Stone Structures example essay topic

In the hill country of northern England, many sites of Stonehenge exist. Approximately 150 to 200 enormous stones lie stacked on top of each other forming somewhat of an altar. Tall stones standup right surrounding the center stone which is bluestone. This is unlike the sandstone columns which surround it.

This may not seem unusual at first; however, there are three main factors that make Stonehenge extremely odd. Each of these stones weigh close to 4 tons. There are also no other stones in a radius of 15 miles. With today's sophisticated equipment the moving of these large stones would not be difficult, but one must remember, Stonehenge was built approximately 4800 B.C. Radiocarbon dating shows that these stone structures are older than the great pyramids of Egypt, and the large cities of Rome. Of course Stonehenge is not as advanced as the great pyramids but it was built in an area which wasn't as advanced as the Egyptians or Romans. The outside stones are made completely of sandstone, this is at least 18 miles from the site where the sandstone was quarried from.

Each stone stands upright and are expertly balanced. Stones of the same composition and size, rest on top forming a circular structure. In the middle of these stones, giant pieces of bluestone lay on the ground in "horse shoe" like shapes. These stones are also called spotted dolomite, and are not found within a 225 mile radius. In the very center, a piece of Welsh sandstone lay as a monument. One of the most interesting facts about Stonehenge is that it is perfectly lined up with the winter (December 21) and summer (June 21) solstices.

This is when the beginning of summer and winter when the Earth's axis changes. As the sun rises over the horizon on those two days, its rays go through a small hole in one of the rocks. The alignment is perfect. The other significant characteristic of these prehistoric masterpieces, is that absolutely no mortar or cement exists throughout the entire structure. These huge stones lay balanced on top of each other with no glue or substance to hold them together. The only thing that stops these gargantuan stones from falling is a simple system of joints.

Originally these structures were thought to be circles. In fact, many people still think they are circular; however, they are not. Some have flattened sides, some are hexagonal and some are elliptical. This is not easy to see with the naked eye which is why so many people think they are circles. Almost half of the original stones are missing.

This could mean that what we see today is totally different than what the people who built it saw. Perhaps originally they were tall buildings where worshipping services were held, or maybe they were altars for sacrifices. Because they are perfect astronomical clocks, they simply could have been used as a giant calendar. Whatever they might have been remains a mystery even today. There are countless beliefs about the causes of this unusual structure, mainly because there is no explanation for this phenomenon. When this structure was built, the technology in the area was not this advanced.

Many historians, scientists and archeologists have studied these ancient stones and have come up with a few ideas. However, only a few have some merit. The ideas that the public has are drastically different from the ideas the science community has. The public looks for excitement and science fiction. On the other hand, the science community bases its ideas on fact. When most Americans think of Stonehenge, they immediately think of aliens.

This was the work of the UFO craze in the 1950's, as well as the ever growing popularity of alien life. All that time people wanted to associate aliens with everything; whether it be crop circles, UFO sightings or prehistoric marvels. Because Stonehenge has so many unanswered questions, the public looked towards aliens. But why would they build such things? What would make alien life forms want to build these structures? One theory is to house a temple for worshipping, but not to any gods, rather the aliens themselves.

They could have realized that the people were inferior and did not know what they were. The ancient British cultures must have thought they were gods that came out of the sky. So if the aliens did build Stonehenge, it would probably be as a worshipping service to them, not gods. However, there is no evidence that points to aliens at all. Not one piece of alien metal or space craft exists on the site, as well as the planet. This idea is not valued by the science community mainly because it is not practical.

Yet if there is no answer, why is it wrong to believe in this theory? Scientists lean towards the belief that these structures were simply built by the humans living in the area at the time. This theory is even more unbelievable than the alien theory. The technology that existed at the time was far inferior to complete this task. The small civilization that lived in England at this time was not capable of such a task due to lack of man power and a lack of education. They were a civilized group for the region yet they still could not read or write; still they were much more civilized than the barbaric group of the Druids.

The Druids were thought to have the man power at the time but definitely did not have the skill. The task of completing these structures was immense. Advanced math skills, as well as carpentry skills, simply did not exist to these people. It is also thought that the Romans could have completed Stonehenge; however, Julius Caesar did not set foot on the island until 2,000 years after the last structure had been completed. So if this theory is correct, then it would have to have been a culture that we did not know existed, (or the civilization that was on site with a little help from and advanced culture.) It is estimated that Stonehenge would have taken 1,500 men approximately 5 and 1/2 years to simply move the stones to the site. After that, it would have taken at least a million working days to actually build the structure.

This is literally impossible because there was not enough man power and technology at the time. So the theory that Stonehenge did not come from the civilization that was living in the area, but came from advanced people that lived somewhere The myth of the past civilization of Atlantis. Atlantis was thought to be a continent in the Atlantic Ocean that once held a far superior civilization that was capable of many things the other parts of the world was not. It is also thought that before this continent sunk below the ocean killing and destroying the entire civilization, these highly advanced people sailed the seven seas. Because of chance or intent, these people came across the Island of Britain.

When they landed there, they found an inferior culture. After somewhat educating them, it is believed that they began building Stonehenge with the help of theAtlantians. Even if they did build this with the help of the Atlantians, how would they go about it? The most practical way of transporting these huge stones is by using huge logs. This process is done by rolling the huge stones on large logs. When the stones passes a log in the back, it is putin to the front.

This process is repeated over and over to reach the destination but still requires a great amount of power. A problem with this process is that trees are very scarce in the area. Almost a hundred would be needed for each stone and one tree may be found every 10 miles. After they left, the native civilizations would have used the structure as an observatory or a temple. Whatever it may be, Stonehenge was definitely built by one race, and used by another. Whoever built this amazing set of structures, had to be far superior to the known civilizations of the past.

Maybe we don't know everything that we believe to have happened in the past. There could have been a past civilization that nobody knows about. Perhaps the answer to who created Stonehenge would also answer many other questions about history. There is no proven answer yet, hopefully one day we will know who created Stonehenge, how it was created, and why..