Druids Celtic Kaplani ...

Stonehenge.

They grow in the middle of the great Salisbury plain. Naked, gloomy, amazing. Like a sculpture of a cruel artist who decided to spoil the mood of a monotonous wilderness and erected this bizarre structure consisting of eighty hewn, gray stone blocks. Each of them weighs about four tons. They are set in a circle, reminiscent of a huge cross and equally large shapeless gates through which Giants could cross four thousand years ago. Or maybe they even passed. A medieval writer, Geoffrey of Monmouth, who lived around eight hundred years ago, called the building "The Giant's Dance." People who come here actually look in the stone rubble of dancers clasped with their arms. The English call it Stonehenge, meaning "stone gallows" and this is probably the most accurate term. Who wanted to drag so many tons of stones? In addition - as the investigators have said - it happened about four thousand years ago. The whole material was probably dragged on wooden skids all the way from the Welsh hills by land, then water (up the Savern river) and land again. terrible job. For what? Imagination is difficult to reach, but if you take into account the fact that a huge cemetery with numerous mounds was discovered around it, it was not seen as a deserted area.

On the contrary, an ancient civilization had to flourish here. Who were these people? Those who lived here at the end of the building's construction were able to produce bronze and gold tools. They traded with merchants from mainland Europe - this was the trade route - and they could afford such an impressive place of last resting of the then citizens, and, as some researchers say, a place of god worship, something like an open-air temple. Rebuilt, moreover, thoroughly after about a hundred years. There is no evidence, but it is possible that celtic priests have done their bloody rituals here, and at the same time judges, doctors, sages and fortune tellers - druids. On a large block of rock, unlike others, lying and not standing, they prepared sacrificial animals for ritual slaughter, and apparently also people. Stonehenge - a unique megalithic building located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. According to data from the 17th century, this building was connected with druids (Celtic priests). However, in the 12th century it was believed that this building is a monument set over the grave of King Arthur. Other theories have connected this building with Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings, and even with newcomers from other planets. Contemporary theories tend to think that this building was a temple and a place of worship. Based on discoveries made during excavation, three main construction phases have been distinguished in the years from 3000 BC. up to 1500 r.p..e.

The building was probably completed in the Bronze Age. Stonehenge consists of: a circular embankment with a double circle formed from the so-called blue rocks, or a speckled dolerite, and a circle of sarsenal rocks (a few with white lintels). The main axis of the circle was set so that in the summer the rays of the rising sun fall parallel to it - which enabled people to define the sides of the world at that time. This information was probably used for ritual purposes rather than for scientific purposes. The circle was built in the years from 3100. Until 1550 r.p. and is one of the most famous megalithic buildings in Europe. Among other buildings of this type Stonehenge stands out due to the precision of execution and the purposes for which it was used. The building is located 13 km north of Salisbury in England. Scientific research carried out during excavations (conducted by London's Society of Antiquaries, launched in 1919) and research conducted by the isotope method, proved that Stonehenge for a very long time constituted a ceremonial and religious center in the British Isles. Initially, it was thought that this building was something like a prehistoric observatory or clock that could predict the seasons and other astronomical events. The circle axis is set towards sunrise on the summer and winter solstice days. Some scientists think that thanks to Stonehenge, people could predict solar and moon eclipses. Stonehenge is a place where ancient rituals and ceremonies took place on specific days of the year. It was also believed that the circle was also the temple of the god of heaven - which, however, has never been proven. Other theories claimed that the circle was connected with druids - a caste of Celtic priests. Druids, however, appeared in England only a few hundred years after the birth of Christ, and so theories that Stonehenge was a Druidic temple do not find scientific support. Three main stages of construction highlighted on the basis of discoveries made during excavations:

Okres 1 (3100-2300 r.p.n.e.)

The area is surrounded by circular channels and an internal embankment. In the middle of the channel a ring of 56 cavities is created (from the name of their discoverer called Ausberey's cavities), in which burnt corpses were probably buried. Before entering the north-east entrance, the builder placed a bent stone (so-called Heelstone) and wooden gates.

Okres 2 (2300-2000 r.p.n.e.)

Near the road there is an embankment currently called Aleja leading to the canal. Using the so-called the blue rocks, brought from the Presli mountains in south-west Wales, inside the older ring formed of boulders, were arranged with a double concentric circle of boulders called menhirs (large, rough, vertically hewn boulders). Both Aleja and the circle were set in the direction from which the sun rises on the day of the summer solstice. The double circle was never completed and finally it was dismantled during subsequent construction phases. Then 35 inclined boulders were set. Their setting was one of the greatest achievements of that period and is evidence that people from that period used astronomy. On the day of the midsummer (June 24, now June 21), the person standing in the middle of the circle, can see the rays of the rising sun exactly above the bending boulders.

Okres 3 (2000-1550 r.p.n.e.)

A circle of 30 sarsenas boulders (each weighing about 50 tons and a height of 30.5 m) was elevated in the center and surrounded by a continuous ring of saxen lintels. This circle is surrounded by a horseshoe shape set out of five sarsenic trilitones. Provided from the Marlborough Upland (30 km), the sarsenic boulders were modeled and joined together with stone hammers. Other structural changes consisted in adding new and vertical placement of old boulders, where they were after the second construction phase. No other megalithic building in North West Europe exhibits such precision and architectural sophistication as Stonehenge.