Time Travel Thursday

Time Travel Thursday

May 2010 - Stonehenge England



The Ancient Monument of Stonehenge:

The Heel Stone lies just outside the main entrance to the henge, next to the present A344 road. It is a rough stone, 16 feet (4.9 m) above ground, leaning inwards towards the stone circle. It has been known by many names in the past, including "Friar's Heel" and "Sun-stone". Today it is uniformly referred to as the Heel Stone or Heelstone. At summer solstice an observer standing within the stone circle, looking north-east through the entrance, would see the sun rise above the heel stone.

A folk tale, which cannot be dated earlier than the seventeenth century, relates the origin of the Friar's Heel reference.The Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up, and brought them to Salisbury plain. One of the stones fell into the Avon, the rest were carried to the plain. The Devil then cried out, "No-one will ever find out how these stones came here!" A friar replied, "That’s what you think!," whereupon the Devil threw one of the stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground and is still there.

5,000 years ago, these huge 40-ton rocks were dragged to the lonely, windy plain of Salisbury Hill...and their secrets continue to tantalize and intrigue scholars and visitors to this day. Was Stonehenge a religious temple, an astronomical clock, or a Bronze Age burial ground?