Article 51VC To understand the pyramids and Stonehenge, look up – not down

To understand the pyramids and Stonehenge, look up – not down

by
Julian Spalding
from on (#51VC)
When interpreting the mysterious monuments and art created by our ancestors, we've been gazing in the wrong direction

My suggestion that Stonehenge was probably neither a temple nor a calendar but most likely a raised, ceremonial altar used by hundreds of people has attracted considerable attention and some criticism from archaeologists. I've nothing against archaeology, but let me make clear that my idea didn't come from digging into the ground. It came, instead, from looking up at the stars and wondering what our ancestors thought about them when they thought the earth was flat.

When Don Marcelino Sanz de Sautuolo explored the Altimira cave in 1879 he dug in the floor. It never occurred to him to look up. It was his young daughter, Maria, who pointed to the ceiling and shouted: "Look Papa, oxen!" So the first cave paintings were discovered. It's my contention that we've been looking in the wrong direction when we've interpreted many of the great monuments and works of art of the past.

Related: Circular thinking: Stonehenge's origin is subject of new theory

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