Hey blog followers!

OK so I left off talking about the play I saw at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The next day, Tuesday May 27th, we had a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. It was an amazing sight but the only down and messy side was that it was pouring and extremely windy and cold. On more then one occasion people were either loosing their umbrellas or having to turn them right side in when the wind picked up and blew them out.

A little history about the are of Stonehenge....
In 12,00 BC there was a change in culture from large family groups to smaller, more individualistic family groups and in this specific area archaeologists called them the beaker people because in their culture they were buried in the fetal position and their graves contained beakers or pots that stored food or valuables like money and jewelry.

A henge is a circular earthwork ditch with stones or wood. It was a slow process that took 1500 years to build. The people dug a ditch 6ft down and 300 ft in diameter. The first stones were brought in from the furthest places known as blue stone which were 8-12 feet high all the way from Whales. There were around 40 of them brought and placed in a ring. The second stones that were brought were known as marble downs across the ares; they were moved on rollers 20-25 miles, they were cut at the site and two were placed standing while one was placed on top. In 1500 BC Stonehenge was complete but there is no clue as to what happened to the beaker people because their burial rituals died out.

The Stonehenge as we know it today is in its collapsed form, over the centuries there was a road that went through it during the medieval times then a farmer owned the land that it rested on and would let people as they walked by break a chunk off and take it with them on their journey.

The beaker people were discovered by archaeologists to have over 7,000 burial mounds in the area surrounding Stonehenge. They were believed to be a spiritual people. The reasoning behind Stonehenge in not exact but it is believed to be astrological but have healing properties as well. People came from all over to be healed from curses or ailments.

I really enjoyed when we went to Stonehenge because I had heard of the extreme controversy of its origins. It made me think just how far back this area went and that I could have been standing where someone else walked or was healed at thousands of years before. It was quite a sight even though it was raining but it seemed to make the experience more memorable and appreciate the fact that I had to see this controversial wonder first hand.