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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."

66 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. First Monolith! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    There can be only one!

  2. easy by esteric · · Score: 4, Funny

    Tourism.

  3. Re:But, what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah!

    I've been waiting for 2.0 for a long time now!
    Finally out of the RC stage!

  4. Re:But, what is it good for? by contagious_d · · Score: 2, Insightful

    nothing, thats why they had to make this new one.

    --
    - /home is where the food is.
  5. Re:But, what is it good for? by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 3, Funny

    What's it good for? It's a practical joke that takes 4000 years to hatch. I'm sure we can all respect that. Imagine what kind of nutty stories they will come up with. "The people of the early 21 century used to sacrifice virgins here." Haha, it is the funnay.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  6. Units of Measurements by mrwoody · · Score: 5, Funny

    Before building it, remember that ' is feet and " is inches.

    let's see how many people notice anything weird

  7. Nebraska offers you an alternative by helioquake · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Bleh, this is nothing compared to Car Henge in Nebraska.

    Screw astronomy. It's about used cars, man!

    1. Re:Nebraska offers you an alternative by Antonymous+Flower · · Score: 2, Insightful

      digital storage and the internet are quite a bit more reliable than the library at alexandria. yet, digital storage may exist long after we've lost a means of retrieving and decoding the data. it'll give the next era of cavemen something to do for a few millenia, anyway.

  8. Uh-oh.. by evel+aka+matt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Eddie Izzard will have to update his routine now...

    1. Re:Uh-oh.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      And we had the Pagans in Britain. You didn't really have the Pagans here. You had the Native Americans and it was much more of a warrior, aboriginal-type existence, and... we had the Pagans. They were into sex, death, and religion in an interesting night-time telly type of way. And we had the Druids! Long white robes, long white beards, early transvestites, didn't get their shaving together; and they built Stonehenge, one of the biggest henges in the world. No one's built a henge like that ever since. No one knows what the fuck a henge is! Before Stonehenge, there was Woodhenge and Strawhenge, but a big bad wolf came and blew them down, and three little piggies were relocated to the projects.

      found the transcript after a bit of googling some random place

  9. Re:But, what is it good for? by Inverse+Icarus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's a testament to the fundamental principles of the ancient methodologies of astronomy, that you can actually go in to and look at. I've never been do the one in Salisbury, but from what I've heard of it you're not allowed to go near the rocks, let alone inside.

  10. What.... by mbrewthx · · Score: 2, Funny

    You wanted it 18'???
    But look here you wrote down 18"

    --
    __________ Leave me alone I'm compiling a RPG II program on my S/36...Thanks to metamucil I'm a Regular Meta Moderator
  11. Did they build the whole 18" of it? by EuropeanSwallow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stonehenge
    Where the demons dwell
    Where the banshees live
    And they do live well

    Stonehenge
    Where a man is a man
    And the children dance to
    The pipes of pan

    Stonehenge
    'Tis a magic place
    Where the moon doth rise
    With a dragon's face

    Stonehenge
    Where the virgins lie
    And the prayer of devils
    Fill the midnight sky

    And you my love
    Won't you take my hand
    We'll go back in time
    To that mystic land
    Where the dew drops cry
    And the cats meow
    I will take you there
    I will show you how

    Stonehenge by Spinal Tap

    Sorry, couldn't resist... ;)

    1. Re:Did they build the whole 18" of it? by DwarfGoanna · · Score: 2, Funny
      (from imdb)


      David St. Hubbins: I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem *may* have been, that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being *crushed* by a *dwarf*. Alright? That tended to understate the hugeness of the object.


      Ian Faith: I really think you're just making much too big a thing out of it.


      Derek Smalls: Making a big thing out of it would have been a good idea.

      --

      "You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo

  12. If a replica is good enough for you.. by PopeAlien · · Score: 4, Informative

    .. 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.

  13. Re:But, what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Generating profits from tourism, for one.

  14. Correction by game+kid · · Score: 5, Funny
    "The people of the early 21 century used to sacrifice virgins here."

    No, no. Us 21 century folks used to deflower virgins there. It's a circular, central location for, you know, services...and some summer solstice crap.

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    1. Re:Correction by baadfood · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Its the same thing. The point ultimately is, virgins enter the circle, but do not leave. Oh, and some blood is spilt.

      The problem is too many people too many people don't "get" a good metaphore.

  15. Too bad it's fake by Capt'n+Hector · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

    --
    Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
    Africus aut Europaeus?
    1. Re:Too bad it's fake by IGTeRR0r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Eh, well, a sequel is just never as good as the original...:(

    2. Re:Too bad it's fake by peruvianllama · · Score: 2, Informative

      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.

    3. Re:Too bad it's fake by tahii · · Score: 2, Informative

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

    4. Re:Too bad it's fake by CProgrammer98 · · Score: 3, Informative

      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."

      --
      And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
  16. Re:But, what is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder how heavy the security patches are.

  17. Re:But, what is it good for? by SPY_jmr1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ahhhhh, STONE! HENGE! Whaattt is it good for? Absolutly Nothin'! Say it again y'all!!!....

  18. and if Sam Hill saw it by game+kid · · Score: 5, Funny

    he would still wonder what in Sam Hill it was for.

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  19. Any virigins sacrificed? by nxtr · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seeing as how we're not a barbaric society any longer, they should just send them my way.

    1. Re:Any virigins sacrificed? by forkazoo · · Score: 2, Funny

      you are liable to get quite a sloshdotting, if you want a bunch a virgins to come your way... Just post a URL!

  20. Check out Wikipedia by Man+in+Spandex · · Score: 4, Informative

    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?

    1. Re:Check out Wikipedia by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Possibly - since there was nothing else to line it up with. The builders were stark illiterates, who probably couldn't count, let alone measure.

      The "astronomy" stuff is what happens when you judge one culture my the standards of another.

      In Victorian times, when archeology was getting going, all the large buildings in England were churches, so the inference was that large buildings were for religious purposes. Sure the druids used it, but the Druids did not exist until after stonehenge had been in use for 3,000 years and abonadoned for 1,000. Furthermore, we have good solid evidence that the religious practices of the time involved shrines in the home, and not communal worship.

      The Computer/astrology thing came about in the 1970s, when all large govenrment expendature was on computers/space programs, so the assumption was that Stonehenge was a computer/astronomical something. Anyone who thinks it was important to predict the seasons for farming has never been to England. The wheather here is subject to enormous random variations, and folllowing a strict clock would get you nowhere.

      The lesson learned is that sonehenge, as the largest manmade thing in Europe at the time, was there to solve man's largest problem at the time. Mans biggest problem at the time of stonehenge was what to eat - what ever it was there for had to be connected with eating. (Yay - it was a stone-age McDonalds!)

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  21. This Stone henge is illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    There is already a patent on stonehenge dammit. It is covered under international patent law.

    America invented stone. And henges.

  22. For Christmas... by TrippTDF · · Score: 4, Funny

    I want my own henge. I'll even settle for one made of cheese.

  23. 2.0-RC1 by kernel_dan · · Score: 4, Interesting
    --

    Illegal? Samir, This is America.
  24. Re:But, what is it good for? by YankeeInExile · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me understand ... one of the dominant pastimes of the slashdot communal consciousness is playing computer games, and you have the audacity to ask What is it good for??

    Well, if nothing else it's an excuse to go visit the big room with the blue ceiling. And since Kiwi summers are during winter for the vast majority of us, it sounds like a great time to enjoy their version of the big room while our neighbors are up to their tits in snowbanks.

    --
    How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
  25. Always preferred Avebury by Centurix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mainly because my old local pub is smack in the middle of the circle. Ah, the days of sipping Wadworths 6X in the summer garden!

    There are several circles similar to Stonehenge in the area around Wiltshire, one not so well known circle is Woodhenge, which is a few miles north east of Stonehenge just past Amesbury. The whole area is full of barrows and free-standing stones. A lot of them are in the middle of farm land which makes it difficult to get to, and there are a lot of ancient forts around too.

    One funny thing I remember, walking past the entry gates to the stones one saturday morning walking the dog and there was a bus of American tourists doing the rounds, and I actually overheard one say "It's nice, but why did they have to build it so close to the road"...

    Something that a lot of people don't realise about the circle is that a lot of the stones were moved around a lot during the early part of the 20th century. Six stones were set up-right in 1918 from their horizontal positions by the office of works and the stones were closed off to the public. They've also been moved backwards and forwards to London for inspection and maintenance a couple of times in the past, they certainly haven't been standing untouched for the last 3000 years!

    --
    Task Mangler
    1. Re:Always preferred Avebury by I+confirm+I'm+not+a · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Mainly because my old local pub is smack in the middle of the circle.

      I'll second the motion for "Avebury whups Stonehenge's arse", precisely because you can actually walk around and within Avebury's ring (and drink 6X in the centre - if there's a better beer I've not found it). The security-guards-plus-tourists-plus-carparking-at-L ondon-prices that dominates Stonehenge just pisses me off; at least at Avebury you can wander and dream and imagine without a fluro-jacketed tour-guide prodding you every two minues.

      Got to say I disagree about Woodhenge, though: I pretty much thought "nothing to see here, move along please" - just a whole bunch of concrete markers informing you where the original wooden henge was. Still, each to their own! I guess my imagination ain't up to the job ;-)

      --
      This is where the serious fun begins.
  26. How about plastic? by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Funny

    That way when humanity is dead and gone and the original stonehenge has crumbled to dust, the alien species that finds our planet will know that someone was here. They'll STILL conclude that there was never any intelligent life on the planet, but they'll damn well know someone was here!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  27. Stonehenge attracts Hedge Monkeys by pomgolian · · Score: 3, Funny

    Driving past the original Stonehenge, one gets to see many hedge monkeys, you know the sort, unwashed and all that. I wonder if the replica with have kiwi monkeys instead?

  28. Is it still "working"? by Exluddite · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Precession must have some bearing on Stonehenge, and it looks like one hell of a thing to have to calibrate.

    --
    What does this button do...
    1. Re:Is it still "working"? by rkcallaghan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes.

      If "working" is defined as "does what it was originally intended to do", we may or may not be 100% certain of that, ever.

      The people of that era believed in Magic, in terms that specific rituals could coerce the divine to take action. If that was ever possible, it required Druids (no, not your D&D character), and we have lost a key element of the ritual.

      However, what we do know is that it had religious signifigence to ancient celtic people, and still today, there are people that will make a pilgrimage to Stonehenge for religious purposes.

      Whatever your personal beliefs, that it still has value to people even close to its original purpose so long after, is absolutely astounding.

      ~Rebecca

    2. Re:Is it still "working"? by BridgeGarth · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.

  29. stonehenge by Dr.Opveter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Stonehenge is one of those things i always like to see on discovery channel shows.
    I think it's fascinating that it's hard to figure out what's the deal exactly. I wonder if this will happen with anything of our age in like 5000 years.

    --
    Sample this!
    1. Re:stonehenge by Yaztromo · · Score: 3, Informative
      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.

  30. Goldendale Stonehenge by serutan · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  31. Someday, people will worship this by mveloso · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someday in the far future, people will worship this and marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship, while others argue whether the astronomical alignments are coincidences (as they must be, since they could not have known some of the alignments without advanced astronomical knowledge) or actual (because such precise alignments are impossible to be coincidences).

    Maybe stonehenge 1.0 was the original prank meme?

  32. Snow reveals more details by bananahammock · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What is definitely cool is that after it snows, the so-called "Avenue" is revealed. Here's one link: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/filestore/stone hengeinteractivemap/timetravel.html

  33. Re:Keeping the riff-raff out by rkcallaghan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is a well-known fact that hippies, wiccans, and other undesirables congregate around the orignal Stonehenge in England, which is seen as a source of cosmic mystical power and other such mumbo-jumbo.

    Sir, I invite you to take a World Religions course at your local community college. It might open your eyes a bit.

    There are "undesireables", by which I hope you mean "people who use the name of the religion without understanding" in every religion.

    As far as I am aware, no wiccans have ever gone to war and slaughtered entire civilizations over their religion. So whatever you may or may not believe in, saying that someone is undesireable because they prefer to visit a place of spiritual importance to them, is well, quite ignorant, and I am suprised you were modded up for it.

    ~Rebecca

  34. have you perhaps.. by Suchetha · · Score: 3, Informative
    ... 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
    --

    learn from yesterday, plan for tomorrow, party tonight
    or one out of three ain't bad
  35. One thing that often gets overlooked; by Biotech9 · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...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

    1. Re:One thing that often gets overlooked; by nagora · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Certainly Stonehenge is impressive, I find it far more impressive that a 5000 year old tomb with clock function still works even today.

      Of course, Stonehenge has been upgraded several times. The hightly visible stones of the final version are quite new, as you say, but the original dates back even further than Newgrange. The oldest dates from the site are in the region of 10000 years old. Although, those parts don't seem to tell the time or anything like that.

      While a 5000 tomb with a Solstice marker is impressive, a site which was in actual use by people and maintained and updated for coming on to 8000 years is fairly stunning too.

      TWW

      --
      "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
    2. Re:One thing that often gets overlooked; by Lug+Samildanach · · Score: 2, Informative
  36. Why bother-Stonehenge is depressing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Believe me, I've passed it often enough on the way to and from Heathrow. It is actually depressing. Not too be too snobbish or prone to flamebait, but the site is surrounded by a poorly maintained wire fence, has a hideous car park, and in the summer is full of gawpers who seem rapidly to have lost interest. And the heritage industry wants to turn it into a kind of theme park., which probably means even worse. Strangely, the problem is not really the roads that go past two sides of the site, but the appalling state of the site itself. It is clearly administered by people who really do not care. I suspect Stonehenge is so well known only because of its very accessibility and because of the lunatic books written about it.

    Unfortunately it was ever thus. There are some really ancient monuments on Malta and Gozo which are far more impressive - the Maltese one even has some of the carving still visible. Last time I was there I was really upset and embarrassed because I had to tell a group of US tourists to stop climbing on the stones. They had no idea how to behave on archaeological sites, or that they were doing damage.

    At one time it was seriously suggested that the real Stonehenge be closed off to the public and replaced with a concrete replica. Perhaps this is the answer to all valuable ancient monuments: make accurate replicas for tourists, ban the general public from the real sites and only allow access to people who can prove, perhaps by taking some sort of test, that they have a bona fide interest in the subject and understand that monuments must be treated with care for their own protection.

    1. Re:Why bother-Stonehenge is depressing by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 4, Funny
      Suggested that the real Stonehenge be closed off to the public and replaced with a concrete replica

      Surely this is arse-about-face: what is needed is to replace the tourists with concrete ones!

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  37. "wired for sound"? by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it go to eleven?

    1. Re:"wired for sound"? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2

      No, everyone who bought the old 25 Megalith models last year it in a hurry to upgrade to the 33 Megalith version this year.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  38. Re:Keeping the riff-raff out by vrai · · Score: 2, Insightful
    As far as I am aware, no wiccans have ever gone to war and slaughtered entire civilizations over their religion.

    That's probably because Wicca didn't exist before the 1950s. Actual pagans, i.e. the people who lived in Europe prior to spread of Christianity, were just as brutal and violent as anyone else. The pagans of the British Isles and Scandinavia were very much a warrior society, hardly the vegetarian tree huggers that make up modern 'pagan' groups.

  39. Wired for sound? by David+Horn · · Score: 2, Funny

    *Start deep mysterious voice*

    "This is God speaking... did you know you can get a 2 for 1 Big Mac meal at the Stonehenge McDonalds. Hurry - offer can't last!"

    --
    PocketGamer.org - For the gamer on the go!
  40. Time's up... by OSXexpert · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I haven't worn a watch or cared what day it is let alone what time it is for the past 19 years. It amazes me how many folks I know that don't know how to look up at the sky or at shadows and tell what time it is. If you want to know what time of the year it is, stand outside for a few minutes and sense the weather, the air, the brush... Maybe the important of Stonehedge is to get folks to pay more attention to the world around us and less to the overwhelmingly growing 40-65% of net income being spent on rent or a huge mortgage.

    --
    --- Old Time NeXThead
  41. Ahhh, the wonders of the internet! by Feztaa · · Score: 3, Funny

    I present to you: Cheesehenge!

  42. A better one in the central US by vrmlguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --
    Nothing for 6-digit uids?
  43. Quote and comment by thomasa · · Score: 4, Funny

    Astronomy is the oldest of sciences.

    It's not the oldest profession though.

  44. Re:2.0 Optimized by huntse · · Score: 2, Funny

    But imagine a beowulf cluster of these puppies!

  45. woodhenge by spacepimp · · Score: 2, Funny

    theres an older creation called woodhenge, which i made the mistake of visiting. complete waste of time though cos wood rots. so i drove an hour from stonehenge to see concrete stumps in a field of sheep. quite the let down. yes this is off topic mod me down

  46. Re:"A cult is an unpopular religion"... by JavaLord · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Huh? do you have some source reference to back this up? I would probably imagine the opposite to be true, just thinking of the masses of extremely fanatically religous, uneducated people around the world disproves your argument.

    Did you guys ever stop and think maybe there are dumb people who believe in God, and dumb people who don't believe in God?

    Or are you so diluted by your own beliefs that you can't understand that someone with different views than yours on this subject can still be intelligent and educated?

  47. Or you can rent a motorized glider by benhocking · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When I went to Stonehenge (courtesy of Mad Max Tours) some loon (I mean that in the best possible sense) was flying in powered paraglider with an oversized fan attached to its back. He appeared to be steering with his elbows as he snapped pictures like a madman. He got close enough that I was sure that he was going to lose control of his craft and turn Stonehenge into Stoneunhenged.

    On this same tour we also saw Avebury, and I do agree that it was more enjoyable. I never did see the devil behind my shoulder, however.

    --
    Ben Hocking
    Need a professional organizer?
  48. Re:"A cult is an unpopular religion"... by rleibman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sure, there are dumb people on both sides of the God argument. There's also intelligent and educated people on both sides of the argument. I've had great discussions with very intelligent and educated theists (including Jesuits at University)
    Where the difference lies is that there are few "atheists by faith", it is religion that requires faith, which almost by definition, is the abscence of verifiable proof or reason. It requires a measure of self-delusion, an otherwise consistently intelligent and rational person (e.g. Einstein) can still compartamentalize to the point of deluding himself that some supernatural (a loaded word on its own right) being exists. A good book to read on this subject is Wallace Matson's "The Existance of God", in which after very careful consideration of all arguments pro and con, concludes that one cannot reasonably believe in a deity, and that all discussions on the subject end up in the discussion of blind faith. One of my favorite phrases (and one I live by) is: "You cannot checkmate a man who refuses to play chess", if you refuse to follow the rules of logic and reason I cannot win a logical and reasonable argument with you.