Astronomy Henge Stone

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.  There are other such stone circles all over the world, many containing one astronomy henge stone or even an entire grouping of them.  As a matter of interest, the name Stonehenge comes from Henge, Old English for the structure it describes.  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.  Over time the hanging part of the concept was lost, so any such stone circle was referred to as a henge.  There is one condition.  The circle of stones must be placed within a circle of earth, either raised above or dropped below the surrounding area.  If there’s no such earthen circle, the henge is just a circle of stones.

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.  Many of these stones followed phases of the moons or marked the sunrise and sunset at certain key times of year.  There were even tiny openings that would direct the sunlight on key areas at the right time of the year.  Stonehenge includes a number of precise measurements.  Whether they were built in from the beginning or added at a future time is of little importance.  They’re still signs that ancient man knew a lot more than we sometimes admit.

Less famous but no less amazing is Wiltshire’s Avebury Henge.  It encloses an entire town, Avebury, and is surrounded by a host of smaller stone circles.  It is believed that this henge had astronomical purposes as many of its stones, now mostly fallen, had positions that corresponded with key phenomenon.  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 archaeologists dispute this, however, claiming the stones were chosen for no other reason than their beauty and size.

Some may think it would be cool to steal an astronomy henge stone to use in their home.  Aside from the fact that many of these weigh many tons, they completely lose their significance when removed from the earthen circle.  Try painting an image of one instead.