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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."

38 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 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!
  5. 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

  6. 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!

  7. 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

  8. 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... ;)

  9. 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.

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

    Generating profits from tourism, for one.

  11. 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.
  12. 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 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
  13. 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.
  14. 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?

  15. 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.

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

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

  17. 2.0-RC1 by kernel_dan · · Score: 4, Interesting
    --

    Illegal? Samir, This is America.
  18. 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?
  19. 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.
  20. 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?

  21. 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 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.

  22. 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.

  23. 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.

  24. 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?

  25. 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

  26. 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

  27. 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
  28. 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

  29. 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
  30. "wired for sound"? by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it go to eleven?

  31. Ahhh, the wonders of the internet! by Feztaa · · Score: 3, Funny

    I present to you: Cheesehenge!

  32. 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.

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

    Astronomy is the oldest of sciences.

    It's not the oldest profession though.