Peak New at Stonehenge

New Discovery About the Stonehenge Alter Stone

On August 12th and 13th, the peak of the Perseid Meteor Showers of 2024 were specatacularly captured in photos and video. Maybe you have seen the fantastic photo taken by Josh Drury, of Compton Martin, a couple days earlier, who using an innovative technique, combined 46 photos to achieve it. The photographer said, "The composite creating a visual narrative of shooting stars 'raining' down on Stonehenge. This image was taken over three and a half hours on Friday (9 Aug) night from 10:30pm."

Yesterday, breaking news flooded various news sites about a new discovery regarding the origin of the Alter Stone. It has long been believed that it also came from Wales along with the sarsens. For those who do not know, the sarsens are the largest stones that make up stonehenge. Recent studies have altered the aforementioned opinion on their origin. Last year, it was suggested the Alter Stone came from northern England or Scotland.

The Alter Stone has always been a puzzle. It is not a sarsen. It is a sandstone megalith. No one knows where or if it was standing, or if it is even in the same position it once was. It's a stone that is practically invisible to most visitors because of where it is located now. You need to be able to enter the circle to see it lying flat, buried in the ground and partially covered by two fallen sarsen. I certainly didn't notice it the evening I was there in twenty twenty-three with ten thousand other people.

In his Wordpress blog post, Mike Pitts who wrote the book 'How to Build Stonehenge' argued that the Welsh bluestones were brought to the site by land, not by sea, which has been a long-held belief. He believes the same was done for the Alter Stone. He thinks land transport would have facilitated local community engagement along the route. To support his arguement, he cites three henges in Thornborough in Yorkshire, that all have entrances that are aligned on a possible path. He sees this potential transport by land as more than the transport of a part of a religious monument or ceremonial, but also as key parts of purpose and identity that brought together distant communities.

Past, Present, Future, All Resonating in SpaceTime

With the Olympic Games in Paris just coming to an end, and witnessing the world unity and global community building that was strengthened due to its happening, I find myself in agreement with Mike Pitts. The Olympic Games of ancient Greece, the modern Games, and this proposed idea by Pitts all operate on the same premise, bringing people together from far away places who share values, purpose and identity. The Games were much more than sporting competitions, they are community building on a scale of regional civilization and now globally.

In spite of all the negative aspects we see of the internet and social media, I still think that the idea of the world wide web is a beautiful thing that brings people together. The discussions on she-who-shall-not-be-named's antics and people's reactions everywhere to it and the sudden surge in discussion of Breaking was phenomenal. I feel like this year, more than any other, there were many more people watching these Olympic Games and learning a lot about each other in the shared purpose found while it was happening. I found myself pulled into conversations on Threads, discussing Breaking and connecting with others who also love the artistic dance-like sport that has largely been underground and out of the limelight for at least a couple of decades. So many people were discussing all aspects of the Olympics, from mental health to the feats of the extraordinary.

I find the thought rather lovely that we watched representatives from various countries competing with each other and yet, people from all walks of life and places were living lives and moments together. Waking up, turning on the TV, turning the channel to watch whatever sport that so many others were also viewing at the same time while going about their day, talking about it online. I was one of them. We all lived, as a community, together in those beautiful moments. So I reiterate, Pitts arguement for the Alter Stone to have been a community-building and strengthening event facilitated by its transport by land is both sound and logical.

In Conclusion

Pitts ends his Wordpress blog by saying "Don't blame the media if you think they got the archaeology wrong," and again I agree. There is a tendancy by some to be upset and express outrage when new information comes to light. I find this reaction and thinking puzzling because this is the course and what has happened thoughout human history. We humans think we know something, we share it, we discover it was wrong, we learn something new, share that, and then sometimes later learn that was also not correct. For me, this is a great relief and proof positive that the ability to change our minds when we are given more new information is a sign of our intelligence.

To know that we always have the capacity to learn something new about the world we live and that there are still so many mysteries that we may or may not even realize still are, yet to be discovered... this reflects the lives of individual humans on a collective scale, letting us all learn and grow, together. Together is what some seem to forget as they try to divide things up into smaller and smaller pieces. No matter how much you try to create divisions to separate us physically and psychologically, we are all still part of the human race and are composed of the same elements as the planets and stars we are watching shoot through the night sky during this 2024 Perseids.

We are all always all together.

Throwback to Summer Solstice 2023 of ten thousand or so of us, all together.

Open Studio

Autumnal Equinox

21 & 22 September 2024

11:00 - 15:00

The address of this private location in Madrid Spain and will be delivered to you by email. Of course, you will need a reservation to come visit me.

For two days in 2024, I will open my studio to share a new body of work on the weekend of the Autumnal Equinox. I'll be showing a series of sculptures, static and kinetic.

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A friend has been telling me for ages to write a book, a memoir, of all my wild past-life experiences. Maybe I'll write a book about my life when I'm older, maybe around 80 (if I am blessed to live that long). I've decided to keep this diary instead.

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