Tea at Trianon: Origins of Stonehenge

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Origins of Stonehenge

From Daily Sabah:

The origins of the mysterious Neolithic structure Stonehenge might finally be unraveled as a new discovery by archaeologists indicate that the stones used to construct the prehistoric monument were originally part of a larger ancient stone circle in Wales that has been recently unearthed.

Among Britain's most recognizable and mysterious landmarks, the standing stones at Stonehenge draw tourists from around the world and people searching for spiritual connections with the past. Their exact purpose remains unknown.

In 2015, a team of archaeologists established that some of the stones came from a quarry in the Preseli Hills on the western coast of Wales, more than 250 kilometers (150 miles) away.

Now researchers at University College London (UCL) say they believe some of the stones originally formed an even older monument in Wales. They have found significant links between Stonehenge, which was built around 3,000 B.C, and the site in southwest Wales, called Waun Mawn, which stands 280 kilometers (175 miles) away from the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The discovery comes in the wake of several other new and exciting findings related to Stonehenge. In 2019, researchers determined that the builders of the ancient site were most likely Anatolian farmers who migrated to the island, shining light on another significant mystery surrounding the origins of Stonehenge.

More recently, in the summer of 2020, a giant circle of shafts was discovered just 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) away from Stonehenge, making the area even more attractive to tourists. (Read more.)