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Archaeologists Uncover A Russian "Stonehenge"
Novosti ^ | 11-12-2004 | Olga Sobolevskaya

Posted on 11/13/2004 4:25:38 PM PST by blam

2004-11-12 18:08

ARCHEOLOGISTS UNCOVER A RUSSIAN "STONEHENGE"

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti commentator Olga Sobolevskaya)--

Russia now has a Stonehenge of its own. In the summer, a 4,000-year-old megalithic structure was uncovered at a Spasskaya Luka site, in the central Russian region of Ryazan. This structure, which, archeologists believe, was built as a sanctuary, sits on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Oka and the Pron rivers. The surrounding area has always been seen as an "archeological encyclopedia," a kaleidoscope of cultures ranging from the Upper Paleolithic to the Dark Ages.

"If we look at this archeological site as represented on a map, it will be a circle seven meters in diameter, marked with pillars, half a meter thick and the same distance apart from each other," says the expedition leader Ilya Akhmedov, who works in the Moscow Historical Museum's Archeological Monuments Department. "Here's a large rectangular hole and a pillar in the center of the circle. The wooden pillars have not survived, of course, but the large holes from which they once stuck out can be seen pretty clearly. Along the edges of the site there are two more holes. Originally, there may have been four of them, but the bank over here is being destroyed by a ravine, so the temple has caved in partially."

Another hole with a pillar has been unearthed several meters east of the site. And there is also one to the south, which was discovered three years ago. "In all probability, there's a second row of pillars surrounding the shrine, a dozen meters away," Mr. Akhmedov says.

The two pillar pairs form a gateway, which, if looked through from the center, will provide a spectacular sunset view in the summertime. Another pillar, behind the circular fence, points to where the sun rises. The monument's structure has prompted scholars to advance a hypothesis about its astronomical purpose. The objects found here must have been designed with religious ritual in mind.

The size of the holes varies from 44x46cm to 75x56cm. A small ceramic vessel has been found in the central hole. It is finely decorated with zigzags, resembling sunrays, and with curly lines, which symbolize water. Archeologists specializing in the Bronze Period have recognized the artifact as dating back to "their age." Visually, it is reminiscent of objects produced by southern Eurasian tribes.

Fragments of long bones and teeth have been extracted from one of the holes outside the sanctuary. These are believed to be the remains of a sacrifice. But neither can we disregard the fact that the large holes were used for burial. A layer of organic decay has been discovered on the bottom of the central hole-archeologists put the decomposition of bones down to some peculiar properties of the local soils. The remains found here may well have belonged to a posthumously sanctified tribal chief.

Old sanctuaries are often located beside burial sites. This is attributable to pagans' view of death as the point of transition to the afterlife. In ancient folklore, not only the life of nature was seen as a cycle, but human life was, too. The solar and the lunar cults were related to the cult of fertility and to the mythological link between life and death. There are numerous tombs at Stonehenge and Avebury - Europe's most famous circular-shaped sanctuaries. The very idea of a circular structure goes back to ancient legends about the Creation. The circle - a magic geometrical shape with no beginning or end - was regarded as a symbol of eternity and infinity.

There is more than one cemetery at the Spassakya Luka site. Finno-Ugric tribes arrived here at some point during the period known as the Great Resettlement. Interestingly enough, not a single one of their tombs encroached upon the ancient observatory, a fact suggesting that they must have known about the structure's sacral significance.

The old Ryazan sanctuary is, indeed, a unique monument. Similar monuments have been found in southern Russian steppes and in the trans-Urals tundra, but these are not as representative and have few artifacts.

Sanctuaries with pillars began spreading across Europe at the end of the 1st millennium AD. Some examples have been excavated in the modern-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. "There can be no blood kinship between the ethnic groups who erected Stonehenge and the Ryazan observatory," Mr. Akhmedov contends. "The latter obviously points to some influence by migrant groups from the southeast of the Eurasian steppe."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: archaeologists; archaeology; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; okariver; pronyariver; russia; russian; ryazan; spasskayaluka; stonehenge; uncover
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1 posted on 11/13/2004 4:25:39 PM PST by blam
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 11/13/2004 4:27:53 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

But it was not a Russian Stonehenge, really, because Russia did not exist in those days. It just happens to be in Russian territory now. The Russian language, and all our modern languages, had not even evolved when that structure was assembled.

We know very little about the people who built Stonehenge and similar structures. We certainly do not know their language.


3 posted on 11/13/2004 4:34:04 PM PST by docbnj
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: docbnj

Doesn't sound like it was built of stone either. Kind'a cool though to find something like that.


5 posted on 11/13/2004 4:41:18 PM PST by Paladin2 (SeeBS News - We Decide, We Create, We Report - In that order! - ABC - Already Been Caught)
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To: blam
"There can be no blood kinship between the ethnic groups who erected Stonehenge and the Ryazan observatory," Mr. Akhmedov contends. "The latter obviously points to some influence by migrant groups from the southeast of the Eurasian steppe."

To the contrary, it would seem to indicate that the late neolithic culture was no so insulated as was to beome the norm later. The movement of ideas and probably, at least small groups of people seems likely.

This fits with your interests blam!

6 posted on 11/13/2004 5:07:09 PM PST by JimSEA ( "More Bush, Less Taxes.")
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To: blam

BTTT


7 posted on 11/13/2004 5:09:00 PM PST by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: docbnj
We know very little about the people who built Stonehenge and similar structures. We certainly do not know their language.

My wife and I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Salisbury, the plain on which Stonehenge stands. During breakfast we told the landlady we were off to see Stonehenge. She started to tell us it was a race of giants long ago who levitated the stones in place. Needless to say we left in a hurry.

On a different note, a retired builder is tying to figure out how to build his own stonehenge all by himself. Go to his website. It is something else.

The Forgotton Technology

8 posted on 11/13/2004 5:18:01 PM PST by LoneRangerMassachusetts (Some say what's good for others, the others make the goods; it's the meddlers against the peddlers)
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To: JimSEA
"This fits with your interests blam!"

Yup. I would like to see his evidence for this statement.

"There can be no blood kinship between the ethnic groups who erected Stonehenge and the Ryazan observatory," Mr. Akhmedov contends."

9 posted on 11/13/2004 5:30:43 PM PST by blam
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To: Carry_Okie

ping


10 posted on 11/13/2004 5:32:54 PM PST by farmfriend ( In Essentials, Unity...In Non-Essentials, Liberty...In All Things, Charity.)
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To: docbnj
"We know very little about the people who built Stonehenge and similar structures."

Unearthed, The Prince Of Stonehenge

11 posted on 11/13/2004 5:33:56 PM PST by blam
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To: blam
We all know that Stonehenge was a landing platform for a flying saucer!!!

I also have it on good authority that unidentified Flying objects were seen over Roswell during the 1930s.

Construction of the Robert Goddard rocket used in the flight of April 19, 1932 at his test range outside Roswell NM.

12 posted on 11/13/2004 5:39:03 PM PST by Young Werther
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To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
I've just spent the last couple of hours downloading all the movies on W.T. Wallington's site. (I'm on 28K dialup...)

The guy is a mechanical genius! Too bad he didn't get an engineering education, instead of training in carpentry. (OTOH, his carpentry skills obviously serve him well in his present endeavours...)

Once you've seen it, his technique of "walking" a stone using two fulcrums is obvious. (...once you've seen it, that is...) IIRC, he's moving up to 19,600 lbs stones -- so far...

The movie I got a big kick from was seeing him effortlessly roll that 300-lb square-section counterweight along the top of the big stone using his "round road" (actually a sinusoidal track...)

If he doesn't have the right answers as to how the pyramids,etc. were built, he certainly has workable answers!

Thanks for the link!!

13 posted on 11/13/2004 8:14:03 PM PST by TXnMA
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To: blam
FWIW, there were woodhenges at Cahokia in southern Illinois. Its a most 1300 years old though.

http://medicine.wustl.edu/~mckinney/cahokia/woodhenge.html
14 posted on 11/13/2004 10:06:25 PM PST by bahblahbah
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To: SunkenCiv

Sunday bump.


15 posted on 11/14/2004 9:51:14 AM PST by blam
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To: blam

At home I have a saved article about megalithic stuff in Chechnya (predates Islam, but lack of supporting tradition is commonplace with megalithic stuff wherever it's found). Couldn't find it just now with Google. Anyway...

http://megalith.ru/indexeng.shtml

Thanks for the ping, will have to ping GGG later.


16 posted on 11/14/2004 6:28:38 PM PST by SunkenCiv ("All I have seen teaches me trust the Creator for all I have not seen." -- Emerson)
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To: blam

There may have been an advanced culture in the region of North Europe and into present Russia at the time of Ur.


17 posted on 11/14/2004 6:32:18 PM PST by RightWhale (Destroy the dark; restore the light)
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To: RightWhale
"There may have been an advanced culture in the region of North Europe and into present Russia at the time of Ur."

Probably.

18 posted on 11/14/2004 8:37:52 PM PST by blam
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To: blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; SunkenCiv; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 4ConservativeJustices; ...
Finally, the GGG ping. Sorry for today's volume, but I'm finally able to catch up.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest
-- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

19 posted on 11/16/2004 11:14:51 AM PST by SunkenCiv ("All I have seen teaches me trust the Creator for all I have not seen." -- Emerson)
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To: docbnj

Any speculations about the Picts?


20 posted on 11/16/2004 11:20:19 AM PST by MacDorcha
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