50 years ago, Stonehenge’s purpose mystified scientists. It still does

Stonehenge: A calendar or just a crematorium Science News, November 11, 1972

The monument consisted of a circle of immense, finely tooled stone archways surrounded by a range of 56 equally spaced [holes].… The precisely proportioned placement of the stones and holes has led archaeologists to presume that the monument had some great astrological significance.… As an alternate explanation, the researchers say perhaps there were 56 families, clans or social units who built Stonehenge and who were entitled to dig one of the [holes] and use it to inter cremated remains.

Update

Stonehenge’s purpose remains murky, but the monument’s origin is becoming clearer thanks to science.

→ Continue reading at Science News

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