h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always thought we needed something in the guide on Stonehenge, and I was reminded this morning by the excellent entry on the The Avebury Neolithic Monument.

I'd find it interesting. I've always been slightly curious about Stonehenge

So you want someone to 'Write something on Stonehenge'? Will graffiti do?

You know what I mean

This is a good idea. It could be huge though. What sort of angle should it take? I ask because I'm vaguely interested, but what I know could be spray-painted on a small rock.

I dunno what kind of angle. Obviously historical information on how it was formed, its significance, etc

But I'm not writing it for once...

Muahahaha!

Lucky for you I did a project on Stonehenge back in high school! I did a lot of research on it too...my thesis is kind of boring "Stonehenge was built by a very stable society" but I've got lots of info on it. I'll search through my files on my computer here and see if I can't dig something up on Stonehenge.

Woo! I found it!

I read it through, and it wasn't that boring. It mostly explains how and when it was built...I never really did find out much about the society that built it...I think I found that most info on that was just speculation. So yeah.

I made a guide entry about Stonehenge
"Stonehenge: Built By A Stable Society"
A1903457


Aren't you glad that happened so quickly?

mcb,

I've just seen your entry on Stonehenge. It is pretty good, but very general. I'd like to see more detail, such as something about the alignment of the heel stone, the dimensions of the monument what it is like to visit Stonehenge today. Would you be able to provide these, and then to submit the entry to Peer Review?

Um....that is something I would like to do, however, I don't have the time at the moment. And never having been to Stonehenge, I can't give an accurate account of what it's like.

I really would like to improve it; perhaps in a few weeks I might be able to.


Maddy

I have been there several times, but yonks ago, before it was first enclosed = even before it had a car park. I have a book on Stone Circles of the British isles (Burl) and also know a quite bit about it.
I've only been on h2g2 a couple of days so don't know where to start.
Quite willing to help with research etc..
Watermusic

Well, we could colarborate on it a bit, if that's possible. While I've been on h2g2 for a while now, I still don't know a lot about that aspect of Guide Entries. I know it is possible though.


Maddy

Should I post some ideas / extras here or under A1903457 ?
Watermusic

It was much nicer while it was still a "wild" rather than captive stone circle. Should an article address these sorts of issues or merely be about the prehistory (such as is known) or mathematics/astronomy? DNA's example of the guide was for someone commenting on a cafe as it was right at the moment. There could be more than one article of course.

Have just discovered this courtesy of the Front Page bumping "Challenge h2g2" into my field of view!
I will read the entry asap and see if I can contribute anything. I have been to 'henge a few times, living on the doorstep (well, Southampton!), including many moons ago before it was enclosed.
I recall my first impression being that it was smaller than I'd imagined from photos!
There's also Julian Cope's excellent "The Modern Antiquarian", a book covering 300+ prehistoric sites in Britain and Ireland.

I'm off sick at the moment so it seems like an ideal opportunity to do a bit of "real" h2g2 research rather than just taking part in conversations!

For what it's worth, I think the stuff about preserving the site, recent events (proposals for a new visitor centre, diverting the road etc) are very relevant - I'll see what I can dig up!

It was great in it's time, but is now a little dated. That stone clad look!! The solution: MDF, some magnolia emulsion and a few strategically placed large mirrors, and it will sell in no time. A small water feature and some decking wouldn't hurt either!

Pave the world and put up moving walkways, that's what I always say. (Usually I say it when someone's trying to get me to go hiking.)
-Rivaine

As I had no reply to posting 12, I didn't do anything about it.
However, I was inspired by the 'Ancesters' program this week, to make a precis, and fill in facts I was unsure about from Aubrey Burl's The Stone Circles of the British Isles.

The result is
A2483840 The Construction of Stonehenge

Do you think this could stand alone? or does anyone want to incorporate it in their ideas or can I incorporate their's within it in some way???

Interesting.

If there were already an entry on Stonehenge, this could easily stand alone as a separate one. But it would be much better if you added to this entry and made a full one on Stonehenge. Where is it, what is a visit to it like, what was it built for?

Thanks for your comment Gnomon.

Well I know where abouts it is.

I first visited it too long ago to remember with any detail - a stone circle that we went past when visiting the grandparents - no fences, no car park, no restrictions.
When I last visited it, the only addition was the car park! So as, I am unlikely to be in that neck of the woods anywhen in the near future I can't describe that aspect.

What was it built for? One could debate all day as the answer is lost in the mists of time! The only sure thing that can be deduced is that it had some astronomical alignments, but whether these were used purely for observation, forecasting or recording events, whether there was any religious significance, any worship, any use of as a temple is pure conjecture on the part of modern man - that it must have been used for something! If religious - why was it built within 18 miles of Avebury, or why was Avebury built within 18 miles of Stonehenge?

Sounds like you know as much about why it was built as anybody else, so you can certainly write that part of the entry. The only thing you don't know is the modern "Stonehenge visit". We'll need someone else to provide that.