Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins

From the Beeb: Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins.

Archaeologists have pinpointed the construction of Stonehenge to 2300BC – a key step to discovering how and why the mysterious edifice was built.

The radiocarbon date is said to be the most accurate yet and means the ring’s original bluestones were put up 300 years later than previously thought.

The dating is the major finding from an excavation inside the henge by Profs Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright.

The duo found evidence suggesting Stonehenge was a centre of healing. [continue]

Stonehenge builders had geometry skills to rival Pythagoras

From The Independent: Stonehenge builders had geometry skills to rival Pythagoras.

Stone Age Britons had a sophisticated knowledge of geometry to rival Pythagoras — 2,000 years before the Greek "father of numbers" was born, according to a new study of Stonehenge.

Five years of detailed research, carried out by the Oxford University landscape archaeologist Anthony Johnson, claims that Stonehenge was designed and built using advanced geometry.

The discovery has immense implications for understanding the monument — and the people who built it. It also suggests it is more rooted in the study of geometry than early astronomy — as is often speculated.

Mr Johnson believes the geometrical knowledge eventually used to plan, pre-fabricate and erect Stonehenge was learnt [continue]