It is pretty much impossible for me to think about Stonehenge, that magnificent, 4,500 year old rock garden 100 outside of London, without thinking also of a scene from Spinal Tap. If you are not familiar with that scene, well, you either have been living under a stone slab of your own, or perhaps you are tuning in from one of those far-off and distant countries that just got connected to the Internet. If that is the case, then, welcome. Now I urge you to go watch the film Spinal Tap.
And so it is was I listened this story from NPR about all sorts of new revelations about that famous rock clock. While you might have thought that a monument of this size and fame would have been largely studied to death by this point in time, the fact is that enterprising British scientist are still uncovering clues about Stonehenge, and in this report, we learn that the builders of the structure actually lived in a large village around it and, here’s the interesting part, were actually hard-core partiers.
Yes, the grounds around the area are strewn with gnawed animal bones and fire pits and lots of those little drinking hats (made out of granite) with the two tubes (made out of sheep’s intestine) that go right from the beer can to the mouth. OK, I made that last part up, but never underestimate human ingenuity.
Anyhow, I thought the story here was damn fascinating. I listened to it on the subway and despite my mind’s inclination to picture midgets dancing around on a stage, I did manage to learn a lot about a place where I figured all new learning had been exhausted.