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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."
There can be only one!
Tourism.
Before building it, remember that ' is feet and " is inches.
let's see how many people notice anything weird
Bleh, this is nothing compared to Car Henge in Nebraska.
Screw astronomy. It's about used cars, man!
Eddie Izzard will have to update his routine now...
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...
.. 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.
air and light and time and space
Generating profits from tourism, for one.
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.
he would still wonder what in Sam Hill it was for.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
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?
I want my own henge. I'll even settle for one made of cheese.
Version 2.0-RC1
Illegal? Samir, This is America.
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?
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
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.
...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
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.
Does it go to eleven?
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?
Astronomy is the oldest of sciences.
It's not the oldest profession though.