Astronomy Henge Stone
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Stonehenge, the English circle of stones, is well known to people as many things – an altar, an astronomy tool and in some stories even a gateway to other times and worlds. It’s the most well known, but not the only one. The world is full of other similar circles, some with one astronomy henge stone, others with many. In fact the word henge is an old English word that’s part of the Stonehenge name. Henge means hang, not circle or stone as some people believe. Stonehenge was created by placing, or hanging, large stones on top of crude vertical pillars. Eventually there was no need for hanging, the name was applied to any similar stone formation. But a henge only refers to stones set within an earthen circle. Without the earthen circle, either raised or dropped to be lower than the surrounding ground, it isn’t a henge, but rather a stone circle.
While many of these stone henges, including the famous Stonehenge, were used as burial grounds and sacrificial sites, almost all of them have some element related to astronomy. It’s sometimes argued whether or not these stone formations were built for astronomy first, but there’s no doubt of building skill and scientific know how that went into erecting them. The elements that have to do with astronomy include the markings of important dates, such as the summer or winter solstice, when the sun would rise at a point marked exactly by a stone placement. This could include an opening, like a lens, coinciding with the sun’s position. Stonehenge has an amazing array of astronomical measures built into the circle. It’s not important if they were the design for the site or an afterthought. They’re still amazing.
The Avebury Henge in Wiltshire may not be as well known as Stonehenge, but it’s equally as interesting. It encloses an entire town, Avebury, and is surrounded by a host of smaller stone circles. Because so many of the now downed stones were in precise locations, it’s well known the henge was used for astronomy. But it also had a relationship to ancestral and gender worship as the stones come in two main types – tall, slender stones and short, squat stones – that may have represented female and male archetypes. Some experts claim stone selection was purely for aesthetic purposes, however.
Don’t even think about grabbing an astronomy henge stone for your personal use. But they’re meaningless when removed from their earthen circles. Instead, set up your own stone henge at home.
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