We all know Stonehenge as a Wonder of the World, in which there are multiple sets of 3 massive rocks stacked together. The major question revolving around Stonehenge (to the lay person) is how they got the rocks up there, since the technology of the time would have made this incredibly difficult. While this is a valid question, the more important question should revolve around Stonehenge’s purpose!
A picture of the alignment of Stonehenge
Stonehenge is an astronomic phenomenon, conveying to us that humans caught onto astronomy much earlier than most people would believe. Stonehenge is aligned with the same direction as the sunrise in the Summer Solstice and the sunset of the Winter Equinox, providing evidence of ancient astronomers. Numerous astronomers and archaeologists have worked together to discover other findings regarding Stonehenge.
Many believe that the lining up of the sun and moon with Stonehenge is merely a coincidence; however, scientist Gerald Hawkins has provided evidence of dozens of alignments, gathering more evidence that those who created this phenomenon were well aware of the movement of the sun, moon, and stars.
I personally think that there are too many pieces of evidence that indicate that whoever made Stonehenge knew what they were doing. That being said, this is still pretty contested. What do you think? Did the ancient astronomers that built this know what they were doing? Or were they just farmers who happened to watch stars and get lucky?
astrologankeller 
Very cool stuff! It definitely seems like Stonehenge was purposely made to line up with the summer solstice and the winter equinox. I don’t understand how anybody could build something like that by accident. It just seems like such a giant improbability that they just got lucky.
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Good read, and I also belive there are to many clues proving that the stones were set with importance.
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Stonehenge was absolutely created to line up the the Sun. Not only is there a lot of data displaying how accurate the alignment of Stonehenge is but there are also many other archaeological sites nearby that also line up with the paths of the Sun or Moon. Two of the more famous examples are Woodhenge (which is literally right next to Stonehenge) and Avebury. All of these sites indicate, in my opinion, that the pagan people of the region were all fascinated by astronomy and build sites to honor the heavens.
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Thanks for the comment, I actually have never heard of Woodhenge! I totally agree with what you’re saying
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I am in agreement with you here. I think there is way too much evidence showing the deliberate placement of the stones at Stonehenge to consider it merely a coincidence that it lines up with but the summer and winter solstice. How it all got there is probably a better question as those boulders are not small. Any thoughts on how they did it?
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I think Stonehenge’s alignments with celestial bodies is not at all a coincidence! If you look at renderings of what people think Stonehenge looked like before it was in ruins, I think it’s possible it was used as a way to tell the time of day or the time of year.
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I actually wasn’t aware there was still so much controversy over whether the astronomical alignments were deliberate or not! I don’t find that part hard to believe at all–I agree with Ned, the incredible part for me is achieving that construction/setup. Do you know what arguments people use to claim the alignments are just coincidental, or is it just an assumption in the absence of proof?
Monica
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Hey Monica!
From what I understand, the arguments are that the alignments that have occurred don’t seem to be “exact” enough. That being said, the mere fact that multiple alignments have occurred is incredible, and there have been enough geologic changes over time that it makes sense that the stones would not be perfectly aligned as they were when they were initially built.
Logan
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