGC/science show nerd. I'm big into history, especially the history of Britain and Ireland. My wife and I loved visiting the island and seeing various henges, cairns, and random standing stones.....

That being said, I was thoroughly disappointed with the show. The presentation was just too dry, and uninteresting. I actually turned it off after about 45 minutes.

This is coming from a guy who can watch a marathon of How It's Made for hours and be completely entertained the whole time.

[JasonEvans]

They really should have made a big thing out of this special. I think making a big thing out of it would have been a good idea.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_aNk_1mLvuH8/R-luPs0KFRI/AAAAAAAAA4U/SLGwAg_p1oA/s1600-h/this-is-spinal-tap-1.jpg

--Jason "they understated the hugeness of the object" Evans

[Cavlaw]

My wife watched it the other night and I caught bits and pieces. She said she was disappointed by the amount of poorly supported conjecture some of speakers suggested was fact. I don't have specifics, being as I was in-and-out of the room.

Random aside - one of our favorite "couple" pictures is the two of us at Stonehenge about 3 months after we got engaged.

[Jim3k]

Cool. I'll see if I can set it up to record. Thanks for posting.
Have you read Stonehenge (http://www.amazon.com/Stonehenge-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0061091944)? It's a fiction piece by Bernard Cronwell. It wasn't the best book I've read, but it was an entertaining piece on the fictional history of Stonehenge.

Yes, I have. Cornwell is my favorite historical novelist who writes at an 8th grade level. Easy reads; decent story, no big words. (OK, about my speed. :rolleyes: ) This one is about prehistoric tribes in Britain. Not a bad read , but not great either.

I'm much more down with the Sharpe series, which is far more fact-based. I also like his American Revolution stuff -- Redcoat, I think, and a bit later the Civil War with Copperhead.

[TillyGalore]

My wife watched it the other night and I caught bits and pieces. She said she was disappointed by the amount of poorly supported conjecture some of speakers suggested was fact. I don't have specifics, being as I was in-and-out of the room.

Random aside - one of our favorite "couple" pictures is the two of us at Stonehenge about 3 months after we got engaged.

I took everything as theory. Especially since Nat Geo did not interview anyone disputing said theory.

[bjornolf]

somebody mentioned that they liked historical fiction. Has anybody read the Diana Gabaldon series about the standing stones in Scotland? It's pretty good. My wife got me reading them.

[Cavlaw]

somebody mentioned that they liked historical fiction. Has anybody read the Diana Gabaldon series about the standing stones in Scotland? It's pretty good. My wife got me reading them.
My sister-in-law reads Gabaldon and really likes her.

For historical fiction, I like Ken Follett (Pillars of the Earth and World Without End) and Stephen Lawhead (Byzantium, the Celtic Crusade trilogy) pretty well.

[DukeUsul]

somebody mentioned that they liked historical fiction. Has anybody read the Diana Gabaldon series about the standing stones in Scotland? It's pretty good. My wife got me reading them.

Yeah my wife got hooked on them by Highlander's wife (thanks so much Ash!).

I've read the first few. They're really pretty good - plenty of war, intrigue, and politics to keep me interested among all relationship stuff.

Edit: As an additional note, we met Diana Gabaldon when she did a reading at the Regulator on Ninth Street. Wow is she short!

[Bluedawg]

There was a circle that surrounded Stonehenge marking sacred ground which explains why archaeologists have never found homes near SH, but outside that circle Professor Parker Pearson's group found homes, evidence of feasts and so forth.

According to this there have been homes found...


New excavations near the mysterious circle at Stonehenge in southern England have uncovered dozens of homes where hundreds of people lived -- at roughly the same time that the giant stone slabs were being erected 4,600 years ago.

The finding strongly suggests that the monument and the settlement nearby were a center for ceremonial activities, with Stonehenge probably a burial site, while other nearby circular earthen and timber "henges" were devoted to feasts and festivals.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013000661.html


The settlement likely housed the builders of the famous monument, archaeologists say, and was an important ceremonial site in its own right, hosting great "feasts and parties"

Excavations also offer new evidence that a timber circle and a vast earthwork where the village once stood were linked to Stonehenge—via road, river, and ritual. Together, the sites were part of a much larger religious complex, the archaeologists suggest.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070130-stonehenge.html

photo gallery of the Stonehenge village (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/photogalleries/stonehenge/)

[Spencer's Daddy]

I thought this was a thread about my former Kilgo Quad home and the mysteries therein.

Thanks for the Spinal Tap reference, Jason.

[DevilAlumna]

My sister-in-law reads Gabaldon and really likes her.

For historical fiction, I like Ken Follett (Pillars of the Earth and World Without End) and Stephen Lawhead (Byzantium, the Celtic Crusade trilogy) pretty well.

How can there be a discussion of best historical fiction writers without including Michener? The Source, Chesapeake, Poland, Alaska, Hawaii -- all excellent!

[JasonEvans]

I thought this was a thread about my former Kilgo Quad home and the mysteries therein.

Thanks for the Spinal Tap reference, Jason.

You are always welcome, Daddy. How you been? We need to talk!! (SD and I went to Duke together back in the late 80s)

--Jason "just trying to lighten up this thread ;) " Evans

[TillyGalore]

I thought this was a thread about my former Kilgo Quad home and the mysteries therein.

Thanks for the Spinal Tap reference, Jason.

During the show there was a commercial with Michael McKean in his Spinal Tap gear that was funny.

Found the (missing) link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fczOE7AjtHs

Sorry, not Michael but Christopher Guest. Just revealed how much I know about Spinal Tap.

[JasonEvans]

During the show there was a commercial with Michael McKean in his Spinal Tap gear that was funny.

Found the (missing) link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fczOE7AjtHs

Sorry, not Michael but Christopher Guest. Just revealed how much I know about Spinal Tap.

Here is another Spinal Tap/Stonehenge interview for the special. Good stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMofDWzfA6A&NR=1

--Jason "the man who built Stonehenge was named Duncan" Evans