No place has generated so much speculation and wild theories
as the standing stones of Stonehenge. After driving for miles
through the rolling hills and plains of the English countryside
the sight of this unusual structure makes people gasp. A walk
around it only provokes more strange feelings. There's a sense
that this is something very important. It taunts us with its
mystery. For over 5000 years it has stood silent vigil over the
earth. It has been excavated, x-rayed, measured, and surveyed.
Yet despite all that has been learned about its age and construction,
its purpose still remains one of the great mysteries of the world.
Around 3500 BC the semi-nomadic peoples that populated the
Salisbury Plain began to build the monument now known as Stonehenge.
The original construction was a circular ditch and mound with
56 holes forming a ring around its perimeter. The first stone
to be placed at the site was the Heel Stone. It was erected outside
of a single entrance to the site. 200 years later 80 blocks of
bluestone was transported from a quarry almost 200 miles away
in the Prescelly Mountains. It is surmized that these blocks
were transported by way of rafts along the Welsh coast and up
local rivers, finally to be dragged overland to the site. These
stones were erected forming two concentric circles.
At some point this construction was dismantled and work began
on the final phase of the site. The bluestones were moved within
the circle and the gigantic stones that give Stonehenge its distinctive
look were installed. Some of these massive stones weigh as much
as 26 tons! It remains a mystery how such huge stones could have
been moved from the quarry at north Wiltshire by a supposedly
primitive people.
As much of a mystery is how the construction itself was accomplished. Carefully carved lintels were placed on top of pairs of upright stone blocks, held in place by the use of ball and socket joints. These constructions have become known as "trilithons". The final element to be added was the alter block, a large block of green sandstone from South Wales that was placed in front of one of the trilithons.
(right)
Close up of stonework on top of trilithon Over 1500 years had passed
since the beginning of construction.. Each generation carefully tended
to the monuments, increasing its size as technology to move and finish
the large blocks improved. It is almost inconceivable for us, in this
age were nothing lasts more than a few decades at best, to image a
people maintaining a monument for almost 2 millennia.
In the 1960's astronomer Gerald Hawkins used a computer to
provide the first concrete evidence that Stonehenge was used
as a device for observing the heavens. He found that the placement
of key stones lined up precisely with certain events such as
the Solstices and Equinoxes. He claimed that Stonehenge could
even be used as a type of computer to predict eclipses and track
heavenly bodies across the sky. The numerous alignments are clearly
no accident, but whether this was the monuments true purpose,
however, is still far from being agreed on. The monument seems
too grand to be a simple calendar and many of the alignments
touted would not even be visible due to the stone's great height.
There are many stone circles and standing stones in the British countryside. It is likely that they all had a similar purpose and as with other ancient sites it is not unusual to find alignments with major astronomical events. But Stonehenge is unique among all the other sites in England. Its sophistication goes beyond the simple stone circles found in other areas.
Construction
At some point this construction was dismantled and work began
on the final phase of the site. The bluestones were moved within
the circle and the gigantic stones that give Stonehenge its distinctive
look were installed. Some of these massive stones weigh as much
as 26 tons! It remains a mystery how such huge stones could have
been moved from the quarry at north Wiltshire by a supposedly
primitive people. As much of a mystery is how the construction itself was accomplished. Carefully carved lintels were placed on top of pairs of upright stone blocks, held in place by the use of ball and socket joints. These constructions have become known as "trilithons". The final element to be added was the alter block, a large block of green sandstone from South Wales that was placed in front of one of the trilithons.
(right)
Close up of stonework on top of trilithon Over 1500 years had passed
since the beginning of construction.. Each generation carefully tended
to the monuments, increasing its size as technology to move and finish
the large blocks improved. It is almost inconceivable for us, in this
age were nothing lasts more than a few decades at best, to image a
people maintaining a monument for almost 2 millennia.
So the fundamental question that needs to be asked about Stonehenge is not how it was built, but why...
Stonehenge's Purpose
In the 1960's astronomer Gerald Hawkins used a computer to
provide the first concrete evidence that Stonehenge was used
as a device for observing the heavens. He found that the placement
of key stones lined up precisely with certain events such as
the Solstices and Equinoxes. He claimed that Stonehenge could
even be used as a type of computer to predict eclipses and track
heavenly bodies across the sky. The numerous alignments are clearly
no accident, but whether this was the monuments true purpose,
however, is still far from being agreed on. The monument seems
too grand to be a simple calendar and many of the alignments
touted would not even be visible due to the stone's great height.There are many stone circles and standing stones in the British countryside. It is likely that they all had a similar purpose and as with other ancient sites it is not unusual to find alignments with major astronomical events. But Stonehenge is unique among all the other sites in England. Its sophistication goes beyond the simple stone circles found in other areas.
It looms over the landscape, taunting
us with its mystery. One viewing this powerful structure gets
the distinct impression that they are in the presence of something
very important. Something with a purpose that perhaps has still,
after all these centuries, not been utilized. For over 5000 years
it has stood silent vigil over the earth. What will it do when
it -
http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/stonehenge/megaliths.html
inhabited by sea birds and dragonflies
for millions of years. Its steep slopes, however, stood out like a beacon
to a weary group of Polynesian seafarers. How long their voyage took or
their reasons for leaving their home country are questions that we'll
never have the answer to, but we can imagine their joy at seeing this
sight after what must have been months at sea 
Ovahe
Beach, North Shore 
Indeed, the
missionaries did more damage to the island's history than even the Peruvian
slave traders, which carted off most of the island's population. Those
who escaped by hiding in the island's many caves were "saved"
by these missionaries, who proceeded to destroy all the islanders' wooden
sculptures, religious artifacts and most importantly, the Rongo-Rongo
tablets, which contained a record of the lost language of the Rapa Nui.
So few of these tablets remain that no one has been able to decipher them.
It
is unclear why the Easter Islanders turned to statue construction on such
a massive scale. Their obsession with it ultimately brought about their
downfall as they depleted more and more of the forests for use in the process
of moving the giant moai. While the why is a mystery, where it happened
and to a large degree how it happened is fairly clear. Each moai was born
from the massive caldera of Rano Raraku. (right)
Finally
when a statue was finished, it was broken off its keel and slid carefully
down the slope using ropes tied to giant palm trunks which were sunk in
specially prepared holes in rim of the crater. At the base of the crater
they were raised up and final decorations were carved into its torso and
back. Coral and obsidian eyes were placed in as a final touch, although
some suggest these were only placed in the statues on special occasions.
Preparation was then made for transport across the island to various ahu.
It is believed
that the statues were commissioned commemorative images of lineage heads.
However, the moai are not portraits of specific individuals although some
may have inscriptions or other markings that linked them with specific
chiefs. Why they chose the stylized design of the angular face and long
phallus shaped bodies is unclear and is one of the greatest mysteries
of the Rapa Nui.
Once
the statues were reasonably complete, they then had to be transported across
the island to the platforms prepared for them. This involved a trek of 14
miles in some cases. How were these massive Moai moved to the sites? Barring
any extraterrestrial influence it seems likely that they were rolled along
the ancient roads that crisscrossed the island on logs lubricated with the
oils from palm trees. Some suggest that they were moved in an upright position
and kept stable by crews manning ropes. This mode would verify the island
legends of the statues "walking" to their sites. From a distance
seeing one of these great Moai moving along the road bobbing up and down
as the logs moved underneath would surely have looked like a statue moving
under its own power with a procession alongside it. What a sight that would
have been!
However,
recent computer simulations by Jo Anne von Tilburg at UCLA have shown
that it would have been much simpler to position the Moai in a horizontal
position on two large logs and then roll the whole unit along on other
logs placed perpendicular to it. Using this method Van Tilburg calculated
that an average moai could have been moved from the quarry to Ahu Akivi
in less than 5 days, using approximately 70 men. Her theories were recently
put to the test in a successful experiment to move a moai replica on Easter
Island sponsored and filmed by Nova (see Resources section)
The
stonework of Ahu Vai Uri (right) is compared to that of Ahu Vinapu (below)
on the southern shore near Rano Kau. The detail shot shows the incredible
precision in the stone fittings. It was this precision, so similar to the
stonework done by the Incas, that gave Thor Heyerdahl the idea that the
Easter Islanders had come from South America in reed boats on the prevailing
currents. Stonework of this complexity had not been seen in Polynesia, but
it was common in Peru. It's impossible to look at that site and not think
of the exact type of stone fitting which is so common in sites like Machu
Picchu. Most archaeologists consider the similarities a coincidence. If
so, it is a remarkable one.
As
the deforestation continued the moai building competition turned into an
obsession. The quarry was producing moai at sizes that probably could never
have been moved very far (one unfinished moai in the quarry is 70 feet tall!)
And still the trees came down. With the loss of the forests, the land began
to erode. The small amount of topsoil quickly washed into the sea. The crops
began to fail and the clans turned on one another in a battle for the scarce
resources. The symbols of the islanders' power and success, the moai, were
toppled. Eyes
were smashed out of the moai and often rocks were placed where the statues
neck would fall so it would decapitate the moai. The
violence grew worse and worse. It was said that the victors would eat their
dead enemies to gain strength, bones found on the island show evidence of
this cannibalism. With the scarce food supplies it may have been a question
of hunger as well as being ceremonial. A spooky cave (right) at the southwest
corner of the island, Ana Kai Tangata, is translated to "cave where
men are eaten." Inside are pictographs painted in ochre and white of
ghost like birds flying upwards. With no wood left to build boats, all the
Rapa Nui people could do was look enviously at the birds that sail effortless
through the sky. The Rapa Nui culture and community, which had developed
over the past 300 years, collapsed.
Their island
was in shambles, and their villages and crops destroyed. There was no
wood left on the island to build escape boats. The few survivors of the
conflict, perhaps numbering as low as 750, began to pick up the pieces
of their culture. One thing they left behind, however, were the moai.... 
One
of the most fascinating sights at Orongo are the hundreds of petroglyphs
carved with birdman and Makemake images. Carved into solid basalt, they
have resisted ages of harsh weather. It has been suggested that the images
represent birdman competition winners. Over 480 Birdman petroglyphs have
been found on the island, mostly around Orongo.
The
missionaries arrived on Easter when the people were at their most vulnerable.
With their society in ruins it did not take long to convert the population
to Christianity. First to go was the islanders style of dress, or lack
thereof. Tattooing and use of body paint were banned. Destruction of Rapa
Nui artworks, buildings, and sacred objects, including most of the Rongo-rongo
tablets - the key to understanding their history - was swift and complete.
Islanders were forced off their ancestral lands and required to live in
one small section of the island while the rest of the land was used for
ranching.
A
jewel of an island floating in an endless sea. A seemingly never-ending
supply of raw materials. Technological advances. Population growth. Depletion
of resources. War. Collapse. Sound familiar? The Easter Island story is
a story for our times. We too are on an island floating on an endless sea.
There are differences, of course. It could be said that Easter Island is
tiny and that it was only a matter of time before the resources in such
a closed system were used up. But there are parallels between the islanders'
attitude towards their environment and our own, and this is the most frightening
part of the story.
