STONEHENGE 83 



any immediate indication of what precisely is the 

 heavenly body to which the temple was at its founda- 

 tion oriented. 



In the case of Stonehenge, the conclusion at which 

 Sir Norman Lockyer arrives is that there was an earlier 

 circle of small stones (still represented), but that the 

 temple was rededicated, and the larger trilithons (each 

 consisting of two uprights and a cross-piece) erected, 

 and the main opening of the circle aligned to the 

 midsummer rising sun about 1700 B.C., with a possible 

 error of 200 years, more or less. This is arrived at by 

 measurements showing the exact amount by which the 

 alignment is "out" at the present day. This date is 

 confirmed by the recent discovery of numerous stone 

 hammers when one of the big stones was dug under and 

 restored to the upright position from which it had 

 slipped. The stone age is believed to have given place 

 in Britain to the use of metal before 1700 B.C., and no 

 metal tools were found at Stonehenge. 



Stonehenge- the most wonderful, mysterious, and 

 complete of the great astronomical temples of Western 

 Europe has come down to us from the absolute 

 darkness of prehistoric ages. Its secrets are still 

 buried in the ground around and under its huge 

 monoliths. This prodigious relic of the past is actually 

 the private possession of one happy man, Sir Edmund 

 Antrobus. Only two years ago he earned the gratitude 

 of all men by employing workmen and machinery, at 

 considerable expense, to restore one of the great stones 

 to its upright position. The extraordinary thing is 

 that whatever money is needed for the purpose is not 

 at once offered to enable him to examine and replace 

 with scrupulous care every stone, big and small, every 

 scrap of soil, within an area of many hundred yards, 

 embracing Stonehenge and all around it. I understand 

 that he is willing to sell this great possession to the 

 nation. It surely ought to be acquired as national 



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