Archaeologica.org

In the British Isles most seem to be coastal (Stonehenge being a notable exception.)
But on the Continent they get pretty far inland.
And if we count the NA Plaines Medicine Wheel, you cannot get much farther from a coast.
So, it wasn't purely a maritime culture that was involved.
I guess it isn't size so much that interests me as much as function, purpose, and how did the knowledge spread so far?
And from what origin point?
Where there multiple purposes?
I have seen claims that some were, in effect, maps. Showing distances, angles to turn at waypoints, etc.
Others are obviously stellar or solar, or lunar, or a mix.
Are the circles always celestial, with the straight lines showing a mix of uses?
How far inland do the straight line style go? If they were maps for sea journeys, you wouldn’t need them inland where you have landmarks.
Oh, and were any of them painted with red ocher?

kbs2244 wrote:
[...] If they were maps for sea journeys [...]

. . . I'd like to see the voyager that packed those maps . . .

And his vessel.

No, you paint or scratch maps on beaten bark, or on scraped and dried skin. But whatever it is, it is something portable.

Why put in gargantuan effort to make a map that is as UNportable as possible?
Because it isn't a map?

As I understood the concept, you studied the stones and, in effect, memorized the route before you left.
According to the theory, that is why there are so many in the Orkney and Faero Islands.
Also costal France.

Also look up the Dogon;

their fox print prophecies

and their masks and dances.



john

If you say so, John.

Weren't the Dogon involved with that whole Sirius thing?

Minimalist wrote:Weren't the Dogon involved with that whole Sirius thing?

Yup. They have very interesting architecture, too.

john

I don't know what to think about that.

To call it a hoax sounds too convenient and far too "20th century."

What's 'the whole Sirius thing'?

The Dogon somehow knew about the fact that Sirius has a small partner that is invisible to the naked eye and they posessd no telescopes Ish.

RS, near where I live is a stone circle of undressed stones, no cap stones, just the megaliths, also there is a pair of standing stones with a cap stone across a bit further away.
It seems logical to me that Henges, which are rarer than standing stones, probably represent the next stage up from standing stones or circles, after all, no standing stones equals no Henge!

Digit wrote:
It seems logical to me that Henges, which are rarer than standing stones, probably represent the next stage up from standing stones or circles

Concur: that seems logical.
If so, the single megaliths should be (possibly considerably) older than the Henge type structures.
Check 1: are they?

According to my understanding RS, Stonehenge in it's earlier form did not have cap stones, just a circle of megaliths.
I wonder if Marduk is still reading this forum as I see the latest theory on the Blue Stones supports my view in a heated argument between us that the Blue stones were not carted from Wales but, as I had argued, the out crop had one face sheared away by ice which had probably moved the stones somewhat nearer.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wal ... _page.html

A team has pinpointed the precise place in Wales from where the bluestones were removed in about 2500 BC.

It found the small crag-edged enclosure at one of the highest points of the 1,008ft high Carn Menyn mountain in Pembrokeshire's Preseli Hills.

This article is from 2005. No mystery about the Bluestones.

240 miles seems like a loonnggg way to go.

Sure does, most of it was by water though. But how many times have we seen megalithic structures made from stones that were transported from miles away? That has been an enduring mystery for me.

Macchu Pichu, Teohuanaco, many more.