Stonehenge and Carnac

Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric Megalith in Europe, lies 8 miles north of Salisbury, England. Only a few of the original huge stones are still standing. Sometimes it’s tempting to try and explain what this is, but when you consider that whole libraries are filled with books on the subject, it’s difficult to say more than Stonehenge consists of huge (twenty-five feet tall, up to four tons) rocks that were put in place 2,000 to 5,000 years ago. It still accurately predicts eclipses, change of seasons, and more of that kind of things. Spectacular.

While Carnac-Plage, France, is one of the finest beaches on the south coast of Brittany, the name of Carnac is usually associated with the rows of several thousand Megaliths or “great stones” erected thousands of years ago. Groups of these stones are found in many places, and near Carnac alone there are 2,792 menhirs (a prehistoric, single tall, upright stone). The Menec, Kermario, and Kerlescan Avenues have over 2,500 huge stones (up to 12 feet tall) set in rows, very likely used as a prehistoric astronomical “computer.”

References we have read do not indicate a connection between Carnac’s Avenues and the Great Circle at Stonehenge, across the Channel in England, but the use of huge stones, and the apparent astronomical purpose are certainly similar.

When did someone first notice a characteristic that connected the stars, the moon and the position of the sun, with the seasons? How many generations studied this characteristic before they determined a pattern existed? How was the information “recorded” and passed from generation to generation? How many centuries did it take before they decided to spend the millions of man days needed to create these bewitching stone “structures?”

Think about that for a moment. Did two different groups of people (separated by a few hundred miles and the English Channel), study the sky, come to the same conclusion, and use huge stones to build astrological installations? Or did members of one civilization cross the channel in one direction or the other, and transplant the knowledge that must have taken many generations to perfect?

Fascinating questions that would require far more pages than available here.