1 00:00:03,250 --> 00:00:07,708 Tonight, one of the world's most famous landmarks. 2 00:00:07,833 --> 00:00:09,333 Stonehenge is an amazing place. 3 00:00:09,417 --> 00:00:11,375 SAMI JARROUSH: These stones are enormous. 4 00:00:11,542 --> 00:00:13,833 Some of the biggest ones rise up 30 feet 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,333 and weigh an estimated 25 tons. 6 00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:20,708 To this day, no one knows how it was built or why. 7 00:00:20,833 --> 00:00:23,000 CAROLINE CORY: Were people really that much smarter than us 8 00:00:23,083 --> 00:00:25,167 5,000 years ago? 9 00:00:25,292 --> 00:00:28,000 Now, we'll explore the top theories 10 00:00:28,125 --> 00:00:30,333 surrounding this mysterious monument. 11 00:00:30,458 --> 00:00:32,625 It's everything from a magical feat 12 00:00:32,750 --> 00:00:34,292 by King Arthur's wizard, Merlin, 13 00:00:34,417 --> 00:00:36,833 to a Druid venue for human sacrifice. 14 00:00:36,958 --> 00:00:39,042 MICHAEL DENNIN: Experts have found two skulls 15 00:00:39,167 --> 00:00:41,333 that show evidence of primitive surgery. 16 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:45,625 This was a place that was specifically built for the dead. 17 00:00:46,583 --> 00:00:49,500 Can modern technology unlock its many secrets? 18 00:00:49,667 --> 00:00:53,333 Now, suddenly this opens up a whole new world of theories 19 00:00:53,458 --> 00:00:55,167 which could actually be true. 20 00:00:55,292 --> 00:00:59,417 What is the true purpose of Stonehenge? 21 00:00:59,542 --> 00:01:02,000 [music] 22 00:01:14,167 --> 00:01:18,333 Salisbury Plain, England, 2021. 23 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:22,250 While traveling the UK, researcher Michael Goff 24 00:01:22,375 --> 00:01:25,250 visits one of the country's most famous landmarks. 25 00:01:25,375 --> 00:01:28,750 SAMI: Like millions before him, he goes to see Stonehenge, 26 00:01:28,875 --> 00:01:30,667 the massive, mysterious circle 27 00:01:30,792 --> 00:01:32,042 of giant stones that draws 28 00:01:32,208 --> 00:01:35,667 as many as 9,000 visitors a day. 29 00:01:35,833 --> 00:01:39,750 MARC ARONSON: Stonehenge is like a letter from the deep past. 30 00:01:39,875 --> 00:01:41,875 It's there, it's physical, 31 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,500 you can't ignore it. 32 00:01:43,625 --> 00:01:45,583 But what does it mean? 33 00:01:45,708 --> 00:01:48,833 LAURENCE: Goff believes he's finally solved the mystery, 34 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,125 one that begins hundreds of years ago. 35 00:01:52,208 --> 00:01:54,625 The first written mention of Stonehenge 36 00:01:54,750 --> 00:01:56,292 is not until 1130 37 00:01:56,375 --> 00:01:59,083 by Archdeacon Henry of Huntington. 38 00:01:59,208 --> 00:02:00,875 MICHELLE KOONS: He describes the monument, 39 00:02:01,042 --> 00:02:03,333 but he doesn't actually guess 40 00:02:03,458 --> 00:02:05,083 on what it may have been for. 41 00:02:05,208 --> 00:02:10,042 LAURENCE: But soon after, someone else does. 42 00:02:10,208 --> 00:02:15,000 In 1136, a British cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth 43 00:02:15,125 --> 00:02:18,292 shares the first documented theory on Stonehenge 44 00:02:18,375 --> 00:02:23,125 in his book "The Histories of the Kings of Britain." 45 00:02:23,208 --> 00:02:25,542 Monmouth tells of a time in the fifth century 46 00:02:25,667 --> 00:02:28,167 when the Saxons are ravaging the land. 47 00:02:28,333 --> 00:02:31,000 Treacherous Saxon leader Hengist 48 00:02:31,125 --> 00:02:33,167 masterminds the betrayal and murder 49 00:02:33,333 --> 00:02:35,958 of more than 400 British nobles, 50 00:02:36,042 --> 00:02:38,458 leaving a mass grave in Salisbury Plain. 51 00:02:38,583 --> 00:02:41,583 MICHELLE: The high king Ambrosius Aurelianus 52 00:02:41,708 --> 00:02:46,167 asks his people to create a monument to the dead. 53 00:02:46,292 --> 00:02:49,458 But no one feels worthy of this task, 54 00:02:49,542 --> 00:02:52,500 so he was told to ask the wizard Merlin. 55 00:02:53,458 --> 00:02:55,167 LAURENCE: According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, 56 00:02:55,292 --> 00:02:57,458 it's this legendary wizard 57 00:02:57,583 --> 00:03:00,625 who brings the famous stone circle to England. 58 00:03:04,708 --> 00:03:07,083 Yes, we are talking about that Merlin, 59 00:03:07,208 --> 00:03:10,292 the famous wizard from the Arthurian legend. 60 00:03:10,417 --> 00:03:13,083 Merlin is the one who tells Aurelianus 61 00:03:13,208 --> 00:03:16,917 that in order to bless this burial site forever, 62 00:03:17,042 --> 00:03:19,083 he needs to build a stone circle. 63 00:03:19,208 --> 00:03:21,708 Merlin doesn't want to build one from scratch, 64 00:03:21,875 --> 00:03:25,333 he wants to steal an existing one from Ireland. 65 00:03:25,417 --> 00:03:28,708 SAMI: Merlin says these particular stones in Ireland 66 00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:33,250 have healing properties as well as a kind of magic 67 00:03:33,375 --> 00:03:35,417 that will preserve the memory of the dead. 68 00:03:35,542 --> 00:03:37,833 LAURENCE: According to Monmouth's book, 69 00:03:37,958 --> 00:03:42,250 Aurelianus and Merlin bring a small army to Ireland 70 00:03:42,375 --> 00:03:44,500 to capture the stones. 71 00:03:44,625 --> 00:03:49,917 15,000 men tried to bring the stones from Ireland, 72 00:03:50,042 --> 00:03:51,292 but they couldn't. 73 00:03:51,417 --> 00:03:54,750 LAURENCE: Legend has it that Merlin flies through the air 74 00:03:54,875 --> 00:03:56,333 to capture the stones, 75 00:03:56,458 --> 00:03:59,417 then sets them up on Salisbury Plain. 76 00:04:00,625 --> 00:04:04,000 Monmouth writes that Ambrosius is eventually buried there 77 00:04:04,125 --> 00:04:06,208 along with his brother, Uther Pendragon, 78 00:04:06,333 --> 00:04:08,333 father of King Arthur. 79 00:04:08,458 --> 00:04:10,667 This really seems like a fantastical theory, 80 00:04:10,833 --> 00:04:13,792 especially because we know that Merlin and King Arthur 81 00:04:13,917 --> 00:04:15,792 were fictional characters. 82 00:04:15,875 --> 00:04:18,333 But this theory persists for hundreds of years 83 00:04:18,417 --> 00:04:20,958 as the explanation of Stonehenge. 84 00:04:21,083 --> 00:04:23,792 LAURENCE: Then in the 1620s, 85 00:04:23,917 --> 00:04:26,417 English architect Inigo Jones 86 00:04:26,542 --> 00:04:30,000 uses new tools to analyze the site. 87 00:04:30,083 --> 00:04:31,500 So, now it's the Renaissance, 88 00:04:31,667 --> 00:04:33,333 and people are less interested in magic 89 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:35,500 and more interested in science. 90 00:04:35,667 --> 00:04:38,458 King James I sends Jones out to Stonehenge 91 00:04:38,583 --> 00:04:42,000 to do a proper survey with the modern equipment of the day. 92 00:04:42,125 --> 00:04:44,000 What Jones does, is he looks 93 00:04:44,083 --> 00:04:45,667 at the site from the perspective 94 00:04:45,792 --> 00:04:46,875 of a builder's eye, 95 00:04:47,042 --> 00:04:48,333 being an architect. 96 00:04:48,417 --> 00:04:50,167 MICHELLE: So, Jones goes out to the site 97 00:04:50,250 --> 00:04:52,333 with his student, John Webb, 98 00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:55,167 and he sees many similarities 99 00:04:55,292 --> 00:04:57,333 in the architecture of Stonehenge 100 00:04:57,458 --> 00:05:00,667 to what we see in Roman architecture. 101 00:05:00,750 --> 00:05:03,333 And he becomes certain that's who built it, 102 00:05:03,417 --> 00:05:06,458 which means it's much older than Monmouth's estimate 103 00:05:06,542 --> 00:05:08,500 of the fourth century A.D. 104 00:05:08,667 --> 00:05:10,167 BRANDON CLIFFORD: And in some ways this makes sense, 105 00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:11,500 because the Romans 106 00:05:11,667 --> 00:05:13,208 had conquered the British Isles 107 00:05:13,375 --> 00:05:14,375 in 50 B.C., 108 00:05:14,500 --> 00:05:17,208 and just some 100 years later, 109 00:05:17,375 --> 00:05:19,625 they were treating it as a colony of Rome. 110 00:05:20,708 --> 00:05:23,792 SAMI: But unlike aqueducts, and roads, and amphitheaters, 111 00:05:23,917 --> 00:05:26,917 there is no obvious utility to Stonehenge. 112 00:05:27,042 --> 00:05:30,625 So, Jones and Webb study ancient Roman architectural plans 113 00:05:30,708 --> 00:05:33,000 to try to understand what this could be for. 114 00:05:33,167 --> 00:05:37,167 MICHELL: So, they look for any Roman architectural plans 115 00:05:37,292 --> 00:05:39,250 that might be similar to Stonehenge. 116 00:05:39,375 --> 00:05:42,750 They find two in a book from about 30 B.C. 117 00:05:42,875 --> 00:05:44,708 called "De Architectura." 118 00:05:44,875 --> 00:05:47,167 One of these is called the monopteros, 119 00:05:47,250 --> 00:05:48,875 and the other is the peripteros, 120 00:05:49,042 --> 00:05:51,208 and they're both Roman temples. 121 00:05:51,375 --> 00:05:54,292 LAURENCE: Jones and Webb are convinced 122 00:05:54,417 --> 00:05:57,333 they know what Stonehenge is. 123 00:06:00,875 --> 00:06:06,000 In 1644, the researchers go a step further 124 00:06:06,167 --> 00:06:08,167 to prove their theory. 125 00:06:08,333 --> 00:06:11,792 Jones creates a draft of a restoration 126 00:06:11,917 --> 00:06:14,250 of what he thinks the monument of Stonehenge 127 00:06:14,375 --> 00:06:17,333 would have looked like before it fell into ruins. 128 00:06:17,458 --> 00:06:20,375 According to Jones' drawing, Stonehenge was laid out 129 00:06:20,500 --> 00:06:22,333 in a precise Roman form 130 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:24,458 based on four equilateral triangles 131 00:06:24,542 --> 00:06:26,417 arranged to create a hexagon 132 00:06:26,542 --> 00:06:28,625 surrounded by a circular colonnade. 133 00:06:28,708 --> 00:06:31,458 JIM: Stonehenge resembles the layout and proportions 134 00:06:31,542 --> 00:06:33,417 of Vitruvius' designs, 135 00:06:33,542 --> 00:06:36,250 but because it was built without a roof or enclosure, 136 00:06:36,375 --> 00:06:38,042 Jones concluded that it was built 137 00:06:38,208 --> 00:06:40,458 to worship the sky god Caelus. 138 00:06:40,542 --> 00:06:42,333 BRANDON: Even the people of the time 139 00:06:42,458 --> 00:06:44,833 were having trouble justifying Jones' idea 140 00:06:44,917 --> 00:06:47,625 that this was a Roman construction, 141 00:06:47,708 --> 00:06:49,375 because you can look at Roman construction 142 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:51,667 and understand it through its refinement 143 00:06:51,792 --> 00:06:53,833 and its pure geometric expression. 144 00:06:53,958 --> 00:06:57,833 Contrast that against Stonehenge's megalithic 145 00:06:57,958 --> 00:07:00,458 trilithon assemblies, even at the time, 146 00:07:00,542 --> 00:07:03,250 it was understood that this was a far-fetched idea. 147 00:07:03,375 --> 00:07:06,292 LAURENCE: Meanwhile, around the same time, 148 00:07:06,375 --> 00:07:09,667 renowned English archaeologist John Aubrey 149 00:07:09,750 --> 00:07:13,833 is in the midst of his own excavation at Stonehenge. 150 00:07:13,958 --> 00:07:16,667 Aubrey makes a lot of discoveries at this site, 151 00:07:16,750 --> 00:07:18,958 and one of these was a ring of pits, 152 00:07:19,042 --> 00:07:22,833 56 of them around the outside of the main monument, 153 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,083 and these are now known as the Aubrey holes. 154 00:07:26,208 --> 00:07:30,375 Curiously, these holes were dug and filled many times over. 155 00:07:30,542 --> 00:07:32,667 MICHAEL: On a hunch, he does something 156 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:34,833 no one has ever done before. 157 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,667 He sketches out the positions of the stones 158 00:07:37,833 --> 00:07:40,333 and then compares them to the stars. 159 00:07:40,458 --> 00:07:42,833 He realizes something really important, 160 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,583 that these stones are placed so precisely, 161 00:07:45,708 --> 00:07:48,500 that on the summer solstice, the rising sun 162 00:07:48,625 --> 00:07:51,917 appears precisely between the two largest stones. 163 00:07:52,042 --> 00:07:55,917 LAURENCE: To Aubrey, this can't be a coincidence. 164 00:07:56,042 --> 00:07:59,750 Aubrey spends over 20 years analyzing Stonehenge, 165 00:07:59,875 --> 00:08:02,250 and publishes his findings in 1666. 166 00:08:02,375 --> 00:08:05,792 Like Jones and Webb, he agrees that Stonehenge is a temple. 167 00:08:05,917 --> 00:08:09,458 But he thinks it predates the Roman arrival in Britain 168 00:08:09,583 --> 00:08:12,125 by a great deal, and was instead built 169 00:08:12,208 --> 00:08:13,667 by the Druids. 170 00:08:17,958 --> 00:08:20,500 MICHAEL: The Druids themselves were active in early Britain 171 00:08:20,583 --> 00:08:22,333 in the third century B.C. 172 00:08:22,417 --> 00:08:25,667 They're an early mysterious group of priests 173 00:08:25,792 --> 00:08:28,000 that were part of the Celtic religion. 174 00:08:28,125 --> 00:08:31,125 Druidic law forbade writing down religious teachings, 175 00:08:31,250 --> 00:08:34,667 so we don't really know much about them today. 176 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:37,667 SAMI: Greek and Roman writers, including Julius Caesar, 177 00:08:37,792 --> 00:08:40,667 judge the Druids to be extremely knowledgeable, 178 00:08:40,792 --> 00:08:43,333 especially in the fields of mathematics, 179 00:08:43,458 --> 00:08:45,167 astronomy, and science-- 180 00:08:45,292 --> 00:08:46,958 all subjects that would be useful 181 00:08:47,042 --> 00:08:49,375 in planning and constructing a massive stone monument 182 00:08:49,542 --> 00:08:51,500 aligned to the sun. 183 00:08:51,667 --> 00:08:54,125 LAURENCE: Over the next 100 years, 184 00:08:54,250 --> 00:08:57,458 additional British scholars advance Aubrey's research, 185 00:08:57,583 --> 00:09:02,375 including 18th century scientist William Stukeley. 186 00:09:02,500 --> 00:09:04,333 Stukeley really spends a lot of time 187 00:09:04,458 --> 00:09:06,167 studying the ancient writings 188 00:09:06,250 --> 00:09:09,750 focusing on the Druids' ancient religious beliefs. 189 00:09:09,875 --> 00:09:12,417 It was thought that the Druids worshipped the sun, 190 00:09:12,542 --> 00:09:14,708 held very elaborate ceremonies, 191 00:09:14,875 --> 00:09:17,708 and they potentially even included human sacrifice. 192 00:09:17,875 --> 00:09:20,417 If that is the case, Stukeley proposed 193 00:09:20,542 --> 00:09:22,375 that they would need a venue for these practices, 194 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:25,333 and Stonehenge is that venue. 195 00:09:25,458 --> 00:09:27,708 SAMI: In fact, one stone in particular 196 00:09:27,875 --> 00:09:30,000 even becomes known as the "slaughter stone," 197 00:09:30,125 --> 00:09:32,375 because the hollows of the stone turn red 198 00:09:32,542 --> 00:09:36,292 when they fill with rainwater, which some believe to be stains 199 00:09:36,375 --> 00:09:39,917 from the blood of the victims of human sacrifice killed there. 200 00:09:40,042 --> 00:09:42,417 LAURENCE: Stukeley is also one of the first 201 00:09:42,542 --> 00:09:45,542 to try to precisely date the monument. 202 00:09:45,708 --> 00:09:47,875 BRANDON: So, based on the construction methods, 203 00:09:48,042 --> 00:09:50,500 and the layout, and the alignments at that time 204 00:09:50,583 --> 00:09:53,333 with the summer solstice, 205 00:09:53,500 --> 00:09:54,917 Stukeley believes that it was constructed 206 00:09:55,042 --> 00:09:57,292 in about 460 B.C. 207 00:09:57,417 --> 00:09:58,833 And for the next 100-plus years, 208 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,292 this is the final word on Stonehenge-- 209 00:10:01,417 --> 00:10:05,500 it's a Druid monument from somewhere around 400-500 B.C. 210 00:10:05,667 --> 00:10:06,542 Case closed. 211 00:10:06,708 --> 00:10:08,792 MICHAEL: This theory is so pervasive 212 00:10:08,917 --> 00:10:11,167 that many people today still believe 213 00:10:11,333 --> 00:10:14,333 it was built by the Druids and used for their ceremonies. 214 00:10:14,458 --> 00:10:18,167 SAMI: But those people are wrong, 215 00:10:18,250 --> 00:10:20,833 because a new scientist is about to uncover evidence 216 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,542 that Stonehenge is much, much older 217 00:10:24,708 --> 00:10:30,250 than we ever believed. 218 00:10:30,375 --> 00:10:34,750 LAURENCE: For hundreds of years, scientists and visitors 219 00:10:34,875 --> 00:10:38,750 have wondered about the true purpose of Stonehenge. 220 00:10:38,875 --> 00:10:40,875 SAMI: It's everything from a magical feat 221 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,583 by King Arthur's wizard Merlin, 222 00:10:42,708 --> 00:10:44,208 to a Roman ruin, 223 00:10:44,333 --> 00:10:45,500 to a Druid venue 224 00:10:45,625 --> 00:10:46,667 for human sacrifice. 225 00:10:46,792 --> 00:10:49,667 MICHELLE: These diverse theories definitely show 226 00:10:49,792 --> 00:10:50,917 that people have been interested 227 00:10:51,042 --> 00:10:52,417 and curious about Stonehenge 228 00:10:52,542 --> 00:10:54,250 for a very long time. 229 00:10:54,375 --> 00:10:56,542 LAURENCE: Then, in the late 1700s, 230 00:10:56,708 --> 00:10:59,417 an archaeologist named William Cunnington 231 00:10:59,542 --> 00:11:01,833 proposes a new theory, 232 00:11:01,958 --> 00:11:04,792 one that starts with an accident. 233 00:11:05,750 --> 00:11:09,625 In 1797, a large tremor is felt by the villagers 234 00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:13,500 in Cunnington's home town of Wiltshire, England. 235 00:11:13,625 --> 00:11:15,250 Shockingly, the cause 236 00:11:15,375 --> 00:11:17,125 of this tremor is actually 237 00:11:17,250 --> 00:11:21,000 some of the massive stones at Stonehenge falling over. 238 00:11:21,958 --> 00:11:23,792 LAURENCE: The impact can be heard and felt 239 00:11:23,875 --> 00:11:26,583 at least half a mile from the site. 240 00:11:26,708 --> 00:11:29,042 SAMI: Sometimes known as the Great Fall, 241 00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:31,125 this is one of only three times 242 00:11:31,208 --> 00:11:33,875 that stones have collapsed at the site in modern times. 243 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,042 One of the stones actually breaks as it hits the ground. 244 00:11:38,208 --> 00:11:41,333 The fall of any of these stones is really a sad occurrence, 245 00:11:41,417 --> 00:11:43,875 but to lose three of the largest stones at Stonehenge 246 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:45,875 was really quite devastating, 247 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,083 considering they have stood there for thousands of years. 248 00:11:51,042 --> 00:11:53,833 For Cunnington, this was not only a tragedy, 249 00:11:53,958 --> 00:11:55,000 but it was an opportunity, 250 00:11:55,167 --> 00:11:57,208 because it meant that he could start to dig 251 00:11:57,333 --> 00:12:00,875 in the place where the stones previously existed. 252 00:12:01,042 --> 00:12:04,750 LAURENCE: By 1802, Cunnington digs a pit 253 00:12:04,875 --> 00:12:06,875 that's six feet deep. 254 00:12:07,042 --> 00:12:10,917 BRANDON: And in this pit, he uncovers animal bones, 255 00:12:11,042 --> 00:12:14,333 charred wood, and antler bones that were used for digging. 256 00:12:14,458 --> 00:12:18,792 LAURENCE: His early finds generate excitement. 257 00:12:18,917 --> 00:12:21,875 SAMI: In 1804, nobleman and fellow archaeologist 258 00:12:22,042 --> 00:12:24,583 Sir Richard Colt Hoare begins financing 259 00:12:24,708 --> 00:12:26,833 Cunnington's excavations, enabling him 260 00:12:26,958 --> 00:12:29,000 to do the kind of detailed work that he wants. 261 00:12:29,125 --> 00:12:32,875 This is perhaps the first serious and sustained attempt 262 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,208 to understand what Stonehenge truly is. 263 00:12:36,250 --> 00:12:38,125 MARC: Cunnington figured out that Stonehenge 264 00:12:38,208 --> 00:12:41,208 actually had two different kinds of stone. 265 00:12:41,375 --> 00:12:45,625 The large stones are what's called sarsen, or sandstone. 266 00:12:45,750 --> 00:12:46,917 And there are a set 267 00:12:47,042 --> 00:12:49,000 of smaller standing stones 268 00:12:49,125 --> 00:12:50,500 which are called bluestone, 269 00:12:50,583 --> 00:12:52,583 which are a variety of kinds of stone 270 00:12:52,708 --> 00:12:55,250 which when wet can seem bluish. 271 00:12:55,375 --> 00:12:58,625 SAMI: Because there are two different kinds of stone 272 00:12:58,708 --> 00:13:00,417 in the circle, he believes 273 00:13:00,542 --> 00:13:02,333 that there are probably two different periods 274 00:13:02,417 --> 00:13:03,292 of activity here, 275 00:13:03,417 --> 00:13:05,792 but he can't conclude much more than that. 276 00:13:06,708 --> 00:13:08,000 MICHELLE: For seven years, the pair 277 00:13:08,125 --> 00:13:11,500 conduct many excavations and investigations on the site, 278 00:13:11,667 --> 00:13:15,000 and they discover areas where there are burial mounds, 279 00:13:15,125 --> 00:13:18,458 and in these mounds, there are human remains. 280 00:13:18,542 --> 00:13:20,833 LAURENCE: This startling discovery 281 00:13:20,917 --> 00:13:23,375 only opens up more questions. 282 00:13:23,542 --> 00:13:26,792 SAMI: So, like the many who've come before him, 283 00:13:26,917 --> 00:13:29,250 Cunnington feels that without written records, 284 00:13:29,375 --> 00:13:31,125 he's at a loss. 285 00:13:31,208 --> 00:13:35,125 LAURENCE: After ten years, in 1807, 286 00:13:35,250 --> 00:13:37,375 Cunnington finally gives up. 287 00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:40,792 MICHAEL: Though Cunnington and Hoare actually reach a dead-end, 288 00:13:40,917 --> 00:13:45,667 they end up excavating 465 sites at Stonehenge, 289 00:13:45,750 --> 00:13:47,167 and their archaeological studies 290 00:13:47,292 --> 00:13:49,500 are what inspires the next generation. 291 00:13:49,583 --> 00:13:53,625 LAURENCE: Including a researcher named John Lubbock, 292 00:13:53,750 --> 00:13:57,083 who picks up the mantle in 1862. 293 00:13:57,208 --> 00:13:59,375 Lubbock comes in and studies the excavations 294 00:13:59,542 --> 00:14:01,167 of Cunnington and Hoare, 295 00:14:01,292 --> 00:14:04,000 ultimately focusing on these burial mounds. 296 00:14:04,167 --> 00:14:05,958 BRANDON: For Lubbock, the burial mounds 297 00:14:06,083 --> 00:14:10,083 are likely the key to unlock the mystery of Stonehenge. 298 00:14:10,208 --> 00:14:12,583 SAMI: Lubbock spends over three decades 299 00:14:12,708 --> 00:14:13,833 investigating Stonehenge, 300 00:14:13,917 --> 00:14:17,458 and eventually he makes a surprising breakthrough. 301 00:14:17,542 --> 00:14:19,917 He's able to determine that along with the bones 302 00:14:20,042 --> 00:14:23,500 and bone fragments, there are cremated remains. 303 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:26,958 LAURENCE: According to Lubbock, this means Stonehenge 304 00:14:27,083 --> 00:14:30,333 is much older than anyone has ever considered. 305 00:14:30,458 --> 00:14:33,125 By this time, archaeologists had realized 306 00:14:33,250 --> 00:14:36,667 that cremation hadn't been practiced by the local Britons 307 00:14:36,833 --> 00:14:38,167 since the Bronze Age, 308 00:14:38,292 --> 00:14:41,417 which dates back to about 3000 B.C. 309 00:14:41,542 --> 00:14:44,708 MICHAEL: Lubbock finds proof that Bronze Age tools 310 00:14:44,875 --> 00:14:47,500 were used to carve the stone and then bury it 311 00:14:47,625 --> 00:14:51,000 alongside the cremated remains of the artisans. 312 00:14:51,083 --> 00:14:53,500 Up until this point, the monument is believed 313 00:14:53,625 --> 00:14:56,375 to be no older than the fifth century B.C. 314 00:14:56,542 --> 00:15:00,167 Lubbock's claim places it 2,500 years older than that. 315 00:15:01,333 --> 00:15:07,333 The Bronze Age is way, way, way before the Druids, 316 00:15:07,500 --> 00:15:10,333 the Romans, and the legends of King Arthur. 317 00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:12,292 There are two ways 318 00:15:12,417 --> 00:15:14,000 that you can feel about these new revelations. 319 00:15:14,167 --> 00:15:16,000 First, the bad news. 320 00:15:16,083 --> 00:15:18,458 I'm sorry, but yes, we're back at square one 321 00:15:18,542 --> 00:15:20,333 when it comes to theories on Stonehenge 322 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:21,417 and what it was for. 323 00:15:21,542 --> 00:15:25,083 Every previous theory is now officially wrong. 324 00:15:25,208 --> 00:15:28,333 But the good news-- now, suddenly this opens up 325 00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:32,583 a whole new world of theories which could actually be true. 326 00:15:32,708 --> 00:15:36,167 Unfortunately, progress after that isn't immediate. 327 00:15:36,292 --> 00:15:38,833 It's not for another 100 years after Lubbock 328 00:15:38,958 --> 00:15:40,250 that we get our next breakthrough. 329 00:15:41,208 --> 00:15:45,333 LAURENCE: In 1961, a new research team 330 00:15:45,458 --> 00:15:49,625 led by Boston University astronomer Gerald Hawkins 331 00:15:49,750 --> 00:15:54,000 descends on Stonehenge with state-of-the-art technology. 332 00:15:54,125 --> 00:15:57,167 SAMI: Hawkins and his team map out every stone 333 00:15:57,250 --> 00:15:59,042 and every pit at the site, 334 00:15:59,167 --> 00:16:01,333 and they also collect astronomical data, 335 00:16:01,417 --> 00:16:03,500 plotting out the stars each day that they're there. 336 00:16:03,625 --> 00:16:06,500 They punch the coordinates of all those things onto cards 337 00:16:06,583 --> 00:16:10,917 and feed them into a huge IBM 704 mainframe computer 338 00:16:11,042 --> 00:16:12,750 at Boston University. 339 00:16:12,875 --> 00:16:16,250 MICHAEL: Hawkins is shocked to discover over 100 alignments 340 00:16:16,375 --> 00:16:20,000 between the stones, and the sun, moon, and stars. 341 00:16:20,167 --> 00:16:22,625 In the 17th century, Aubrey thought the stones 342 00:16:22,708 --> 00:16:25,625 might have tracked the sun one day a year. 343 00:16:25,708 --> 00:16:28,708 Hawkins thinks it does way more than that. 344 00:16:28,875 --> 00:16:30,333 SAMI: Based on these alignments, 345 00:16:30,417 --> 00:16:32,417 Hawkins decides that the monument 346 00:16:32,542 --> 00:16:36,875 can track the sun and moon over a recurring 56-day cycle, 347 00:16:37,042 --> 00:16:38,708 as well as possible eclipses. 348 00:16:43,583 --> 00:16:46,875 Remember when Aubrey found those 56 small pits 349 00:16:47,042 --> 00:16:49,292 in a circle around the stones? 350 00:16:49,375 --> 00:16:52,167 Hawkins believes that those once held smaller stone 351 00:16:52,250 --> 00:16:54,333 or wooden markers that would be moved 352 00:16:54,417 --> 00:16:57,208 around the circle to track the moon's phases. 353 00:16:58,917 --> 00:17:00,958 LAURENCE: Hawkins publishes his findings 354 00:17:01,083 --> 00:17:05,333 in the 1965 book "Stonehenge Decoded." 355 00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:08,000 When Hawkins eventually publishes his works, 356 00:17:08,167 --> 00:17:09,333 it's a bestseller. 357 00:17:09,458 --> 00:17:11,333 I mean, this book is rewriting 358 00:17:11,458 --> 00:17:13,667 what we understand from prehistory. 359 00:17:13,833 --> 00:17:16,583 But in doing so, he's getting quite a bit of backlash 360 00:17:16,708 --> 00:17:20,167 from his contemporary archaeologists at the same time. 361 00:17:20,292 --> 00:17:23,125 SAMI: In fact, one of Britain's top archaeologists, 362 00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:26,208 Richard Atkinson, is scandalized by the idea. 363 00:17:26,375 --> 00:17:28,042 He believes Stonehenge was built 364 00:17:28,167 --> 00:17:31,167 by, quote, "howling barbarians" 365 00:17:31,292 --> 00:17:33,500 who couldn't possibly have had the sophistication 366 00:17:33,625 --> 00:17:36,000 to make astronomical calculations. 367 00:17:36,083 --> 00:17:40,833 LAURENCE: Hawkins is ridiculed until 1971, 368 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,333 when Oxford professor Alexander Thom 369 00:17:44,500 --> 00:17:47,708 finally backs up his theory. 370 00:17:47,833 --> 00:17:50,208 Alexander Thom studies 371 00:17:50,333 --> 00:17:51,833 many stone circles throughout Britain. 372 00:17:51,958 --> 00:17:54,667 He had already studied over 250. 373 00:17:54,833 --> 00:17:58,167 This includes Stonehenge, and some that are even older. 374 00:17:58,292 --> 00:18:01,250 Thom decides that all of these sites 375 00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:05,417 had astronomical use, and that 4,000 years ago, 376 00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:08,167 people had this very sophisticated knowledge 377 00:18:08,292 --> 00:18:12,667 of engineering, and linking their stone circles 378 00:18:12,792 --> 00:18:14,167 with the skies. 379 00:18:14,250 --> 00:18:16,833 SAMI: Far from howling barbarians 380 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:18,917 or mindless savages, Thom believes 381 00:18:19,042 --> 00:18:21,833 that the creators of Stonehenge use the huge stones 382 00:18:21,958 --> 00:18:24,333 in conjunction with the landmarks on the horizon 383 00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:28,333 to mark the position where the moon rises or sets. 384 00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:32,250 Thom finds their calculations to be incredibly precise, 385 00:18:32,375 --> 00:18:35,167 close to what modern astronomers can do with tools and technology 386 00:18:35,333 --> 00:18:38,458 that would have been unthinkable 5,000 years ago. 387 00:18:38,542 --> 00:18:41,583 We have computers and the Webb Telescope. 388 00:18:41,708 --> 00:18:44,958 They had antlers to dig with and very large stones. 389 00:18:45,083 --> 00:18:46,500 It's incredible. 390 00:18:47,458 --> 00:18:49,167 MICHELLE: But there are many scholars, 391 00:18:49,333 --> 00:18:51,708 archaeologists who just don't really agree. 392 00:18:51,833 --> 00:18:55,917 As enigmatic and interesting as this theory is, 393 00:18:56,042 --> 00:18:57,417 it still doesn't explain 394 00:18:57,542 --> 00:18:59,458 why there are so many human remains 395 00:18:59,583 --> 00:19:01,125 in and around the monument. 396 00:19:01,250 --> 00:19:07,958 So, there has to be even more to this place. 397 00:19:08,042 --> 00:19:12,500 LAURENCE: In early 1971, Oxford engineer Alexander Thom 398 00:19:12,583 --> 00:19:15,500 announces a compelling new theory. 399 00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:18,250 Like other ancient stone circles, 400 00:19:18,375 --> 00:19:22,542 Stonehenge was built to track the movement of the heavens. 401 00:19:22,667 --> 00:19:27,167 But this doesn't take into account one critical fact. 402 00:19:27,292 --> 00:19:29,375 Building this structure is so dangerous, 403 00:19:29,500 --> 00:19:31,333 it seems inevitable that workers 404 00:19:31,458 --> 00:19:33,250 would die, and for a long time, 405 00:19:33,375 --> 00:19:36,208 this is the primary theory as to why human remains 406 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:37,833 are found at the site. 407 00:19:38,917 --> 00:19:41,750 MICHELLE: One of the things that people always talk about 408 00:19:41,875 --> 00:19:43,125 is just how difficult 409 00:19:43,208 --> 00:19:44,708 it would have been to move 410 00:19:44,833 --> 00:19:46,375 these large stones. 411 00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:48,833 And we can start with the sarsen stones, 412 00:19:48,917 --> 00:19:50,208 the sandstones. 413 00:19:50,333 --> 00:19:51,458 The closest place they could be from 414 00:19:51,542 --> 00:19:54,583 is Marlborough Downs, which is over 20 miles away. 415 00:19:55,833 --> 00:19:57,042 SAMI: Now, to you and I, 416 00:19:57,167 --> 00:19:58,833 20 miles might not sound that far. 417 00:19:58,917 --> 00:20:01,167 But these folks had no cars. 418 00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:02,375 We don't think they had 419 00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:03,750 wheeled carts, either, 420 00:20:03,875 --> 00:20:05,167 or any large beasts 421 00:20:05,292 --> 00:20:06,667 that could pull them. 422 00:20:06,792 --> 00:20:10,042 And these stones weigh an average of 25 tons. 423 00:20:10,167 --> 00:20:13,667 The largest stone of all weighs 45 tons. 424 00:20:13,792 --> 00:20:17,083 That's as much as an adult humpback whale, 425 00:20:17,208 --> 00:20:18,958 and that's just one stone. 426 00:20:20,125 --> 00:20:22,333 LAURENCE: So, how did they move them? 427 00:20:22,458 --> 00:20:24,792 MICHAEL: Some believe the ancients used wooden sleds. 428 00:20:24,875 --> 00:20:27,875 Others postulated that they used wooden rollers 429 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,167 made from tree trunks. 430 00:20:29,292 --> 00:20:31,333 Those are just the sarsen stones. 431 00:20:31,417 --> 00:20:33,333 The other stones, the bluestones, 432 00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:35,167 there's nothing like them 433 00:20:35,250 --> 00:20:37,292 anywhere remotely close to the site. 434 00:20:37,375 --> 00:20:40,417 The best estimate we have is that these stones 435 00:20:40,542 --> 00:20:43,333 come from Wales in the Preseli Mountains, 436 00:20:43,417 --> 00:20:45,500 which are 140 miles away. 437 00:20:45,583 --> 00:20:49,333 We're talking a vast distance for ancient technology. 438 00:20:50,375 --> 00:20:54,042 LAURENCE: After the haul, the work is far from over. 439 00:20:54,208 --> 00:20:56,583 At the site, the stones have to be shaped 440 00:20:56,708 --> 00:21:00,333 with very simple bronze tools, chipping off small pieces 441 00:21:00,458 --> 00:21:02,667 to taper the stones as needed. 442 00:21:02,792 --> 00:21:06,833 Then, to fit the upright stones with the lintels, the builders 443 00:21:06,917 --> 00:21:09,708 had to use an intricate tongue-and-groove system 444 00:21:09,833 --> 00:21:12,292 that was used predominantly in wood. 445 00:21:12,375 --> 00:21:14,542 And then, using antler picks 446 00:21:14,708 --> 00:21:16,375 and stone tools, 447 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:19,333 they had to dig out the cavity 448 00:21:19,417 --> 00:21:21,875 in which the stones could be placed 449 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,042 so that they would stand tall and not fall. 450 00:21:26,333 --> 00:21:28,750 LAURENCE: Researchers estimate that it takes 451 00:21:28,875 --> 00:21:32,958 more than 10 million combined man hours of labor 452 00:21:33,042 --> 00:21:34,875 to construct the monument. 453 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,042 MICHELLE: This would be equivalent to 1,200 people 454 00:21:38,208 --> 00:21:40,875 working nonstop, 24 hours a day, 455 00:21:41,042 --> 00:21:42,833 for an entire year. 456 00:21:44,250 --> 00:21:48,667 LAURENCE: For almost a century, the bodies found at Stonehenge 457 00:21:48,833 --> 00:21:52,333 are believed to belong to the dedicated workforce. 458 00:21:52,458 --> 00:21:55,667 But in 2008, British archaeologist 459 00:21:55,792 --> 00:22:00,000 Michael Parker Pearson makes an astonishing discovery 460 00:22:00,125 --> 00:22:02,625 that suggests something different. 461 00:22:02,750 --> 00:22:04,792 MICHELLE: Michael Parker Pearson is the head 462 00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:06,958 of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, 463 00:22:07,083 --> 00:22:09,792 and he goes through and studies the human remains 464 00:22:09,875 --> 00:22:11,542 found at the site. 465 00:22:11,667 --> 00:22:13,708 SAMI: Interestingly enough, he discovers something 466 00:22:13,833 --> 00:22:16,667 that nobody else has realized before. 467 00:22:16,792 --> 00:22:19,167 There are not just male workers' bodies 468 00:22:19,333 --> 00:22:20,292 buried on the site. 469 00:22:20,375 --> 00:22:22,875 There are also women and children. 470 00:22:23,875 --> 00:22:26,625 Suddenly, we now realize that the burials 471 00:22:26,708 --> 00:22:29,958 probably aren't just from construction accidents. 472 00:22:30,083 --> 00:22:32,917 This was a place that was specifically built 473 00:22:33,042 --> 00:22:34,125 for the dead. 474 00:22:38,042 --> 00:22:40,708 LAURENCE: To figure out how old the remains are, 475 00:22:40,875 --> 00:22:45,583 Parker Pearson uses cutting-edge radiocarbon dating. 476 00:22:45,708 --> 00:22:48,833 MARC: He learns that they're not just from one period, 477 00:22:48,958 --> 00:22:53,458 but they were deposited there in an over-500-year period. 478 00:22:53,542 --> 00:22:56,833 LAURENCE: Next, Parker Pearson tries to figure out 479 00:22:56,958 --> 00:22:59,167 who these people were. 480 00:22:59,292 --> 00:23:01,333 Alongside one of the burials 481 00:23:01,458 --> 00:23:03,292 is a mace that would have been 482 00:23:03,375 --> 00:23:06,125 associated with a form of nobility at the time. 483 00:23:07,125 --> 00:23:09,333 MICHAEL: Another burial mound contained a number 484 00:23:09,458 --> 00:23:12,292 of bronze and copper knives, daggers, 485 00:23:12,417 --> 00:23:15,083 and many of these had ornamental designs. 486 00:23:15,208 --> 00:23:18,000 These fine objects actually provide the evidence 487 00:23:18,083 --> 00:23:21,708 that it was the elites that were buried here at Stonehenge. 488 00:23:21,833 --> 00:23:23,333 BRANDON: This isn't a mass burial site, 489 00:23:23,458 --> 00:23:27,708 because over the course of about 500 years, 490 00:23:27,833 --> 00:23:30,875 there are only 240 burials that took place. 491 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,583 LAURENCE: But where did these ancient nobles come from? 492 00:23:34,708 --> 00:23:36,500 MICHELLE: While there's evidence that people 493 00:23:36,667 --> 00:23:39,583 are buried at Stonehenge, there's no evidence that people 494 00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:41,167 actually lived there full-time. 495 00:23:42,333 --> 00:23:44,333 So, he looks at the nearest settlement 496 00:23:44,417 --> 00:23:46,708 to figure out if there are more clues. 497 00:23:46,833 --> 00:23:49,167 LAURENCE: Two miles north of Stonehenge 498 00:23:49,250 --> 00:23:52,875 is an area known as Durrington Walls. 499 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,208 SAMI: Durrington Walls contains nearly 300 dwellings, 500 00:23:56,375 --> 00:23:59,667 making it the largest village in northern Europe at the time. 501 00:23:59,792 --> 00:24:02,875 And in the middle of it, Parker Pearson finds the remains 502 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,833 of a giant wooden henge-- Woodhenge, if you will. 503 00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:10,750 Not only do Stonehenge and the wooden structure 504 00:24:10,875 --> 00:24:13,500 look very similar, but radiocarbon dating 505 00:24:13,625 --> 00:24:16,333 indicates that it was in use right around the same time 506 00:24:16,417 --> 00:24:19,125 Stonehenge's largest stones get installed. 507 00:24:20,125 --> 00:24:22,333 LAURENCE: Why would these two structures 508 00:24:22,458 --> 00:24:24,833 be built so close together? 509 00:24:24,958 --> 00:24:27,542 Parker Pearson believes it's because 510 00:24:27,667 --> 00:24:29,458 they're spiritually linked. 511 00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:32,417 MICHELLE: To him, Stonehenge 512 00:24:32,542 --> 00:24:35,000 isn't just an isolated structure. 513 00:24:35,125 --> 00:24:37,625 Parker Pearson believes that we're looking at a pairing-- 514 00:24:37,750 --> 00:24:41,750 one in timber to represent the transient nature of life, 515 00:24:41,875 --> 00:24:45,708 and the other in stone to mark the eternity of death. 516 00:24:47,042 --> 00:24:49,458 What he's suggesting is that Stonehenge 517 00:24:49,542 --> 00:24:51,750 may represent the final resting place 518 00:24:51,875 --> 00:24:54,958 both in body and in spirit of ancient peoples. 519 00:24:55,042 --> 00:24:58,500 The two henges, wood and stone, represent this journey 520 00:24:58,667 --> 00:25:01,167 both literally and figuratively. 521 00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:04,792 So, perhaps if one were near the end of his or her life, 522 00:25:04,875 --> 00:25:07,250 they would come to the wooden henge to die, 523 00:25:07,375 --> 00:25:10,167 and then be buried at Stonehenge. 524 00:25:10,292 --> 00:25:13,083 MICHELLE: We really don't have any way to know 525 00:25:13,208 --> 00:25:14,792 if this is actually the case. 526 00:25:14,875 --> 00:25:17,417 The ancient builders have left us with a mystery 527 00:25:17,542 --> 00:25:22,917 that will probably never be solved. 528 00:25:23,042 --> 00:25:25,000 In 2008, a pair of archaeologists 529 00:25:25,125 --> 00:25:27,833 are granted rights to the first excavation 530 00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:32,167 of Stonehenge's inner circle in almost five decades. 531 00:25:32,292 --> 00:25:35,667 What they find suggests a whole new purpose 532 00:25:35,792 --> 00:25:38,667 for the monument, one that brings visitors 533 00:25:38,792 --> 00:25:41,083 from all over the world. 534 00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,917 During their digs at Stonehenge, 535 00:25:45,042 --> 00:25:47,750 Geoffrey Wainwright and Timothy Darvill 536 00:25:47,875 --> 00:25:51,500 focus specifically on the monument's bluestones. 537 00:25:51,667 --> 00:25:53,167 Darvill and Wainwright find 538 00:25:53,250 --> 00:25:54,583 the actual quarry 539 00:25:54,708 --> 00:25:56,417 of the bluestones in Wales, 540 00:25:56,542 --> 00:25:59,167 and it's a site known as Carn Menyn. 541 00:25:59,292 --> 00:26:01,083 SAMI: They spend six years 542 00:26:01,208 --> 00:26:02,250 surveying the area, 543 00:26:02,375 --> 00:26:03,417 trying to figure out why 544 00:26:03,542 --> 00:26:04,500 the ancient people would have 545 00:26:04,625 --> 00:26:06,083 transported these bluestones 546 00:26:06,208 --> 00:26:07,833 all the way to Stonehenge. 547 00:26:07,917 --> 00:26:09,583 What's so special about them? 548 00:26:09,708 --> 00:26:11,167 One thing they discover is that 549 00:26:11,333 --> 00:26:12,500 the stonecutters who managed 550 00:26:12,625 --> 00:26:14,208 to remove the rocks 551 00:26:14,333 --> 00:26:17,333 also dug manmade springs. 552 00:26:17,500 --> 00:26:19,375 To see this type of manmade spring 553 00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:20,667 in the ancient world 554 00:26:20,833 --> 00:26:21,833 is extremely rare. 555 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,625 MICHELLE: Darvill and Wainwright suppose that this 556 00:26:24,750 --> 00:26:26,458 is some kind of medicinal spring, 557 00:26:26,542 --> 00:26:27,958 and that the bluestones 558 00:26:28,042 --> 00:26:29,542 that were brought to Stonehenge 559 00:26:29,667 --> 00:26:31,667 were brought there for healing purposes. 560 00:26:35,167 --> 00:26:37,917 LAURENCE: Some of Stonehenge's earliest theorists 561 00:26:38,042 --> 00:26:41,833 also believed in the site's healing properties. 562 00:26:41,958 --> 00:26:45,000 SAMI: In 1215 A.D., the British poet Layamon 563 00:26:45,083 --> 00:26:48,958 writes that the stones hold magical healing power. 564 00:26:49,083 --> 00:26:50,708 According to him, the ancient people 565 00:26:50,875 --> 00:26:52,792 would wash the stone, and with the water, 566 00:26:52,917 --> 00:26:55,833 quote, "bathe away their sickness." 567 00:26:55,917 --> 00:26:58,417 This sounds very much like what Darvill and Wainwright 568 00:26:58,542 --> 00:26:59,750 had found in Wales. 569 00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:02,333 MICHELLE: Perhaps these writers from the Middle Ages 570 00:27:02,458 --> 00:27:04,542 had heard some world histories 571 00:27:04,708 --> 00:27:06,458 that had been passed down for generations 572 00:27:06,542 --> 00:27:09,917 that these stones held some healing powers. 573 00:27:10,042 --> 00:27:11,583 LAURENCE: More evidence is uncovered 574 00:27:11,708 --> 00:27:15,333 when they take a closer look at the human remains. 575 00:27:15,458 --> 00:27:19,333 MICHAEL: They find an unusual number of skeletons in the area 576 00:27:19,458 --> 00:27:22,750 with signs of disease or injury. 577 00:27:22,875 --> 00:27:25,583 About half of them are from outside the vicinity. 578 00:27:25,708 --> 00:27:28,917 In fact, isotope analysis of teeth from the remains 579 00:27:29,042 --> 00:27:31,542 at Stonehenge find people had traveled 580 00:27:31,667 --> 00:27:35,333 from as far away as Germany, Italy, and France. 581 00:27:35,458 --> 00:27:37,708 Experts have even found two skulls 582 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:39,833 that show evidence of primitive surgery. 583 00:27:39,958 --> 00:27:42,167 It could very well be that Stonehenge 584 00:27:42,292 --> 00:27:43,792 was some kind of hospital. 585 00:27:44,917 --> 00:27:48,417 LAURENCE: In 2013, another group of academics 586 00:27:48,542 --> 00:27:50,875 expands on this theory. 587 00:27:51,042 --> 00:27:53,500 SAMI: Researchers at England's Royal College of Art 588 00:27:53,583 --> 00:27:56,167 make a strange request to the government. 589 00:27:56,250 --> 00:27:59,792 They ask for permission to, quote, "whack the henge," 590 00:27:59,875 --> 00:28:02,125 with rounded quartz hammers. 591 00:28:02,208 --> 00:28:04,042 MICHELLE: They suspect that the stones 592 00:28:04,208 --> 00:28:08,083 have special acoustic or sonic healing properties. 593 00:28:08,208 --> 00:28:10,125 SAMI: The government grants their request, 594 00:28:10,250 --> 00:28:13,625 and the results are actually pretty cool. 595 00:28:13,750 --> 00:28:17,000 'Cause when struck, each stone gives off 596 00:28:17,167 --> 00:28:19,792 subtly different sounds and reverberations. 597 00:28:19,875 --> 00:28:21,750 And the circular arrangement 598 00:28:21,875 --> 00:28:23,958 enhances the sound quality and volume. 599 00:28:24,042 --> 00:28:26,000 It's like you're sitting in a sound room, for the most part. 600 00:28:26,125 --> 00:28:28,417 It's as if the stones are meant to be played. 601 00:28:29,792 --> 00:28:32,083 MICHAEL: The rocks produce sounds that are so clear 602 00:28:32,208 --> 00:28:35,125 that churches in the area use them as bells 603 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:36,375 well into the 1700s. 604 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:41,333 MICHELLE: One village nearby is actually named Maenclochog, 605 00:28:41,458 --> 00:28:43,125 which means "ringing stones." 606 00:28:44,042 --> 00:28:46,500 LAURENCE: But can sounds actually heal? 607 00:28:46,583 --> 00:28:49,167 Many cultures think so. 608 00:28:49,292 --> 00:28:51,833 Ancient Egyptians believed that sounds 609 00:28:51,958 --> 00:28:54,417 can generate vibrations with healing abilities. 610 00:28:54,542 --> 00:28:56,000 They even built structures 611 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:58,208 to amplify the therapeutic effects 612 00:28:58,333 --> 00:29:01,042 of these beneficial sounds during religious ceremonies. 613 00:29:01,167 --> 00:29:03,792 CAROLINE CORY: In ancient Greece it's widely believed 614 00:29:03,917 --> 00:29:05,500 that diseases can be cured 615 00:29:05,667 --> 00:29:07,125 with repetitive sounds. 616 00:29:07,250 --> 00:29:09,833 Sound therapy plays a very important role 617 00:29:09,958 --> 00:29:11,333 in Greek medicine. 618 00:29:11,458 --> 00:29:13,708 MICHAEL: But of course, if Stonehenge 619 00:29:13,833 --> 00:29:16,417 actually was a hospital, the sad thing is, 620 00:29:16,542 --> 00:29:18,792 we only really know about the people who died there. 621 00:29:18,875 --> 00:29:20,667 This makes it incredibly difficult 622 00:29:20,792 --> 00:29:22,958 to understand or determine 623 00:29:23,042 --> 00:29:29,000 how successful a hospital it actually was. 624 00:29:29,167 --> 00:29:31,292 LAURENCE: For centuries, scholars have debated 625 00:29:31,375 --> 00:29:33,292 why Stonehenge was built. 626 00:29:33,417 --> 00:29:37,792 But equally as puzzling is how it was built. 627 00:29:37,917 --> 00:29:41,000 SAMI: In 1968, Swiss author Erich Von Daniken 628 00:29:41,125 --> 00:29:42,750 believes he has simultaneously 629 00:29:42,875 --> 00:29:45,708 answered both of these questions. 630 00:29:45,833 --> 00:29:48,458 And the answer is aliens. 631 00:29:49,833 --> 00:29:51,667 Von Daniken claims it simply 632 00:29:51,750 --> 00:29:53,042 makes no sense that 633 00:29:53,167 --> 00:29:54,792 ancient people would have been 634 00:29:54,875 --> 00:29:57,000 able to transport these stones on their own 635 00:29:57,125 --> 00:29:59,000 and build these structures. 636 00:29:59,083 --> 00:30:01,000 And the fact that we still 637 00:30:01,083 --> 00:30:03,250 can't figure out how they did it 638 00:30:03,375 --> 00:30:05,333 is pretty suspicious. 639 00:30:05,417 --> 00:30:07,625 MICHAEL: It forces us to ask the question, 640 00:30:07,708 --> 00:30:11,167 were people 5,000 years ago talented, smart enough, 641 00:30:11,333 --> 00:30:14,167 and had the right ability to build something like this? 642 00:30:14,292 --> 00:30:18,375 Von Daniken believes that aliens shared their technology 643 00:30:18,500 --> 00:30:22,042 with humans to move human civilization forward 644 00:30:22,208 --> 00:30:24,167 in the areas of science and technology. 645 00:30:24,333 --> 00:30:26,667 He feels they did this at several times 646 00:30:26,750 --> 00:30:28,792 in human history, and that explains 647 00:30:28,917 --> 00:30:31,250 many different monuments and structures 648 00:30:31,375 --> 00:30:32,750 all across the globe, 649 00:30:32,875 --> 00:30:35,333 including the ancient Egyptian pyramids 650 00:30:35,458 --> 00:30:38,250 and the Easter Island Moai structures. 651 00:30:39,292 --> 00:30:41,250 CAROLINE: So, in the case of Stonehenge, 652 00:30:41,375 --> 00:30:44,500 the aliens helped teach the humans about astronomy, 653 00:30:44,625 --> 00:30:48,167 and then helped them move and arrange the stones 654 00:30:48,292 --> 00:30:50,167 in this particular pattern. 655 00:30:50,292 --> 00:30:53,500 This idea is picked up in a 2008 book, 656 00:30:53,625 --> 00:30:56,542 "The Gods' Machines: From Stonehenge to Crop Circles," 657 00:30:56,667 --> 00:30:59,250 by author Wun Chok Bong. 658 00:30:59,375 --> 00:31:02,000 He suggests Stonehenge had a dual purpose. 659 00:31:02,125 --> 00:31:05,333 MICHAEL: He believes that the astronomical orientation 660 00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:08,833 of the site was really an aid for navigation 661 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,542 so that aliens could figure out where to land. 662 00:31:16,292 --> 00:31:19,500 CAROLINE: According to Wun, after a ship landed on top, 663 00:31:19,667 --> 00:31:22,958 the stones could act as conduits for electricity 664 00:31:23,042 --> 00:31:24,667 pulled out of the Earth. 665 00:31:24,833 --> 00:31:28,875 So, the monument is actually a combination of landing pad 666 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:30,458 and charging station. 667 00:31:31,375 --> 00:31:34,917 LAURENCE: In 2013, an unexpected source 668 00:31:35,042 --> 00:31:39,000 offers proof of UFO activity in the area. 669 00:31:39,125 --> 00:31:41,667 In June of 2013, the British Ministry of Defense 670 00:31:41,750 --> 00:31:45,000 declassifies their final collection of UFO files 671 00:31:45,125 --> 00:31:47,125 after closing the program down. 672 00:31:47,208 --> 00:31:49,917 MICHAEL: One of these files includes several photos 673 00:31:50,042 --> 00:31:52,833 sent to the ministry that show a disc-shaped object 674 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,333 hovering over Stonehenge. 675 00:31:54,458 --> 00:31:57,875 LAURENCE: This is just one of many reports 676 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,958 of unexplained aerial phenomena at Stonehenge. 677 00:32:02,042 --> 00:32:05,625 In 2019, Philippe Rosset is taking pictures 678 00:32:05,750 --> 00:32:09,792 of the sunset in Knap Hill, 15 miles from Stonehenge, 679 00:32:09,917 --> 00:32:12,708 and he spots a bright spherical object 680 00:32:12,875 --> 00:32:14,208 on the horizon. 681 00:32:14,375 --> 00:32:17,042 The ball of light is then joined by another, 682 00:32:17,167 --> 00:32:18,667 and then several more. 683 00:32:18,792 --> 00:32:22,167 The spheres appear to create some sort of formation. 684 00:32:22,333 --> 00:32:25,250 They've hovering silently in the sky. 685 00:32:25,375 --> 00:32:28,625 MICHAEL: In 2020, a couple driving in Mere, Wiltshire 686 00:32:28,708 --> 00:32:30,500 observe a disc of light 687 00:32:30,583 --> 00:32:32,167 hovering near Stonehenge. 688 00:32:32,292 --> 00:32:33,750 WOMAN: Look at that thing in the sky. 689 00:32:33,875 --> 00:32:35,167 MAN: Whoa. 690 00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:36,542 WOMAN: What is it? 691 00:32:37,625 --> 00:32:40,333 They capture it on video, and just as suddenly 692 00:32:40,458 --> 00:32:43,500 as the disc of light appeared, it vanishes. 693 00:32:43,625 --> 00:32:47,333 LAURENCE: But most modern scholars are skeptical. 694 00:32:47,417 --> 00:32:50,000 MICHAEL: At the end of the day, is there anecdotal evidence 695 00:32:50,083 --> 00:32:52,708 of UFO activity near Stonehenge? 696 00:32:52,833 --> 00:32:54,417 Certainly. But is this evidence 697 00:32:54,542 --> 00:32:57,375 that aliens built Stonehenge? Not really. 698 00:32:58,583 --> 00:33:01,583 SAMI: Throughout history, people have wanted to believe 699 00:33:01,708 --> 00:33:04,833 that humanity at the time of Stonehenge's construction 700 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,042 were savages or barbarians, but I think that's foolish. 701 00:33:09,208 --> 00:33:11,500 Okay, physically, they were just like us-- 702 00:33:11,583 --> 00:33:15,333 maybe not the exact same DNA, but similar in most respects. 703 00:33:15,417 --> 00:33:18,167 So, if you're insulting them, 704 00:33:18,292 --> 00:33:24,833 ultimately, you're just insulting yourself. 705 00:33:24,958 --> 00:33:26,333 LAURENCE: With each new discovery, 706 00:33:26,458 --> 00:33:28,833 there's hope that we're one step closer 707 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,667 to figuring out what Stonehenge is 708 00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:33,917 and why it was built. 709 00:33:34,042 --> 00:33:35,542 SAMI: You think it's a cemetery, 710 00:33:35,667 --> 00:33:37,875 but it also tracks the sun's position. 711 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,542 How does that detail fit in? 712 00:33:39,708 --> 00:33:40,750 At this point, the more 713 00:33:40,875 --> 00:33:41,958 we study Stonehenge, 714 00:33:42,042 --> 00:33:44,167 in some ways, the less we know. 715 00:33:44,292 --> 00:33:47,875 LAURENCE: But in 2021, Michael Goff believes 716 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,333 he may have finally solved the puzzle. 717 00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:53,375 CAROLINE: When researcher Michael Goff is at Stonehenge, 718 00:33:53,500 --> 00:33:56,000 he already knows about the monument's alignment 719 00:33:56,125 --> 00:33:58,125 with the heavens, and he thinks 720 00:33:58,250 --> 00:34:00,167 that was a purposeful choice. 721 00:34:00,292 --> 00:34:02,333 But while he's looking around, 722 00:34:02,458 --> 00:34:05,458 he realizes there's a lot more to it than that. 723 00:34:06,542 --> 00:34:08,500 MICHELLE: Goff starts by studying how Stonehenge 724 00:34:08,625 --> 00:34:10,708 would have looked thousands of years ago 725 00:34:10,833 --> 00:34:12,125 before any of the stones 726 00:34:12,208 --> 00:34:14,167 were lost to time. 727 00:34:14,292 --> 00:34:16,333 SAMI: He reconstructs the entire site 728 00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:19,000 and demonstrates that the monument's outer circle 729 00:34:19,083 --> 00:34:22,333 originally consisted of 30 sarsen pillars 730 00:34:22,458 --> 00:34:24,917 and the same number of connecting lintel stones. 731 00:34:25,042 --> 00:34:27,792 MICHAEL: He also notes that the four cardinal points-- 732 00:34:27,917 --> 00:34:32,208 north, south, east, and west-- line up with the structure. 733 00:34:32,333 --> 00:34:34,000 This means sunlight 734 00:34:34,125 --> 00:34:35,333 is intentionally focused 735 00:34:35,458 --> 00:34:36,792 through the stones, 736 00:34:36,875 --> 00:34:38,875 casting light and shadows. 737 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,208 SAMI: This was all known before, along with the fact 738 00:34:42,375 --> 00:34:44,125 that Stonehenge tracks the length of the year, 739 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:46,000 since the annual solstice 740 00:34:46,125 --> 00:34:48,208 appears in the same spot every time. 741 00:34:49,417 --> 00:34:53,375 LAURENCE: But Goff believes that with one extra tool, 742 00:34:53,542 --> 00:34:57,500 Stonehenge could track more than just the time of year. 743 00:34:57,667 --> 00:35:00,958 Goff figures out that if you add some smaller markers 744 00:35:01,042 --> 00:35:06,250 in the middle, Stonehenge could tell the time of day every day, 745 00:35:06,375 --> 00:35:07,792 like a sundial. 746 00:35:12,333 --> 00:35:15,708 According to Goff, Stonehenge actually had moving parts 747 00:35:15,833 --> 00:35:17,042 that are now missing. 748 00:35:17,167 --> 00:35:19,042 These could have been little stones, 749 00:35:19,167 --> 00:35:20,917 or maybe even pieces of wood 750 00:35:21,042 --> 00:35:22,625 that have since been lost to time. 751 00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:24,667 Some small stones have actually been found 752 00:35:24,750 --> 00:35:28,125 within the monument that could have served this purpose. 753 00:35:28,250 --> 00:35:31,458 The real trick to this, however, is that these stones or markers 754 00:35:31,542 --> 00:35:33,333 would have had to have been moved every year 755 00:35:33,458 --> 00:35:35,708 to keep the clock accurate. 756 00:35:35,875 --> 00:35:39,292 LAURENCE: So, how did they know where to move them? 757 00:35:39,417 --> 00:35:42,500 Goff believed they used a particular constellation, 758 00:35:42,667 --> 00:35:44,750 the Southern Cross, that would appear 759 00:35:44,875 --> 00:35:47,333 prominently right on the horizon in that area 760 00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:49,292 thousands of years ago. 761 00:35:49,417 --> 00:35:51,792 According to Goff, every year when the Cross 762 00:35:51,875 --> 00:35:53,667 was centered in the southern gap at Stonehenge, 763 00:35:53,792 --> 00:35:56,833 the people could just move the small stones 764 00:35:56,958 --> 00:35:59,708 to calibrate their clock for the upcoming year. 765 00:36:00,875 --> 00:36:04,458 LAURENCE: Around the same time, more evidence is uncovered 766 00:36:04,542 --> 00:36:08,208 to support this, but in a different location 767 00:36:08,333 --> 00:36:10,667 and by a different team. 768 00:36:10,792 --> 00:36:12,833 MICHELLE: Archaeologist Michael Parker Pearson 769 00:36:12,958 --> 00:36:16,208 goes to Wales with a team to excavate in the area 770 00:36:16,333 --> 00:36:18,458 where the bluestones were found. 771 00:36:18,542 --> 00:36:21,833 There, they find a dismantled stone circle 772 00:36:21,917 --> 00:36:23,292 made from bluestones 773 00:36:23,375 --> 00:36:25,667 at a place called Waun Mawn. 774 00:36:25,792 --> 00:36:27,708 SAMI: Researchers start to wonder 775 00:36:27,833 --> 00:36:30,042 if these Waun Mawn stones might be related 776 00:36:30,167 --> 00:36:32,042 to the stones at Stonehenge. 777 00:36:32,167 --> 00:36:33,708 MICHELLE: As they search for evidence 778 00:36:33,875 --> 00:36:36,333 using modern-day scientific techniques, 779 00:36:36,458 --> 00:36:38,458 they realize that these two circles 780 00:36:38,583 --> 00:36:42,750 have the same diameter of 360 feet across, 781 00:36:42,875 --> 00:36:47,042 and both are aligned to the midsummer solstice sunrise. 782 00:36:48,375 --> 00:36:52,167 LAURENCE: But one small clue proves the connection 783 00:36:52,250 --> 00:36:53,750 is much bigger. 784 00:36:53,875 --> 00:36:56,833 There is evidence that Waun Mawn was dismantled, 785 00:36:56,917 --> 00:36:59,417 most of its stones pulled up and removed. 786 00:36:59,542 --> 00:37:03,583 But in one of the holes, a stone chip is left behind. 787 00:37:03,708 --> 00:37:05,750 A computerized model is made of the chip, 788 00:37:05,875 --> 00:37:09,042 and incredibly, that chip fits perfectly 789 00:37:09,208 --> 00:37:11,167 into one of the stones at Stonehenge, 790 00:37:11,333 --> 00:37:13,958 one that's called Stone 62. 791 00:37:14,042 --> 00:37:16,500 It's like a key into a lock. 792 00:37:16,625 --> 00:37:18,167 Parker Pearson concluded 793 00:37:18,292 --> 00:37:20,417 that around 3000 B.C., 794 00:37:20,542 --> 00:37:22,333 most of the stone circle 795 00:37:22,417 --> 00:37:25,042 at Waun Mawn was dismantled, 796 00:37:25,167 --> 00:37:27,000 and the stones were carried 797 00:37:27,083 --> 00:37:30,833 the some 140 miles to Stonehenge. 798 00:37:32,542 --> 00:37:34,625 LAURENCE: But why go to such lengths 799 00:37:34,708 --> 00:37:37,625 to excavate and arrange the huge bluestones, 800 00:37:37,708 --> 00:37:41,542 only to then move them 140 miles away? 801 00:37:41,667 --> 00:37:45,542 Goff believes his clock theory holds the answer. 802 00:37:45,667 --> 00:37:48,917 Today, the Earth's tilt has changed so much 803 00:37:49,042 --> 00:37:50,458 that the Southern Cross 804 00:37:50,542 --> 00:37:52,750 is no longer visible at all from Stonehenge. 805 00:37:52,875 --> 00:37:55,458 This slow movement was happening back then too. 806 00:37:55,583 --> 00:37:59,833 Goff believes that's precisely the reason Stonehenge was moved. 807 00:37:59,958 --> 00:38:02,667 MICHAEL: Goff's theory is that the ancient clock 808 00:38:02,792 --> 00:38:04,458 was first installed at Waun Mawn, 809 00:38:04,542 --> 00:38:06,542 because that's where the Southern Cross 810 00:38:06,708 --> 00:38:09,708 is at the horizon, and you can use it as a clock. 811 00:38:09,833 --> 00:38:12,917 As the Southern Cross disappeared from that location, 812 00:38:13,042 --> 00:38:17,708 they moved it 140 miles away, rebuilt it at Stonehenge 813 00:38:17,833 --> 00:38:20,542 where the Southern Cross is visible at the horizon, 814 00:38:20,667 --> 00:38:22,833 and now you get another 100 years of use 815 00:38:22,917 --> 00:38:24,167 out of your clock. 816 00:38:24,292 --> 00:38:25,667 It's a pretty cool idea, 817 00:38:25,833 --> 00:38:28,042 but you also have to ask yourself, 818 00:38:28,167 --> 00:38:29,708 scientists and archaeologists 819 00:38:29,833 --> 00:38:32,000 have been studying Stonehenge for centuries. 820 00:38:32,083 --> 00:38:35,292 How could a clock not have been discovered before? 821 00:38:35,375 --> 00:38:37,000 LAURENCE: According to Goff, 822 00:38:37,167 --> 00:38:39,500 it's all because of the number 30. 823 00:38:40,542 --> 00:38:42,833 SAMI: There are 30 pillars at Stonehenge, 824 00:38:42,958 --> 00:38:44,667 and therefore the clock theory never worked 825 00:38:44,792 --> 00:38:46,667 with our current 24-hour concept of time. 826 00:38:46,792 --> 00:38:48,667 That's why nobody ever figured it out. 827 00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:51,500 MICHAEL: Once you try it with a day that's broken up 828 00:38:51,583 --> 00:38:54,333 into 30 parts-- so a 30-hour day-- 829 00:38:54,458 --> 00:38:56,208 Goff's theory works perfectly. 830 00:38:56,375 --> 00:38:58,625 The total length of the day is the same. 831 00:38:58,750 --> 00:39:02,625 It's just the hours are now 48 minutes long. 832 00:39:02,750 --> 00:39:04,792 LAURENCE: But if Stonehenge is a clock, 833 00:39:04,875 --> 00:39:07,833 why are human remains buried here? 834 00:39:07,958 --> 00:39:10,583 The burials of the elite or royal people, 835 00:39:10,708 --> 00:39:13,000 the clock doesn't seem to explain those, 836 00:39:13,083 --> 00:39:15,917 until you think about the fact that maybe the timekeepers 837 00:39:16,042 --> 00:39:18,458 are also the rulers of this society. 838 00:39:18,542 --> 00:39:21,500 You can imagine that type of knowledge 839 00:39:21,625 --> 00:39:23,792 would be quite powerful at this time. 840 00:39:23,917 --> 00:39:26,083 So, the leaders would have lived, died, 841 00:39:26,208 --> 00:39:30,125 and be buried with the source of their power, the clock. 842 00:39:30,208 --> 00:39:33,208 MICHELLE: Look, there's a popular saying in science, 843 00:39:33,375 --> 00:39:36,292 "correlation does not equal causation." 844 00:39:36,375 --> 00:39:38,292 Just because your football team won 845 00:39:38,375 --> 00:39:40,083 when you wore mismatched socks, 846 00:39:40,208 --> 00:39:41,833 doesn't mean this is why they won. 847 00:39:41,917 --> 00:39:45,083 And unfortunately, this applies to Goff's theory. 848 00:39:45,208 --> 00:39:47,375 Just because it lines up, 849 00:39:47,500 --> 00:39:49,667 doesn't mean this is why they did it. 850 00:39:49,792 --> 00:39:52,208 SAMI: And just because there are bodies, 851 00:39:52,333 --> 00:39:54,417 doesn't mean it's a cemetery. 852 00:39:54,542 --> 00:39:57,042 You can apply this to pretty much every theory 853 00:39:57,208 --> 00:39:58,875 about Stonehenge. 854 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,000 We'll never have any records that tell us what this thing is. 855 00:40:02,167 --> 00:40:05,375 These ancient builders have left us with a mystery 856 00:40:05,542 --> 00:40:08,000 that will probably never be solved. 857 00:40:11,375 --> 00:40:12,750 Recent dating of charcoal 858 00:40:12,875 --> 00:40:15,042 found at Stonehenge proves 859 00:40:15,167 --> 00:40:16,708 the site has been in use 860 00:40:16,833 --> 00:40:20,250 since 7000 B.C., long before 861 00:40:20,375 --> 00:40:21,833 the stones ever arrived. 862 00:40:21,958 --> 00:40:25,292 This exciting new evidence gives archaeologists 863 00:40:25,375 --> 00:40:27,500 many more puzzles to solve. 864 00:40:27,667 --> 00:40:29,583 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 865 00:40:29,708 --> 00:40:31,333 Thank you for watching 866 00:40:31,458 --> 00:40:33,875 "History's Greatest Mysteries."