1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Wilson. When news broke this September, this is 4 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: that we're recording that there is a whole lot of 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: stuff we never knew about buried in and around Stonehenge. 6 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: I thought, great, when it's the end of the year 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: and we do all our unearthed episodes, I'll update our 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: Stonehenge episode. And I filed that away in my brain, 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: and once I got started planning out how we were 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: going to cover our holiday schedule, I penciled it in there. 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: And I also remember at some point double checking to 12 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: make sure we actually had a Stonehenge episode. But in 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: a very twilight zone development, when December actually rolled around 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: and it was time to really start recording our unearthed 15 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: stuff this year, ill and there was no Stonehenge episode 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: in the archive. Uh. I was so sure that we 17 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: had one that I actually wondered if something had happened 18 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: to our RSS feed and the disappeared or something. So 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: I m I opened up that spreadsheet that you and 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: I got when we very first started that had every 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: episode on it, and it was not on there either. 22 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: And so I just disc decided that I don't know, 23 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,839 Speaker 1: maybe I've been body snatched or something. Um. I expressed 24 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: my bafflement on Twitter, and we got way more people 25 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: asking us if we were going to have a Stonehenge 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: episode or telling us to please do it. Then we 27 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: got from people who were like, mat, no big loss. 28 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: So now also the archive feels like it's missing something 29 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: because it doesn't have the Stonehenge episode that I wish 30 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: sure had had. So we're gonna take a little page 31 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: from the Sarah and Holly playbook from back when they 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: found Richard the Third under that car park, and we're 33 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: gonna have an unearthed episode is actually a whole new thing, 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: but about one specific topic. So next week we're going 35 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: to have the Unearthed episodes that have become traditional in 36 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,119 Speaker 1: the year end Time, where we talk about all kinds 37 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: of things that were dug up in some way or 38 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: another this year. But this episode is going to be 39 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: a whole new thing on Stonehenge, both past and what 40 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: was just discovered about it this year. So here's what 41 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: we knew about Stonehenge before September. Uh. Stonehenge is most 42 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: famously a prehistoric monument north of Salisbury Wiltshire in southern England. 43 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: It's most recognizable features are these immense stones in post 44 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: and lintel formations known as trilithons. It's thousands of years 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: old and it was also built over thousands of years 46 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: at the end of the Neolithic period and the beginning 47 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: of the Bronze Age in England. Stonehenge is just one 48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: of many Neolithic hinges. These are all earthworks that include 49 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: both a circular bank and a ditch, and many of them, 50 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: but not all allso so include stone works. So even 51 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: though those stones are what you think of probably when 52 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: someone says Stonehenge, what makes a hinge is the earthword part, 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 1: the earthwork part. Stonehenge is also the only prehistoric stonework 54 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: that includes a lentil atop the posts, so there are 55 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: lots of upright stones, but Stonehenge is the only one 56 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: from the prehistoric period that has that crossbar over the top. 57 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: Along with more than three hundred hinges and other nearby sites, 58 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,839 Speaker 1: Stonehenge was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in six 59 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: and the stones themselves come in two main varieties. There 60 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: are sarsen stones, which are made of sandstone that can 61 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,119 Speaker 1: be found in southern England. The Sarsen stones were probably 62 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: core quarried at Marlborough Downs. Then there are the blue stones, 63 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: and this is a catch all term for a lot 64 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: of the smaller stones at Stonehenge. They're not all necessarily 65 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: the same type exactly of stone. These stones came from 66 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: a range of places, and some of them were from 67 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: as far away as what is now Ales. Many of 68 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: the stones that were once part of Stonehenge are now gone, 69 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: taken away and repurposed for centuries up through the medieval period. 70 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Some of the stones are still on the site but 71 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: have fallen down from their original position. The ground around 72 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: the area was also dug up over the centuries for 73 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: all kinds of reasons, sometimes for vaguely archaeological purposes, sometimes 74 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: for straight up treasure hunting. One of these diggers was 75 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: actually Charles Darwin, who dug who dug two holes at 76 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: Stonehenge to study earthworms in eighteen seventy seven. The first 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: official archaeological dig started there in nineteen o one, and 78 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: over the centuries people have come up with a lot 79 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: of possible explanations for what Stonehenge means. It's been studied 80 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: from every possible angle anthropologically, archaeologically, mathematically, geometrically, astronomically, just 81 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: on and on every point of view you can analyze 82 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: it from. It's been done. I think that's one of 83 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,239 Speaker 1: the reasons that there was at least some talk on Twitter, 84 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: like nobody lost everybody. Everybody knows about Stonehenge. Legend has 85 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: tied Stonehenge to Merlin and King Arthur. So, according to legend, 86 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: Merlin brought the stones from Ireland with the help of 87 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: a giant from Africa. In this story, King Ambrosius are 88 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: Lean is buried at Stonehenge along with his brother Uther Pendragon, 89 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: who was the father of King Arthur, and for centuries 90 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: the academic world generally thought Stonehenge was some kind of 91 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: Druidic temple. This idea goes back to at least the 92 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: seventeenth century, and one of the reasons it had so 93 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: much staying power was that people thought a civilization would 94 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: have had to advance at least to the Iron Age 95 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: to pull off such a feat. That's when we have 96 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: the evidence of the Druids in Britain, largely thanks to 97 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: the Roman records. It's also not a far hop from 98 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: the mysterious idea of Druid to the mysterious idea of Stonehenge, 99 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: it just seemed to kind of line up and fit together. However, 100 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: as soon as carbon dating was invented and used at site, 101 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: it completely dispelled the idea that it's a Druid monument. 102 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: Stonehenge dates back much much earlier than the Iron Age, 103 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: and we just don't have records of the Druids existing 104 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: back that far. So once again, in spite of this 105 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: preconceived idea that only an Iron Age society would be 106 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: advanced enough to build something like stone Hinge and reality 107 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: a Stone Age and then Bronze Age society actually did it. 108 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: I will say that I think a lot of people 109 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: just have the idea of Druids as conventional wisdom tied 110 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: to Stonehenge, even still, even though that's been pretty thoroughly 111 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: discredited at this point, I think like the common knowledge 112 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: of Stonehenge to a lot of people is Druids, agreed. 113 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: I have actually witnessed an argument over this fact that 114 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: someone was completely like, everyone knows that Stonehenge is built 115 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: by the Druids, and I had another acquaintance he was like, well, 116 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: what everyone else seems to not know is that there 117 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: has been dating done, and that is not correct. And 118 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: you've ever seen two people dig in so hard on 119 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: a historical argument. In the nineteen sixties, astronomers started to 120 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: speculate that Stonehenge was basically a giant calendar or a 121 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: computer for predicting eclipses and other astronomical events. This is 122 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: actually something that was part of my astronomy class in college. 123 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: I dug out my astronomy textbook hoping to refresh my memory, 124 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: and I learned that this is like my astronomy professor's 125 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: went off script and didn't teach it from the book, 126 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: It was from some other source. Basically, there are all 127 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: kinds of astronomical events that you can witness by standing 128 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: in one part of Stonehenge and kind of sighting down 129 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: another part. And while many of the stones and other 130 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: formations at Stonehenge definitely follow astronomical lines. So what my 131 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: teachers were telling me that was all correct. It all 132 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: circles back around to like, was a Stone Age or 133 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: maybe Bronze Age society sophisticated enough to do that, uh, 134 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: you know, or or back when it was still thought 135 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: to be an Iron Age thing, even was an Iron 136 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: Age society able to do that? We really don't have 137 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: the best track records so far of deciding what different 138 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: societies were advanced enough to do or not do, so 139 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: who knows. And over the years researchers have also theorized 140 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: that it was sort of a Bronze Age capital for 141 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: many tribes, like a seasonal gathering place, a funereal monument, 142 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: a healing site, and a religious site including sacrificial rights. 143 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: But for now it still sits squarely in the not 144 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: conclusively proven category. Yeah, people have all kinds of ideas 145 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: about what it was quote for and their pros and 146 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: cons to all these different ideas. Also in the not 147 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: conclusively proven category is exactly how the massive stones on 148 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: the site got there, A lot of them, way between 149 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: four and eight tons. The bluestones brought in from Wales. 150 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: Some of them had to travel like three hundred miles 151 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: and so there are theories that maybe they were rolled 152 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: along logs, or maybe they were floated down the Welsh 153 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: coast and then up the Avon River, uh like the 154 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: Druid idea. That idea has been around for quite a while, 155 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: but none of these are conclusively proven. A more recent 156 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: supposition is that the stones were actually carried in enormous 157 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: baskets hauled by oxen or that the bluestones used at 158 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: Stonehenge were pushed south by glaciers. One of the like 159 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: counterpoints to that last part that made me chuckle was 160 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: somebody saying it seems weird that glaciers would move exactly 161 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: the right number of stones to put into Stonehenge. That 162 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: made me laugh. I don't. I don't think that's actually 163 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: valid as a counterpoint, because the stones are used for 164 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: other stuff too, But still, I don't know. Those glaciers 165 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: are sneaky. I know they're wildly So we're going to 166 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: talk some more about how Stonehenge was built after a 167 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:54,359 Speaker 1: brief word from a sponsor. So monuments were actually erected 168 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: in the Stonehenge area long before the construction of the earthworks, 169 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,319 Speaker 1: and the stone works actually started as far back as 170 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: eight thousand b c. E. Hunter gatherer people erected pine 171 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: posts in the area, and the purpose of these posts 172 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: is not completely clear. As we mentioned in our Poverty 173 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: Point podcast and as we've kind of alluded to a 174 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: couple of times in this episode, not particularly common for 175 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: hunter gatherer societies to build elaborate monuments. Although it's not 176 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: unheard of. Also in the area are burial mounds that 177 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: date back at least to three thousand b c. E. 178 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: The construction of Stonehenge itself with a six stage process 179 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: that started around three thousand b C and ended around. 180 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: Construction of other barrows, dwellings, monuments, and other sites went 181 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: on at the same time. The first stage of building 182 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: at Stonehenge was from about three thousand to twenty nine 183 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: thirty five b C, and this was mostly an earthwork stage. 184 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: That's when the circular ditch that's sort of the hallmark 185 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: of the hinge was built. And that ditch is about 186 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: three hundred and thirty ft or a hundred meters in diameter, 187 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: so it's today the outer perimeter of kind of what 188 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: we think of as Stonehenge, as a high bank on 189 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: the outside and a low bank on the inside. The 190 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: builders of this ditch placed antler picks, which were probably 191 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: used to dig the ditch itself, as well as animal 192 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: bones down into the bottom of the ditch. Some of 193 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: these animal bones were much older than the ditch itself is. 194 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: The ditch encloses fifty six pits, known as the Aubrey holes. 195 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: These were named for the man who identified them John Aubrey. 196 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: The Aubrey holes probably contained Welsh Blue stones, and they 197 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: also contained burial remains of cremated people. The second stage 198 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: of construction took place between twenty forty b C, so 199 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,199 Speaker 1: that's a multi hundred year jump. Burials continued to happen 200 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 1: at Stonehenge in the interim, but there wasn't new construction 201 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: before the second phase started. When construction zoomed, that's when 202 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: the huge sarsen stones started to be erected in a 203 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: very methodical, systematic manner along regular intervals and following that 204 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: post and lintel style. The stones are held together using 205 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 1: dovetail and tongue and groove joints, much like is used 206 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: to hold wood together in construction. Wood construction actually may 207 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: have been the inspiration for how to secure the stones 208 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: to one another. Big difference though, unlike would those stones 209 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: weighed around seven tons for upright. Stones known as the 210 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: station stones were probably also erected during the second phase, 211 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: but only two of those are still in place. Timber 212 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: circles were also built to the north and the south 213 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: of the Stoneworks during this second phase of construction, as 214 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: was a collection of dwellings that may have been the 215 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: builder's camp. The third stage started just about ten years 216 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: after the second one ended. The building during this sphase 217 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: included a roughly C shaped avenue lined by banks and ditches, 218 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: which went all the way from Stonehenge to the River Avon. 219 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: This is almost two miles or three kilometers away. A 220 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: lot of this avenue has since been destroyed by plowing, 221 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: although when it was intact, parts of it lined up 222 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: with the sunrise during the summer solstice and the sunset 223 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: during the winter solstice. This is of course one of 224 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: those features that has led people to believe that Stonehenge 225 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: is some kind of computer or clock. But in two 226 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: thousand eight it was discovered that this line also follows 227 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: a line of chalk ridges that happened to follow that 228 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: same course, so it was probably a coincidence. I think 229 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: it's also one of the things that makes people think 230 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: druids celstice. Yeah. More recent stages of Stonehenges construction spanned 231 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: from twenty to eighty to fifty BC, and these phases 232 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: largely involved rearrangements of the existing stones and digging of 233 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: a series of pits that are known as the Why 234 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: and Z holes. And if you are wondering, just how 235 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: many man hours this massive project may have taken. It's 236 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: estimated that it's about three million. So that's kind of 237 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: an overview of Stone Hinge as a monument. And before 238 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: we talk about the discoveries about Stonehenge in let's take 239 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: another brief break for a word from a sponsor. So 240 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: all of this finally brings us to the fourteen discoveries 241 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: that led us to doing this episode. This latest round 242 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: of discoveries comes thanks to using three D imaging to 243 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: study the site, rather than what you might imagine when 244 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: somebody says archaeological dig This study is called the Stoneheinge 245 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: Hidden Landscapes Project and it's a team effort between the 246 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological 247 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: Prospection and Virtual Archaeology. This project started in July and 248 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: it went on for four years, although the actual field 249 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: work totaled about a hundred and twenty days spread across 250 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: that time. The field studies included magnetic perspection, ground penetrating, radar, 251 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: electromagnetic in auction sensors, earth resistance surveys, laser scanning, aerial photography, 252 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: airborne spectroscopy and other technologies. To map the area in 253 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: a noninvasive way. Some of the pictures of this going 254 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: on are unintentionally kind of comical because their guys driving 255 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: a t v s that are towing these imaging rigs, 256 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: and what we would otherwise think of as a mysterious 257 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: ancient landscape, it just seems very incongruous and kind of anachronistic. 258 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: In the case of the magnetic prospection, these are actually 259 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: specially built a TV s to be non magnetic so 260 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't interfere with their readings. And this isn't 261 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: at all the first time that noninvasive imaging has actually 262 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: been used to study Stonehenge. There was already a really 263 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: large body of digital imagery and other noninvasive work that existed. However, 264 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: a lot of that existing body of data focused on 265 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: the monuments, which we already knew existed, and this time 266 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: the focus was much more broad what was actually between 267 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: all of the monuments. The result of all this is 268 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: a highly detailed map of what's under the surface of 269 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: the earth at Stonehenge and a ten square kilometer region 270 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: around it, which was obtained without actually having to dig 271 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: anything up. And their findings include seventeen previously unknown ritual monuments, 272 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: burial sites, and a barrow that dates back to before 273 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: the first phase of Stonehenge construction. This last one was 274 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: a huge building made of timber, which was then buried 275 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: under a mound. The survey also examined the Durrington Walls Superhinge, 276 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: which is a nearby site that's much, much much larger 277 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: than Stonehenge. Derrington Walls has a similar avenue to the 278 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: one at Stonehenge, which, like the Stonehenge avenue, aligns with 279 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: the summer solstice sunset, so there's some speculation that these 280 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: two sites were meant to kind of complement each other. 281 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: The findings at Drington Walls include an entire earlier phase 282 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: of construction that was previously known and has since been buried. 283 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: The earlier phase included a series of posts or stones, 284 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: some of which may still exist beneath the surface. There 285 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: was a whole documentary about all this on BBC two 286 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: which was called Operations Stonehenge What Lies Beneath which full 287 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: disclosure we have not watched because it appears not to 288 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: be available outside of the UK that I can find, 289 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: and based on all this new information, Stonehenge was not 290 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: as popularly imagined a secluded spot where only a few 291 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 1: people visited. There's a whole lot more going on than 292 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: just what we can see from above ground. And really 293 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 1: this imaging work, as awesome as it is, it's really 294 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: just a next step. It's a tool to figure out 295 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: where researchers should study next. So it's a treasure trove 296 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 1: of new information, but it's also really a way for 297 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 1: researchers to figure out what their next project should be. 298 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: Some of the more recent discoveries at Stonehengd also come 299 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,439 Speaker 1: from a much less high tech method, and one that 300 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: may surprise you. I did not realize that there are 301 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: people taking care of the grass at Stonehenge and watering it. Uh. 302 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: In my head, Stonehenge just makes its own grass. I 303 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: don't know the fact that they're like lawn care people. 304 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: They're trying to make sure that it remains lush and 305 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: green just took me by surprise, but so not druidic magic. 306 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: Right in the summer of an irrigation hose pipe that 307 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 1: was being used to to irrigate this area and keep 308 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: the grass watered was too short to reach the outer 309 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: parts of the stone circles, and later on aerial photography 310 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: of this parched area of land found particularly dry patches, 311 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: and those are now believed to have been the sites 312 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: of stones which have since been removed. It pretty much 313 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: confirmed what everyone already suspected Slash knew, which is that 314 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: the circle used to be a complete circle and not 315 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,479 Speaker 1: a partial circle. But it did give clues to the 316 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: exact positions of the other stones, which was less known before. 317 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: So that is Stonehenge and all I can think of 318 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: his ediizard, all I can think of a spinal tap 319 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: between the two of us were very entertained. Yes, So 320 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: before we close out, I have some listener mail and 321 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: it is from Joanne. Joan says, hi, ladies, I'm enjoying 322 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: your podcast while I remodel our eighteen eighties Victorian home. 323 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: I attempted to count the number of hours I have listened, 324 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: but it was two time consuming and I needed to 325 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: get back to painting. My favorite episodes have been The 326 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: Orphan Trains and The Lines of Tsavo, mainly because of 327 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: my personal connection to both. Although I don't have any 328 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: official documentation, I believe my great grandfather was a child 329 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 1: on the Orphan Trains. His name was Thomas. He and 330 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: his siblings William, Martin, and Mamie were placed into the 331 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 1: Catholic Protectory, which was an orphanage, after their mother died 332 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen nineties six and their father could not keep them. 333 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: Their father later disappeared, the siblings were separated. The orphanage 334 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,160 Speaker 1: would not give Tom any information because he had become 335 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: a Protestant. Tom located his brother Bill, who was a 336 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: conductor on the subway. Tom talked about the orphan train 337 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: and how his family reconnected in a later and a 338 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: letter to his older brother Martin dated April eighteenth, nineteen, 339 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: and he basically, I don't want to read the story 340 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: because I feel like it's a little too personal to 341 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: just read on the air um. But he sort of 342 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: tells the story of looking for his brother and then 343 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: basically finding him in the phone book, which I found 344 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: to be delightful. He found him in the phone book 345 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: and then went and met him and confirmed that it 346 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: really was his brother. Tom would have been sent on 347 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: the train in five I have not found what happened 348 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: to the other siblings while they were separated, but Martin 349 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: was in jail when the later letter was written. William 350 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: continued as conductor on the subway. Their sister Mamie, got 351 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: married and had a family. My great grandfather Thomas and 352 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: my great grandmother Elizabeth became officers in the Salvation Army. 353 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: Thomas lived to be ninety four. As for the Lions 354 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 1: of Tsavo, our family served in the bush in Kenya, Africa, 355 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: where the man eating lightning lions were terrorizing the railroad. 356 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,679 Speaker 1: We lived among the Massai people. One evening, my husband 357 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: showed the movie Ghost in the Darkness to the staff 358 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: at our project. I don't think that many of them 359 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: slept that night. It did not help that on nights 360 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: that there was no moon, you could not see two 361 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: inches in front of you, and you can occasionally hear 362 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,359 Speaker 1: the roar of lions. We traveled through the Savo area 363 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 1: but did not stop. The story of the man eating 364 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: lions continues to put fear in the hearts of Kenyans 365 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: and Americans even now. If you ever want to take 366 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: a road trip to Kenya, let us know we would 367 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: be happy to be your tour guides. Then she thanks 368 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: us for the podcast. Thanks Joanne, I love the personal 369 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: connection to you, and I'll mention that part of the 370 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,160 Speaker 1: reason that the Lions of Tsavo story persists and still 371 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: scares people, is that there are still incidents of lions 372 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:52,679 Speaker 1: attacking men. The they're doing what lions do. Yeah, And 373 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: I don't mean to sound callous. I'm just like, they're 374 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: wild animals. They're gonna attack things. Yeah. And we mentioned 375 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: it in that podcast that this particular route, these lines 376 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: in this area are sort of extra aggressive, and there's 377 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: still lots of research going on about why that might 378 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: be the case. But uh, there's a reason that fear persists. Yep, 379 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: it's justified. They are they are fierce. Uh. If you 380 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,920 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, we are a history 381 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: podcast like how Stuffworks dot com. We're also on Facebook 382 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: at facebook dot com slash miss industry and on Twitter 383 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: at miss Industry. Our tumbler is missed in History dot 384 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: tumbler dot com, and we are also on pentrant at 385 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: pinterest dot com slash miss in History. We have a 386 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: spreadshirt store full of shirts and other things, and it 387 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: is at missing history doup spreadshirt dot com. If you 388 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: would like to learn a little bit more about what 389 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: we've talked about today, you can come to our parent 390 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: company's website, which is how stuff Works dot com and 391 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: put the word stone hinge into the search bar and 392 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: you won't find various things about stone Hinge. You can 393 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: also come to our site which is missed in History 394 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: dot com, and we will have in the show notes 395 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: for this episode links to all the sources we use, 396 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: some of which have cool pictures of things that have 397 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: been found, a kind of virtual maps of what is 398 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: underneath the ground its Stonehenge. You can do all that 399 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: and a whole lot more at how stuff works dot 400 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: com and missing history dot com. For more on this 401 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: from thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works 402 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: dot com, m