You really can't visit this area without making the side trip to Stonehenge. It is one of the most recognizable historical sites in the world (one of the "wonders of the world") and just under 2 hrs from London. It was interesting to drive out to the area and see these massive boulders in the middle of nowhere from the 2 lane highway we were driving on.
In recent years, much has been done to preserve this site and make it more of a developed tourist attraction. We parked near the museum and shop and had to take a shuttle out to the actual site. Then, we could walk on a paved path around the site, but we couldn't actually get close to the stones themselves. You could see that some of the boulders had graffiti on them so it kind of makes sense that they would keep people away. Still, I would've loved a shot of us standing up close to them so you could see how massive they are. This is pretty much as close as we could get...
Here's where I turn into a real nerd - I loved learning a few facts about this site and trying explaining it's significance to my kids. Here are some of the cool things I learned:
- this site (and some of the surrounding burial grounds in the area) is dated about 3100 BC (an estimate using carbon dating and other archealogical/historial clues)
- 30 enormous stones were brought to this site from 25 miles away
- Each standing stone is around 13ft high by 7 ft wide and weighs about 25 tons
- the circle was created using 2 different woodworking methods - the tongue and groove joint & the mortise and tenon joint
So can someone please explain to me how these prehistoric people had the sophistication, skills, and tools to move those huge boulders, stand them up, and make the joints to fit them together? I read some of the theories in the museum, but WOW - I still can't wrap my head around it. Ancient aliens might have been involved.
The clouds rolled in and we got a little rained on, but I still made my kids pose for individual pics...
For me, Stonehenge was definitely worth the trek out there and the walk in the rain. What an amazing and interesting phenomenon...
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