[{"id":490,"title":"Stonehenge A Neolithic Beacon: Design Imitates Star ","sha":"8bb3128e4d0b9feb5d05a254677c18fa","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"When lit from within with one large fire or multiple fires, and observed from above, the standing stones that comprise Stonehenge split the light rays creating a radiating effect similar in appearance to a star. \r\n( Attachment)\r\nNeolithic People did not know what stars were and may have related to them as fires in the sky. Stonehenge may have been created by the Neolithic to call attention to their existence and position, with their own star shaped fire, big enough to be seen by perceived celestial neighbors. Contemporary civilizations do the same with satellites.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, the ringing of the stones may have also served to catch attention through sound.\r\n\r\nThis explains the size of Stonehenge, gives purpose to the lintels, and accounts for the foreign remains at the site, as a beacon that large would indeed attract curious people from nearby lands. The fires would also provide opportunity to cremate remains and incorporate ritual. The lunar based motifs present in their art support a preoccupation with the sky.\r\n","created_at":"2018-10-05T16:12:43.005Z","updated_at":"2018-10-09T06:00:43.564Z","zenodo_id":1451927,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1451927","subject":null,"tags":["stonehenge","neolithic","beacon","neolithic art","star people","fire","fire ring"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":true,"attachment_file_name":"Screenshot_20181004-132538.png","attachment_content_type":"image/png","attachment_file_size":401403,"attachment_updated_at":"2018-10-05T16:12:42.943Z"},{"id":673,"title":"Stonehenge: Solstice Opens Path to a Neolithic Afterlife","sha":"9a63eee85a038908a9e8cdd223344eb3","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"Stonehenge was a massive effort for a calendar when the climate supports year round crops. Cups and Rings stones found throughout the UK were more likely the working calendars. They marked the field indicating when/where/what crop to harvest, using astronomical references thought to be the primary purpose of Stonehenge.\r\n\r\nAdditional religious motivation supports calendar, cremation + place of healing theories. Absence of god imagery points to directly communing with deities.\r\n\r\nNewgrange Kerbstone (Ireland, tomb, 300 yrs earlier) imagery similar to shape of Stonehenge and moon. Also:\r\n\r\nMotifs resembling two constellations in eastern winter sky:\r\nTriskele - Winter Triangle\r\n3 consecutive spirals  - Orion's belt\r\nCorrelation between death/winter, in keeping with agrarian culture.\r\n\r\nNewgrange exterior Kerbstone, left side, roughly translated: \r\nHere these seeds (the dead) moved from earthly fields, crossed the bridge (path) to new fields in the sky (triangles + moon/horseshoe arc) Right side: (represents afterlife activity)\r\n\r\nSolstice perhaps when \"path\" opens, Orion's belt indicates route. Stonehenge built to represent moon. Bluestones should glow with cool light (moon fire) when heated.\r\n\r\nStonehenge should be lit when Orion rises in the east, fire around every bluestone, a signal for the ancestors to receive the newly dead about to cross over.\r\n","created_at":"2020-02-08T22:05:43.997Z","updated_at":"2020-02-09T06:00:38.396Z","zenodo_id":3660066,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3660066","subject":null,"tags":["stonehenge","constellations","moon","bluestone","orionsbelt","neolithicart","tomb","newgrange","kerbstone","cupsandrings","triskele"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":"Screenshot_20200208-135241_2.png","attachment_content_type":"image/png","attachment_file_size":2270339,"attachment_updated_at":"2020-02-08T22:05:43.979Z"}]