The oldest detailed drawing of Stonehenge, found in a 1440 manuscript, the Scala Mundi
Posted on 11/29/2006 4:27:10 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
The oldest detailed drawing of Stonehenge, found in a 1440 manuscript, the Scala Mundi
They got the date wrong by some 3,000 years, but the oldest detailed drawing of Stonehenge, apparently based on first hand observation, has turned up in a 15th century manuscript.
The little sketch is a bird's eye view of the stones, and shows the great trilithons, the biggest stones in the monument, each made of two pillars capped with a third stone lintel, which stand in a horseshoe in the centre of the circle. Only three are now standing, but the drawing, found in Douai, northern France, suggests that in the 15th century four of the original five survived.
In the Scala Mundi, the Chronicle of the World, Merlin is given credit for building Stonehenge between 480 and 486, when the Latin text says he "not by force, but by art, brought and erected the giant's ring from Ireland". Modern science suggests that the stones went up from 2,500 BC, with the bluestone outer circle somehow transported from west Wales, and the double decker bus-size sarsen stones dragged 30 miles across Salisbury plain.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Ping.
Stonehenge making the news lately
GGG ping
Doesn't the ink seem a little 'fresh' and what about the 'lined' paper?
Curious.
It was in danger of being trod upon by a dwarf.
Of course they had lined paper in the 15th century!
What else would their kids have put in their binders?
ROFL...
I've seen quite a few older writings with lined paper...though usually it is very light or they are mostly removed.
I trust it's an intriguing graphic.
Looking at it that way, it's obviously a sports stadium of some sort.
You can even see the mounts for the lights.
what about legal pads? it's the oldest profession, isn't it?
It does look like it was done recently. Maybe it is a copy.
"great trilithons" 'Nuff said. By the way, what the hell is everyone talking about. ("Where'd they all go?!?!? HAHAHAHA!!)
Looks like some of the blueprints I am expected to work from....
"Maybe it is a copy."
Yeah,Yeah, that's it. A 'copy'!!
:0)
Okay, it could be a copy. Next, we shall consider what it is a copy of. Stay tuned. Or stuned as the case may be.
Hehehehe...I was waiting for that pic to be posted!
I think that one is being contested.
Has Dan Rather weighed in on this yet?
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