SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SOME VERY OLD, MYSTERIOUS ROCKS

Recently, a Paris-based artist friend who in recent years has been making some gently contoured, abstract stone sculptures sent us a postcard showing a photo of Stonehenge, the prehistoric site that is one of Britain’s most iconic cultural properties. The photo that appeared on the card was several years old but certainly not as antique as Stonehenge itself.

The photo got us thinking about this most mysterious assemblage of big rocks that were neatly shaped and purposefully installed on the Salisbury Plain in what is now the county of Wiltshire in southwestern England. Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was constructed from between 3000 years and 2000 years before the Common Era. Their research has shown that the site was used for cremation burials prior to the establishment of the now well-known monument. Some of the stones that were used to make it were transported from some 150 miles away in what is now Wales.