3D scan of Stonehenge reveals hidden ax-head carvings

3D scan of Stonehenge reveals hidden ax-head carvings
news.cnet.com

Stonehenge was given a complete 3D-scanning treatment, generating 850 gigabytes of data. Archeologists put software from Bentley Systems to work to analyze the data. The resulting data crunching showed 72 carvings depicting Bronze Age tools that had been hiding from the naked eye for thousands of years. Almost all show ax heads, but one is likely a dagger.…

The ax-shaped carvings show a certain obsession with the tool shape. All of the ax blades face upward. Some Stonehenge carvings had already been located through visual inspections, but these new carvings reveal a treasure trove of ancient art.

Not addressed by the researchers is whether the carvings were by the builders or came later by others. The accompanying PDF file is 71 pages long and contains loads of images and details of the findings (available here). The researchers did guesstimate the dating of the carvings based on the style of the axe-heads (c. 1750-1500 cal BC) with some variations. The best date given for Stonehenge itself is 2400-2200 BC.

There had been some previous photo-documentation of carvings on the stones, but this greatly expands the number of known carvings greatly.

T could equal Tau also. It had something to do with a circle I think. The size almost gives the illusion that the center ones are farther away. Bigger on the outside, smaller on the inside.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Very interesting. However in my opinion these are not depictions of ax heads but are of a certain type of mushroom found in the area that would of been used in ceremonies for thousands of years.

This makes more sense to me then etching ax heads into the stone. Shame due to t and cs we can not discuss further.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Could they be mushrooms by any chance?
Those Druids did love their mushrooms...
Yes,that sort of mushrooms.

Um.... yeah those aren't axeheads, they're symmetrical! I'd say they look a little liberty cap-y too.
A few of them look like they could be pick axes possibly, but wouldn't they still be using antler pickaxes at that sort of time period? (And come to think of it, liberty caps are characterised by a little lump at the top of the cap...)

Gonna download that PDF and have me a looksie!

reply to post by MaxSteiner


Yeah the henge is estimated to approx 3100BC,so they would be using stone/flintstone for axeheads,and they would not look like the images we see in the OP.

More like this type of thing-





This one has a wooden handle,but doesn't look the same as the carvings on the henge:



The only one I could find which looks a bit like the carvings is in the center of this image:



Hmm...

For me, the marks bring to mind the 'Hammer of Thor' (HoT)



This silhouette is meant to refer to a megalithic monument in Canada (of all places), But to me it seemed to help bring the HoT design more in to focus; it is also interesting that some researchers attribute the Canadian megalith to the vikings.



The reason that you see the 'hammer' inverted in the metal work is because it is meant to be a pendant...

Mjölnir

Just my two-cents, anyway. Thanks OP, really cool stuff.

They are considered to represent a bronze-age axe head typical of Britain circa 1750-1500 BC;



Examples here

The one above is a "Type Bandon";

Other types are 'Arreton' tradition low-flanged axehead, or a slightly later dated Acton-Taunton type;



This one is an earlier type 'Arreton', circa 2000-1700 BC;



As well as a ,'cpper alloy flat axehead dating to the Early Bronze Age' (here)



The British Museum is full of these, so I'd tend to agree with the experts on the carvings being axe-heads and not mushrooms or what have you.

What is the mystery is what these were supposed to signify - burial? warfare? peace accords? Some of the axeheads in the British Museum have decorative carvings, so the axeheads do seem to have some use other than strictly utilitarian.


Edit to add:
The carvings appear so non-distinct that they really look more like tally marks, i.e. "we were here to commemorate X, here is another axehead mark to show this...". With the recent news that Stonehenge may have been a joint effort by far-flung tribes as a peace effort, then maybe these same tribes continued meeting on the anniversary date and carved another axehead as proof. Who knows?

That is an oddly random and erratic placement of the carvings as well....reminds me a bit of what football players do with their helmets when they put sticker on them for a win. Maybe this was whatever group putting a "win" on their gathering spot after a big battle and marking it with an axe?

reply to post by Vasa Croe

That is an oddly random and erratic placement of the carvings as well....reminds me a bit of what football players do with their helmets when they put sticker on them for a win. Maybe this was whatever group putting a "win" on their gathering spot after a big battle and marking it with an axe?

Exactly, I made an edit to my post above along those same lines. The axeheads appear to be 'tally marks', commemorating some event, maybe on certain anniversary dates.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Yes, I agree. That seems at least as reasonable theory as any other.

Of course, it still doesn't help determine when they were made.

btw years ago I made the (somewhat frivilous) suggestion that stone circles were used for some form of sporting event. Small settlements had small circles, bigger settlements had bigger 'stadiums' and at Stonehenge we built the stone age equivalent of Wembley. Who knows?

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Ah,they do look alot more like the bronze axe heads.
What were they tallying up though?
Not the building of stonehenge if they are from that later date..
An executioners records maybe-that would be darkside.
Or the axe head represented a certain special day in the calender maybe?

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


That's the question - Stonehenge is first and foremost a calendar, and here we have some object carved into a number of the carsen/bluestones in what appear to be tally marks - were they commemorating the building of Stonehenge on it's anniversary date, or the passing of tribal members, or some significant accord amongst the various tribes, etc? What is the significance of an axehead? Do decorative carvings found among some bronze-age axeheads also imply the axehead was on occasion utilized in a ceremonial fashion? Do the rituals/observations have anything to do with death? Lot's of questions...

Originally posted by Bybyots
For me, the marks bring to mind the 'Hammer of Thor' (HoT). This silhouette is meant to refer to a megalithic monument in Canada (of all places), But to me it seemed to help bring the HoT design more in to focus; it is also interesting that some researchers attribute the Canadian megalith to the vikings.

I think the 'axe' designs on the henge are just that. The "Hammer of Thor" you cite, I think is an inukshuk. Its discoverer, if I may call him that, (cuz the locals knew where it was...no disrespect to him or them) had controversial elements to his career (google Sheguiandah).

I am interested in this scanning technique as there is a petroglyph site locally that I have talked about being scanned for some time now. S&F for the thread!

Seems a little strange to me that the axe-heads would be depicted in that direction, I guess that's why I immediately think mushrooms when I see them, but I suppose a bronze axehead would have been quite a potent and iconic symbol at the time whatever way round it was.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


To me they appear to be spirits, souls either ascending or coming forward. if so then maybe Stonehenge is a gateway or many gateways.

Similar style here.

Group of Nalbidji Spirit Men & Women, Pam Vovola.
Rock Art


love and harmony
Whateva

Maybe just me, but from what I understand about Stonehenge it is an Astrological tool used by the pagans.
With that in mind does anyone else see the big dipper (Ursa Major) on the left stone which is then pointing out the North star.
Just a hunch but you'd think if they went that far without light pollution they would take the time to put the little dipper in as well.

Call me a loon if you like but perhaps these are not Axe head but a flotilla of alien craft in the sky, yes it sounds crazy but why are these carving hidden and why carve so many ax heads of different sizes why actually don't look like the axe heads of the time?

It looks like something being pictured in the sky, maybe spirits or even alien?

If those are suppose to resemble an axe of some type, I find it strange that it would be a pick axe.
I dont recall ever seeing a tool that was a pick axe from the time of the construction of Stonehenge.
Then again I could be wrong.


What does the # 72 represent ?

reply to post by azureskys


The carvings are being said to depict stoneheads from that time period, pick-axes did not exist back then.

They do resemble mushrooms but why would they decide to draw mushrooms? I think the tally mark theory so far sounds most plausible.