Stonehenge Version 2.0 Completed

Antarctic Lemur writes "The Stonehenge project previously mentioned has been completed near Wellington, New Zealand. This newer version utilises multiple ancient astronomical technologies (scroll down) and the BBC reports it is wired for sound."

Comments

If a replica is good enough for you..

[PopeAlien]

.. and you're in or near washington state, you might want to check out the concrete version in maryhill washington. It was built as a WWI memorial by the 'eccentric' Sam Hill after he was mistakenly told that the original Stonehenge was used for sacrifices.

its not terribly accurate, and its not 'wired for sound', but its kinda cool none-the-less.

Too bad it's fake

[Capt'n Hector]

It looks like it's made from plywood or some other material (not stone), from the pictures in the original wired article. Had they built the thing from real stone, it would last as long as the original Stonehenge - but given the price of such huge rocks, and the difficulty of building things with it, I can't say I blame them.

Re:Too bad it's fake

[peruvianllama]

It seems to be more wood and cement than stone, according to the BBC article...

But the New Zealand group had to eschew the ancient in constructing the henge as even with modern building equipment, the henge would have taken too long to construct and would have been too expensive.

Instead the society's team concocted pillars and lintels from wooden frames, covered those with cement board and wire mesh and sprayed concrete over the structure.

I suppose this isn't quite as impressive as being solid rock, but with a budget of only 50 grand, this doesn't come as a surprise.

Re:Too bad it's fake

[tahii]

If I remember correctly, it is made from wood, steel reinforcing and spray-on concrete.

Re:Too bad it's fake

[CProgrammer98]

the construction method is described in the BBC article... timber frame, drywall, then sprayed with concrete.

"But the New Zealand group had to eschew the ancient in constructing the henge as even with modern building equipment, the henge would have taken too long to construct and would have been too expensive.

The eye of a 5-metre tall obelisk points to the south celestial pole

Instead the society's team concocted pillars and lintels from wooden frames, covered those with cement board and wire mesh and sprayed concrete over the structure."

Check out Wikipedia

[Man in Spandex]

right here under Archaeoastronomy and Stonehenge

We're still apparently not too sure what the point of these stones is but it seems credible to think that it certainly has something to do with lunar and solar alignments. Right?

Goldendale Stonehenge

[serutan]

Near Goldendale, Washington there is a full-scale replica of Stonehenge that's made out of concrete. It was built in 1918 by a concrete tycoon named Sam Hill as a memorial for those who died in WWI, and is said to be the most accurate Stonehenge replica in the United States. There's also an observatory nearby with one of the country's largest public-access telescopes. Pretty interesting place to stop if you are going through Washington in the summer.

Re:stonehenge

[Yaztromo]

I wonder if this will happen with anything of our age in like 5000 years.

Since 1979 we've known the answer to that question.

Yaz.

have you perhaps..

[Suchetha]

... seen this movie

Ian Faith: Nigel gave me a drawing that said 18 inches. Now, whether or not he knows the difference between feet and inches is not my problem. I do what I'm told.
David St. Hubbins: But you're not as confused as him are you. I mean, it's not your job to be as confused as Nigel.

Suchetha

One thing that often gets overlooked;

[Biotech9]

...when stonehenge is being discussed, is that a few hundred miles away in Dublin, Ireland, there is a megalithic tomb that is far older than stonehenge and the pyramids, and still functions today as an astrological calender. It illuminates internally only twice a year, on the longest and shortest days of the year.

Certainly Stonehenge is impressive, I find it far more impressive that a 5000 year old tomb with clock function still works even today. resources

Re:One thing that often gets overlooked;

[Lug Samildanach]

http://www.newgrangeireland.com/ http://www.mythicalireland.com/

A better one in the central US

[vrmlguy]

The University of Missouri at Rolla has a half-scale version of Stonehenge on campus. (See http://web.umr.edu/~stonehen/) This one is constructed from solid granite, not easily eroded sandstone (like the original), nor wood, drywall, and sprayed concrete (like the one in New Zealand). Sam Hill built his version of Stonehenge in Maryhill, Washington before anyone knew much about the original and so it has no astronomical alignments; UMR Stonehenge has additional features and alignments beyond the original.

Re:Is it still "working"?

[BridgeGarth]

Stonehenge wasn't built by Druids. It was built thousands of years earlier. "The Druids" were not even a race, nor even religious sect as many believe. They were just one of the three learned groups in some Celtic cultures. (Another of the groups was the Bards who were expert in poetry, the arts, etc.; they are still honoured in Welsh Eisteddfords). They existed long after Stonehenge was completed and had only slightly less insight into its purpose than us.

You CAN access the inner circle

[Anonymous Coward]

You can walk around inside the monument, if you make reservations .

I did this with some friends, and we got some AMAZING photos of the monument with the sun rising through it. Of course, we had to sign a release, stating that we would not publicly reproduce the photos due to copyright ownership, but that's another topic.