New theory behind Stonehenge's true purpose
<p dir="ltr">After an extensive new study, archaeologists believe they have uncovered the true purpose of Stonehenge. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Long believed to have been used solely for ceremonial purposes, a study led by Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University has concluded that Stonehenge served as a solar calendar, and he has identified how it may have worked. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The monument, which lies on a flat plain of land in England’s southwest, is adorned with astronomical alignments that were built into the design and orientation of the landmark. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The central axis of the megaliths was - and still is - aligned with the sunrise at midsummer and sunset at midwinter, with the stones perfectly framing the rising and setting sun when days were at their longest and shortest.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The ring of 30 upright stones, supporting 30 horizontal stones, represents the number of days within a month. </p>
<p dir="ltr">As well as this, distinctive stones in the circle mark the start of three 10-day weeks, according to the study. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Twelve such months would come to 360, but a group of “trilithons” - a structure formed of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top - were arranged in a horseshoe shape in the centre of the site.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to Professor Darvill, these represent the extra five days needed to match the 365-day solar year. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Four smaller stones that lay outside the circle in a rectangle were a way to keep track of a leap year, with an extra day every four years.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Finding a solar calendar represented in the architecture of Stonehenge opens up a whole new way of seeing the monument as a place for the living,” Prof Darvill said in a news statement.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“A place where the timing of ceremonies and festivals was connected to the very fabric of the universe and celestial movements in the heavens.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite Professor Darvill’s convincing study, some experts are not convinced. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“The numbers don’t really add up - why should two uprights of a trilithon equal one upright of the sarsen circle to represent 1 day?” University College London’s Institute of Archaeology professor Mike Parker Pearson said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“And there’s selective use of evidence to try to make the numbers fit: some of the stones have been left out because they evidently can’t be made to fit.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">On top of Bournemouth University's study, the recent discoveries of graves and artefacts near the stone circle have shown that Stonehenge was not home to one isolated group but part of a deeply interconnected world.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>
