Buzz
The withered brown patches of grass inadvertently unveiled one of the greatest mysteries of ancient Stonehenge.
New Discovery Regarding the Mystery of Stonehenge
Stonehenge, known as the 'sacred site upon the stone pillars,' is a renowned 4000-year-old megalithic monument in England. Archaeologists have long debated whether the ancient stone site was perfectly enclosed or if it was originally an incomplete circle as it appears today. And they accidentally discovered the answer to this debate thanks to a too-short water sprinkler pipe of the monument preservation team.
At the ancient Stonehenge site, a sprinkler system is utilized to maintain the lush green grass during hot spells. However, one of the sprinklers is too short, unable to reach the missing section of the stone circle, resulting in patches of withered brown grass emerging.
Daw, a member of the preservation team, was the first to notice this. He stood at the pathway, observing the grass patches near the stone slabs and contemplating solving the issue by replacing the short sprinkler with a longer one.
Unexpected Revelation at Stonehenge
Upon arrival, the expert team swiftly took aerial photographs of the ancient stone site to prevent rain from washing away traces of the withered grass. They also documented the crack locations on the western edge of Wiltshire on the map. There, the brown patches were marked to correspond to the standing positions of the stones, if they were once part of a complete circle.
Moreover, other faded grass patches corresponded to recorded excavation pits, including the grooves that engineer William Gowland dug into in 1901. All this evidence supports the hypothesis that the Stonehenge site today has been disrupted or lost compared to its original form.
While the brown patches had been discovered long ago, it wasn't until 2013 that specific and clear conclusions were detailed in an article by Daw and another staff member at the UK Heritage Conservation organization published in the Antiquity journal. The article affirmed that despite being one of the most studied historical sites in the world, Stonehenge still remains a mystery, offering many surprises to humankind. Furthermore, this incident also highlights the importance of both ground and aerial surveying in the field of archaeology.
In response to the phenomenon, Susan Greaney, a senior historian at the UK Heritage Conservation organization, stated that this was a coincidental yet incredibly significant discovery. 'It shows that we need to delve deeper into understanding Stonehenge. It's fantastic that those who care for the site daily have found something special and recognized how the original form of this ancient stone site really looked like,' said Susan.
Historian Greaney also added that what happened to the missing stones remains a perplexing question without a definitive answer. They may have been moved and used as building materials for ancient distant indigenous homes, or even as roads.
Source: Ngọc Mai/Vnexpress
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Reference: Mytour Travel Guide
MytourJune 9, 2017
