BREAKING NEWS, ANCIENT GRAIN FOUND AT STONEHENGE. April 12, 2008 Archaeologists excavating at Stonehenge, for the first time in 50 years, have discovered ancient grain inside the stone circle. For the complete story go to this link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/stonehenge/day11.shtml
Q: How is this theory any different from other theories about the ancient use of Stonehenge? A: The other common theories are; that Stonehenge was a religious site, an astronomical site or, was built by aliens. Take your pick. Our theory addresses the common needs of the neolithic people who built Stonehenge. We contend that it was a granary. We have built this theory up from the evidence on the ground at the site by constructive engineering rather than coming to the question with only an archaeological perspective. This is the engineering approach to the problem. This theory is also different in that we have a working model of the Stonehenge grain mill.
Q: Why are the stones so large at Stonehenge? Wouldn't it have been easier to use smaller stones that were not so hard to erect? A: The working parts of the mill at Stonehenge needed to be high off the ground for three reasons. First, the sails had to be elevated above the ground in order to catch more wind. Second, all the mechanical moving parts of the mill needed to be high overhead so that the workers were not in danger. Third, the large sarsen stone ring where the grinding took place was tall so that the grain and chaff falling off would be seperated by the wind allowing the grain to fall at the base of the ring while the chaff blew away. This winnowed the chaff from the finished grain.
Q: Where and how did the grinding of the grain take place in Stonehenge? A: The grinding surface was formed by the flat ring of capstones that ran around the top of the outer ring of large upright stones. On top of this stone ring sat large wooden rollers that were attached to a light weight wood and rope carousel that turned in the wind and moved the rollers along. Raw grain was placed on top of the stone ring and was cracked and crushed as the wooden rollers moved over it. The grain was not ground into flour. It was more like rolled oats when it was finished and spilled off the sarsen stone ring. The entire moving carousel with its wooden rollers was made of rope and small wooden poles. It needed to be light enough to be turned by the sails yet heavy enough to crush the grain. The entire carousel probably only weighed a few tons and needed to be rebuilt each year. After three thousand years, nothing remains of this perishable carousel at Stonehenge today.
Q: What size community would be needed to maintain and operate the Stonehenge mill? A: During the late Neolithic Age when Stonehenge was made into a mechanical mill the people were still mostly nomadic. Only in the harvest season would they travel to the Salisbury Plains to gather the wheat and operate the mill. Perhaps as many as 2,000 to 3,000 people assembled each year to do this. The operation of the mill itself would only have required about 30 or 40 workers. The lion';s share of the effort was the gathering and transporting the wheat to the mill.
Q: You state that this is the engineering approach to Stonehenge. How so? A: If an engineer with no previous beliefs about the use of Stonehenge was shown the ruins and asked to determine what it had been, he would most likely follow this line of reasoning. The engineer would realize right away that all perishable parts of the structure had disappeared over the three thousands years since its abandonment. The remaining large stones imply that the original structure needed a strong heavy foundation. Examination of this foundation shows a ring of smaller blue stones just inside the large sarsen stone ring. Because these two rings are close together and concentric the engineer would conclude that they were in some way connected or served the same purpose (as they do in our mill model). Next he would apply the same reasoning to the horseshoe of large trilithons and their inner bluestones of the same shape. They must have served together for a single purpose. The engineer would also recognize that the entire structure has an obvious axis formed by the horseshoe shape. This horseshoe of large trilithons is taller in the rear implying that the original structure needed more support in that area. Along this same line, the bluestones directly behind the trilithons are doubled up in number implying the need for more strength there. The front of the horseshoe is open and with fewer bluestones so the assumption would be that there was less force on that side. A look at the complicated and overbuilt stone joints in the elevated sarsen ring would imply that some force must have acted on it that would destroy a weaker ring. That force would be weight or vibration. The perfect circular sarsen track way implies something MOVED upon it. The next question would be what did neolithic man need and what did the structure supply him. Food and shelter would have been the greatest need. The engineer would conclude that the structure provided one or both of these needs. A building would not need to rotate on the sarsen ring so perhaps the structure was a grain mill. This is exactly how we came to develop the theory of the granary at Stonehenge.
Q: Why does Stonehenge have a higher-than-necessary degree of mathematical and celestial alignment than would be required for its use as a grain mill? A: Stonehenge had a dual use as both a religious site and a grain mill. Its main celestial alignments are the 4 outlying station stones and the central alignment to midsummer sunrise along the avenue. These alignments were part of Stonehenge from its earliest stages and marked the times of the year associated with agricultural cycles. Stonehenge only became a mechanical grain mill a thousand years later in phase III when it underwent a complete makeover and repositioning of many of its stones. This dual use of Stonehenge is understandable when we consider that early agriculture of grain and Neolithic religion were connected, just as Native Americans honored corn so highly in their religion and ceremonies. Erecting a complex monument to the sun and seasons then using it to process the sacred grain go hand-in-hand. The milling of the grain would have taken place as an important part of the midsummer religious celebrations.
Q: Who built Stonehenge? A: Stonehenge was originally built by the Windmill Hill people. They are named after their earthworks found on nearby Windmill Hill. What a coincidence that Stonehenge would later become a windmill.
Q: It seems like a huge task for early people to carry heavy grain to Stonehenge just to be ground. It would be too much work for early people to build and operate such a mill. A: It was a far greater task for people to haul huge stones from far away to Stonehenge, yet we know that they did this. Carrying grain is nothing by comparison. The neolithic people were experts at moving weight, and the wheel was not entirely unknown at the time of the mill. The oldest wheel found in England dates from 1255 BC and was found at Blair Drummond near Stirling.
Q: Wouldn't the moving carousel have been too heavy to be turned by the sails? A: There would have been times when there was not enough wind to turn the carousel. The mill could also have been rotated by draft animals. Stonehenge operated as a mill for perhaps 500 years during which the operators had plenty of time to try lighter carousels and different sails. The engineering at Stonehenge would have been a learning experience at first. Nearby Woodhenge may have been a site where the mechanical details were worked out in wood before the structure was erected in stone.
