WILLIAM SHATNER: Massive stone circles that date back
thousands of years...
Rows of perfectly positioned pillars
that stretch on for miles.
And huge statues with secrets
buried deep underground.
All over the world, there are giant monoliths
that our ancient ancestors carved out of solid rock,
but what was the purpose of these huge stone monuments?
Did they serve some kind of ritual function?
Were they intended to honor the gods?
Or is it possible that, as some believe,
certain monoliths were actually designed to
conduct energy?
Well, that is what we’ll try and find out.
♪ ♪
SHATNER: Here, sitting atop a grassy clearing
in the English countryside,
about 80 miles west of the city of Plymouth,
is a set of three monoliths that stand out
from the natural landscape.
In the language of ancient Britain,
the site was named Mên-an-Tol,
which translates to
"the stone of the hole."
RONALD HUTTON: There’s nothing else on Earth quite like the Mên-an-Tol.
It consists of a big, round stone
with a big, round hole in the middle of it.
It’s a couple of feet across.
You can crawl through it quite comfortably.
Uh, there’s a straight stone on either side.
It’s highly visible in the landscape
and bafflingly mysterious.
SHATNER: Archaeologists believe that Mên-an-Tol
was constructed around the year 2000 BC.
It is also thought that there were once additional monoliths
that encircled the center stone,
which have been lost to time.
There’s something very melodramatic
about the Mên-an-Tol.
There has to be a reason
why ancient people had put up a big stone
with a big hole in it.
And the real thing to do with a stone with a hole
is crawl through it, so there must be a good reason for that.
Local folklore says that crawling through the center
of the Mên-an-Tol is really good for you.
Diseased children can get better,
especially if they’ve got rickets.
And if you put a couple of brass pins
on the top of the holed stone,
the way in which they fall off
can predict your future.
HUGH NEWMAN: When it comes to Mên-an-Tol in Cornwall,
we have to question what is going on here?
Is this really a magical place?
Is it just ancient traditions?
Or is there some reality to the power of these ancient stones?
SHATNER: Mên-an-Tol is just one of approximately 1,300
ancient monoliths that are scattered
throughout the British Isles.
It may sound outlandish to think that Mên-an-Tol
and other standing stone sites
can have a mystical affect on people, but
who can say for sure that they don’t?
Because even after centuries of study, these
remarkable structures remain shrouded in mystery.
HUTTON: Stonehenge gets all the fame and the recognition,
but there are thousands and thousands
of other prehistoric monuments that are worth attention
up and down the British Isles.
For example, Avebury is absolutely stunning
because it’s a very big place.
What you’re looking at there is an enormous bank
with a ditch inside it,
and inside this enormous circular enclosure
was originally 100 stones in a circle,
and inside this enormous circle of stones
are the remnants of two other enormous stone circles.
I mean, the place is so big that about half
of a village was built inside it.
It was an entire community.
ANDREW COLLINS: The largest standing stone in Britain
is known as the Rudston Monolith.
It’s around 25 to 26 feet in height,
but there is just as much of it under the ground,
creating this huge,
great monolith
almost 60 feet in length.
The significant thing about this is that
the type of stone that it’s made from
can only be sourced about 30 miles to the north.
That meant that it was dragged in some way
to its position in the village of Rudston,
and we have to ask ourselves,
is there a greater purpose behind all of this?
And if so, what is that greater purpose?
ED BARNHART: In the U.K., right now, we have thousands of known monuments,
but there were probably thousands more, originally.
We do know that
the people who built the megaliths in the U.K.
were early farmers, they were from
4000 to about 2000 BCE.
But we really don’t know what language
they spoke, we don’t really know
how they socially organized themselves or their politics.
So, it’s still very much a question
exactly why they built them.
SHATNER: Why would prehistoric people go to the trouble of erecting
heavy standing stones that weighed, in some cases,
as much as 40 tons?
Well, one theory suggests that these monoliths
served as a connection to a higher plane of existence.
In many cases, these standing stones
seem to be orientated towards celestial events,
such as the rising and setting of the sun
at the equinoxes and the solstices.
And so, these monoliths are very clearly
a reflection of this belief
of contact with higher forces
that would’ve taken place through the ceremonies
and the rituals that would go on once, maybe twice a year.
SHATNER: Were these monolithic sites built for ceremonial purposes?
It’s an intriguing theory,
and some researchers suggest that England’s
standing stones were also connected to each other.
Because, as it turns out, many of these monoliths
appear to be geographically aligned
on what are commonly referred to as ley lines.
Ley lines, or leys, were first visualized
by a thinker and visionary called
Alfred Watkins in the 1920s.
He wrote a book called The Old Straight Track,
which said that a whole range of prehistoric monuments
are connected by extremely long lines,
even corridors, that stretch across
the length and breadth of Britain.
SHATNER: Alfred Watkins theorized
that the straight lines which connect
Britain’s monoliths were ancient trade routes.
But some researchers disagree
and claim that the massive stones
were placed along ley lines
to serve a more energetic purpose.
COLLINS: It would seem that the whole long lines of monuments
are connected with the geomagnetic fields of the Earth,
and that the peoples of Britain
created these stone circles and standing stones
to enhance this natural energy of the landscape.
SHATNER: Is it possible that ancient people,
who did not even have written language,
figured out how to use monoliths
to harness the energy of the Earth?
And if so, for what purpose?
If prehistoric people believed that
there were currents of Earth energy,
then prehistoric monuments may have been
put where they were in the landscape
because they would have amplified prayers,
invocations, chants, drumming, singing, and that would’ve
considerably enhanced ceremonies.
It’s going to create a very impressive effect
for religious purposes.
SHATNER: Although numerous intriguing theories have been put forward,
ultimately, no one has been able
to explain the purpose,
placement, and construction of Britain’s
remarkable monoliths.
BARNHART: There’s a lot of things
we don’t know about these megalithic structures.
We really don’t know how they did it,
why they did it. These are important questions,
and we have certain hints, but most of it
is still pretty much a mystery.
What we can say is that there was a unified effort
around building these monoliths,
and that they are certainly
cornerstone and symbolic of
ancient Britain’s culture.
The massive stone circles found throughout
the United Kingdom are astonishing.
But how were ancient people, with limited technology,
able to carve and transport such huge blocks?
Perhaps the answer can be found by examining
a number of large statues located on an island
in the Mediterranean Sea.
Statues that may be depicting
real-life giants.
NEWMAN: There was this giant stone head
gazing back at him with these obsidian eyes.
MATTHEW LACROIX: The classical Greeks and Romans
discussed how there was an ancient giant bloodline
on the island of Sardinia.
SHATNER: On this island, located off the coast of Italy,
a farmer in a region known as Mont’e Prama
is tilling his fields,
when he strikes what appears to be a large rock.
But upon closer inspection, he realizes that his plow
has revealed something far more amazing.
It’s the head of a massive, ancient statue.
The farmer started digging around it,
brushing away the mud, pulled it out,
and there was this giant stone head gazing back at him
with these obsidian eyes.
And so, this became quite a sensation at the time.
It was one of the most important archaeological
discoveries of the decade.
BARNHART: Subsequently, archaeologists
entered the area, and through the late ’70s,
they dug, and they found over 5,000 fragments
of these giant statues.
We have archers, we have warriors,
we have boxers.
They are, generally speaking, about eight feet tall,
and approach a ton in weight,
and they are unique in the regard that,
for their time, there was
no other statuary that was in human form
and size
and that level of detail and sophistication.
SHATNER: The monolithic statues came to be known as
the Giants of Mont’e Prama.
According to archaeologists, they were carved by
the Nuragic people, a mysterious civilization
that lived on Sardinia nearly 4,000 years ago.
The Nuragic people were the Indigenous population
of Sardinia,
beginning around 1750 BCE or so,
and they were not the kind of society
that would have writing.
So, we don’t know a lot beyond their everyday lifestyle,
which would be in many ways similar to what was going on
throughout the Mediterranean at the same time.
SHATNER: Incredibly, some researchers claim
that the reason why the Nuragic people
carved statues that were eight feet tall
is because these monoliths
were created in the image of an actual race
of giants.
NEWMAN: One of the strange things about these statues
is that they appear
to be buried underneath these kind of slabs of stone
in this elongated grave,
as though they were almost like ancestors
being buried in the ground.
Why they did this, we don’t know.
But there are many legends of giants
all over Sardinia and the stories go on and on and on.
So, these could be the same giants
who were memorialized in these particular statues.
SHATNER: Could the monoliths of Mont’e Prama
really be evidence that a civilization of giants
once inhabited the island of Sardinia, as some believe?
Many researchers think that it’s possible
and claim that there are additional clues in folklore
throughout the Mediterranean.
LACROIX: Diodorus, an ancient Greek historian,
discussed how there was an ancient bloodline
of the Athenian civilization known as the 50 sons of Hercules
that mated with a mortal race of women
to create a giant bloodline
that built these monolithic statues
on the island of Sardinia.
NEWMAN: This story really put the idea
into different philosophers’ heads
that this was actually a very advanced culture
that kind of led up to the time of the Nuragic people
and culminated in the era of the Mont’e Prama giants.
SHATNER: The massive monoliths of Mont’e Prama
and stories from folklore aren’t the only pieces of evidence
to suggest that giants once lived on Sardinia.
Because there are also mysterious tombs
located throughout the island that may have been
where their oversized bodies were buried.
TYKOT: What we see at Mont’e Prama,
are totally separate structures
for where they buried their deceased,
and these are called the giants’ tombs, Tomba dei giganti.
They are typically made of one very large stone
that have a semi-hemispherical
entry area, or front,
that curves inward
with the center part having a small hole down at the bottom,
which is where the skeleton would have been interred.
NEWMAN: As you see these giants’ tombs, what you realize
is that it’s entirely made of large blocks
with a small opening in the base.
In tradition, these were the burial places
designed for giants.
They would actually build the tomb around it.
This is one of the clues that
kind of links with the legends
that giants did exist in Sardinia.
But there is further evidence that
actual skeletons have been found
in some of these giants’ graves.
We have accounts from 1901,
where there’s a report of four nine-foot skeletons
being unearthed in the vicinity in northern Sardinia.
And even relatively recently, there are reports of
three skeletons being dug up in an area called
Torralba, in southwest Sardinia.
However, the problem is, is that most of the evidence
has now disappeared.
They’ve just gone missing, basically.
And so, you have to question,
why is this? Is there a cover-up?
SHATNER: Is it possible that the bones of giants
have actually been hidden from the public?
It’s an intriguing theory,
and it deepens the mystery surrounding
the strange, towering statues
uncovered at Mont’e Prama.
BARNHART: The Giants of Mont’e Prama
are very unique and enigmatic,
and Sardinia’s myths and stories about
who these people were typically talk about giants,
but there’s a lot of things we don’t know
about who these people were.
And so, these giant statues
are the mystery within that mystery.
Were the statues of Mont’e Prama built to honor
a society of actual giants?
The fact that some of the statues
are more than eight feet tall definitely makes you wonder
whether it could be possible.
And there’s another group of monoliths,
located some 800 miles away in Western France,
that is also associated with a lost civilization,
a civilization whose mastery of mathematics and engineering
was centuries ahead of its time.
Carnac is a unique phenomenon from any other Neolithic sites.
Right around 4000 BCE, engineers
were creating these in a very exacting way.
SHATNER: This peaceful countryside,
located in the northwest part of France,
is known for its rustic farms and wide fields.
But jutting out from the green hills
is something rather striking.
It’s a formation
of more than 3,000 stone monoliths
that stretches across the landscape
for an astonishing two miles.
These monoliths are collectively known as
the Carnac stones.
Carnac is like enormous stationary giants,
or needles plugged into the Earth,
stretching as far as the eye can see.
It’s a unique phenomenon
from any of the ancient sites, because none of the others
have these marching processions of stones
in pretty straight lines running on for miles.
There’s no other place in Europe or the U.K.
that we see this kind of arrangement.
Within Carnac is Europe’s
largest single megalith.
It was called the Menhir of Er Grah.
Now, it’s fallen over, broken, and it’s in four pieces.
But it was originally 60 tall and over 300 tons.
At Carnac, there are thousands and thousands of stones,
but the real draw are these alignments,
with neat rows of megalithic stones
going in a single direction.
ERIN KAVANAUGH: Carnac has three main alignments,
one of which is particularly interesting.
It consists of 1,050 stones
across ten different rows.
And these are aligned east to west,
and they decrease in size towards the east.
So, there was definitely some sort of plan
going on with the alignments.
But what that plan is remains a mystery.
SHATNER: According to archaeologists,
the Carnac stones were positioned
in approximately 4000 BC,
making them older than the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
But who constructed this extraordinary array
of monoliths and aligned them
with such incredible precision
remains a mystery.
There’s a huge amount of folklore about Carnac.
The monoliths are often seen as sinners
who are turned to stone by the Almighty for breaching
a whole range of, uh, religious rules.
Some see them as an army of the dead
that rose up and began marching and then got turned into stone
as death reclaimed them.
KAVANAUGH: There’s also a theory that involves Merlin,
the wise man,
and that there was an invading Roman army,
and to protect the local peoples,
Merlin cast a spell upon the Roman soldiers,
and turned them all into stone.
And that’s why you have nice, neat alignments.
SHATNER: The fantastic legends surrounding the Carnac stones
may suggest that they had a mystical origin.
But many historians believe the ancient monoliths
are so perfectly aligned not because of magic,
but rather mathematics.
The alignments in Carnac are spectacular and elaborate.
The scope of them is astonishing,
but also, the alignments are geometrically perfect,
in that there are Pythagorean theorems
built within the stone alignments.
SHATNER: For decades, some historians and archaeologists
have argued that there appears to be
precise triangles within the monolithic structure.
Historians find this extraordinary because
the Greek philosopher Pythagorus
developed this geometric concept
in the 6th century BC,
more than 3,000 years after
the Carnac stones were erected.
MICHIO KAKU: When you take a look at the location of the stones,
you can say, "Well, yeah,
there’s a Pythagorean triangle there."
And, just remember, these monoliths date back 6,000 years.
So, the ancients were much more advanced
than we give them credit for.
SHATNER: If the builders of the Carnac stones
used the Pythagorean theorem thousands of years
before it was first defined,
then how did they obtain such advanced mathematical knowledge?
It’s a profound mystery.
One that Alexander Thom,
a professor of engineering at Oxford University,
tried to answer in the 1950s.
BARNHART: Alexander Thom really was
on the quest to
show us just how sophisticated
these megalithic engineers and builders were.
And he determined that-- by measuring
about 600 different stones--
that there was basically a megalithic yard,
and by yard, he meant yardstick.
It was basically 2.7 feet, is what he thought
was the unit of measure used to create these stones.
KAVANUGH: According to Alexander Thom,
the megalithic yard was precise to the millimeter,
and that this was used to make
the mathematical judgements
inherent within these stone configurations.
And he considered it to be a very serious scholarly idea.
Alexander Thom believed that people across
time and distance, such as between Stonehenge and Carnac,
were using this megalithic yard.
And we can see this in the evidence
that they leave behind,
with the alignments and enormous monoliths.
McGOWAN: There’s certainly a connection between the standing stones
in Britain and the alignments in Carnac.
However, that is just scratching the surface.
I don’t think we even have the first idea
of how extraordinary the intelligence was
that created these alignments in Carnac.
And Carnac needs and deserves so much more study
to understand how exceptional
these ancient monoliths actually are.
Is it possible that there is a connection between
the Carnac stones and other monoliths
scattered throughout Europe?
Some researchers believe
that it’s a distinct possibility,
and they also claim
that these monoliths
were part of an ancient network of sites that stretched
not just across Europe
but all over the world.
TERRY HUNT: Why did the ancient islanders
invest so much in these giant statues,
and why are they here?
LACROIX: Some of these moai were built
by a much more ancient civilization than the Rapa Nui.
SHATNER: 2,300 miles off the coast of Chile,
an island rises from the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Called "Rapa Nui" by the locals,
the island is perhaps better known by the name given to it
by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen,
when he landed here on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722
and dubbed it "Easter Island."
Today, some 5,000 people make their home here,
most of whom are the descendants
of Easter Island’s original inhabitants,
who were also named the Rapa Nui.
But its most famous residents
are the hundreds of massive, ancient monolithic statues,
known as moai,
that are scattered across its grassy cliffs.
Easter Island is famous for its moai statues.
They are these human depictions.
Their faces are very long, and their chins are long,
and there are over 900 of them on the island.
About 95% of them
were quarried at a crater called Rano Raraku,
and there are a number of failed or just
given up on moai still carved into the crater’s face.
The moai vary quite a bit in size,
but the average moai
is about 12 to 13 tons and about 13 feet tall.
So, people are really fascinated by this
and continue to beg for an explanation
of why did the ancient islanders
in this remote location invest so much
in these giant statues, and why are they here?
SHATNER: Archaeologists estimate that the moai
were created between 1400 and 1600 AD.
For centuries, experts have been confounded
as to what these massive headstones
were intended to represent.
But then, in 2010, archaeologists uncovered
an important clue, when a series of excavations revealed
that there was more to the moai than meets the eye.
ROBERT SCHOOCH: They discovered the moai have torsos,
and they have very long, thin arms and hands.
They’re huge statues,
and they’re buried up to their necks,
literally, in sediment and debris.
HUNT: The moai have details on the body.
Some have petroglyphs on the body.
And people are really fascinated by this
because the common misperception of the moai
comes from the really
iconic photos of
the heads alone.
And so, people see that, and they just call them heads,
but it’s correct to really refer to the moai as statues.
SHATNER: The discovery of the full-sized moai statues only deepens
the mystery surrounding them.
The revelation that some of these monoliths
are more than twice as big as previously believed
naturally begs the question,
how did the Rapa Nui move these massive stones into place?
The transport of these giant statues
has been a continuing mystery.
For example, the largest moai ever transported
goes by the name of Paro.
Paro is about 33 feet tall,
and he’s estimated to weigh about 75 to 80 tons.
Paro was transported from the quarry
to the platform where he was displayed,
and it’s over three miles.
So, it’s an amazing accomplishment.
BARNHART: The mystery of how they moved
these giant statues
has been a-a perennial question.
When the first Europeans showed up
and asked the local people how they did it,
they said, "Well, the statues walked there themselves.
"They walked from the quarry
to these platforms they stand on, called ahu."
And so, if we listen to the Rapa Nui,
there was a magical quality to creating these moai.
SHATNER: Is it possible that the moai somehow
walked into place?
Of course, it sounds impossible,
but according to tests conducted by archaeologists in 2012,
there may be some truth to this legend.
What we showed in experiments,
with a replica of an actual moai,
is that the statues have a lower center of gravity
that makes them lean forward,
and if you attach ropes to the head,
and rock the statue...
...the pendulum effect takes over,
allowing it to fall forward,
and the statue actually walks.
BARNHART: It turns out that it looks like, in the end,
the Rapa Nui may well be right. Maybe they did walk there.
SHATNER: Were the moai statues moved by an ingenious use of ropes?
It’s just one of the many intriguing theories
about these giant stone statues.
But, ultimately, how they were transported
and became buried up to their necks
remains unknown.
The moai of Easter Island really have come to represent mystery.
Huge stone sculptures
on a grassy, windswept island...
people wonder who made these and why.
And so, the mystery continues.
Even after centuries of study,
the origins and true purpose of the amazing moai statues
of Easter Island remain shrouded in mystery.
But there have been monoliths created in modern times
that are no less mysterious,
including a nine-foot-tall metal pillar
that was discovered in a remote desert canyon in Utah.
A pillar that seems to have appeared
out of thin air.
KAVANAUGH: Monoliths appeared around the world,
and so it attracted the public imagination.
BARNHART: The sighting of this odd metal monolith was
a shot heard ’round the world.
SHATNER: In the remote sandstone canyons of the Utah desert,
a team of biologists tracking sheep make a shocking discovery.
They come upon a gleaming, 12-foot-tall
metal monolith.
It’s just a completely unearthly image.
It’s this big, triangular prism,
about 12 feet tall,
firmly embedded in the desert ground
in this incredibly remote place where there are no roads.
GRADY: It’s very difficult to get
anything out there, let alone
a 12-feet-tall slab of metal.
But what’s very weird about it is,
using Google Earth satellite imagery,
they eventually figure out that it has been there
for four to five years without being discovered.
BARNHART: The sighting of this odd metal monolith,
looking like some kind of
otherworldly portal,
was a shot heard ’round the world.
In some regards, it was not a monolith
because "lith" means "stone,"
and this is a metal thing.
But, still, it attracted everyone’s eyes.
I think part of it was the-the mystery. How did it get there?
SHATNER: Numerous theories were put forth as to who
might’ve created the so-called "Utah monolith."
And then, during the following months,
the mystery took another twist,
as similar monoliths started popping up
all over the world.
GRADY: Other people became inspired
by this monolith in the Utah desert,
and started copycatting from that.
And so,
another monolith appears in India.
Shortly after that, one shows up in Italy.
You get one showing up in Pittsburgh,
right outside of a candy shop.
There’s one that shows up in San Francisco
that is made out of gingerbread.
In the end, between November of 2020 and May of 2021,
over 200 monoliths around the world just appear.
SHATNER: While some wrote off the worldwide
monolith phenomenon as a cultural fad,
historians were quick to disagree
and claimed that something more profound was occurring
that dates back to the dawn of history.
Because, curiously, about 6,000 years ago,
upright stones known as menhirs
that bear a striking resemblance to the Utah monolith,
were inexplicably erected
all over Europe.
When we look at this menhir phenomenon,
there’s a time right around 4000 BCE
where these sites pop up
all over the place, at least in Europe.
The most well-known are the ones that are in the U.K.
and in France and Portugal and Spain,
but it’s actually a much larger and more expansive tradition.
They started creating these everywhere.
In Germany, we have the Wotan stone.
In Sweden, one of their most famous
standing stones is the Menhir of Grandson.
Overall, in Europe, there are over 35,000
standing menhirs still today,
in almost every country.
SHATNER: The number of ancient menhirs located throughout Europe
is staggering, and many historians have wondered
why were so many monoliths
created during the same time period?
Travel and trade had been standard for thousands of years.
People are observant, and they like to remember
and replicate and interpret and represent.
So, if somebody’s traveled to, say,
Rudston in East Yorkshire,
and then they go back to Germany,
and they say, "Oh, I saw these amazing stones.
Let’s have a go at making them."
It’s not impossible that people may have just observed this
and then imitated it.
SHATNER: Is it possible that the phenomenon
surrounding the Utah monolith
was actually history repeating itself?
And that humans have actually been imitating each other
by building monoliths for thousands of years?
BARNHART: It’s interesting that
people don’t want to take credit in modern times
for creating these monuments,
and that may give us some insight
into the mentality of the people
that built ancient monoliths.
They didn’t carve their names in there,
and it perhaps was not about them, either.
It was about the human compunction
to make a piece of immortality.
Are human beings hardwired to create
and then replicate monoliths?
Well, if that’s true, then it’s intriguing to think
that we share this instinct with our ancient ancestors.
And based on the number of monoliths
being constructed today,
it seems that humanity’s compulsion
to build these mysterious structures
shows no signs of stopping.
SHATNER: Each year, around 150,000 people celebrate
the oldest arts festival in all of Europe,
which is known as the National Eisteddfod.
Since 1176 AD,
the Eisteddfod has been an annual celebration
of Welsh culture that includes music,
poetry, dancing,
and more.
The most curious part of the festival is that, every year,
a set of 12 monoliths,
known as Gorsedd Stones,
are carved and then carefully placed in a circle.
Although most of the Gorsedd Stone circles
have been built in the last 200 years,
they closely resemble
the thousands of ancient monoliths
that can be found throughout the British Isles.
COLLINS: At each of these Eisteddfods,
a Gorsedd Stone circle, uh, was created,
so that there are now
quite a number of them throughout Wales.
And each one was resurrecting
the beliefs and practices
of a very ancient tradition
to celebrate Welsh history
and culture and tradition.
SHATNER: Unlike the Utah monolith phenomenon,
which was a modern interpretation
of standing structures,
the Gorsedd Stones are a literal recreation
of the monoliths of the past.
But what inspires the residents of modern-day Wales
to erect pillars of stone?
Well, some historians believe that
people remain fascinated by ancient monoliths
because these giant standing stones
that were laid thousands of years ago
are still part of our world today.
BARNHART: Everywhere in Europe,
there is some sort of megalithic architecture that
modern communities are identifying themselves with.
Sometimes, monoliths
are actually just right along a country road.
People pass it every day, like it’s an everyday object,
but it’s thousands of years old.
And it’s become part of that community.
In some regards, perhaps that was the intention
of the people who built it thousands of years ago.
KAVANAUGH: Standing stones are striking,
awe-inspiring, inexplicable,
and this is a very compelling combination.
It doesn’t matter whether they were built this year
or 6,000 years ago,
they’re fascinating, but why?
Well, why are we fascinated by anything out of the ordinary?
Because it’s magnificent. It’s humbling.
It fills us with wonder.
HUTTON: The great thing about monoliths
is that they are enduring.
And once it’s there,
it’s highly visible in the landscape,
and it goes on forever,
but they are enigmatic.
Because, at the last analysis,
the big, eternal question remains:
why were they built?
And that is a mystery
which we may never solve.
Was Stonehenge created to harness the energy of the Earth?
Were the statues of Mont’e Prama
actually based on real-life giants?
Was there a global network of interconnected,
ancient stone monuments?
Perhaps.
But while mysterious monoliths
around the world were built to stand the test of time,
their purpose and their power
remain unexplained.
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