Looking Into the Past: Ohio’s ‘Woodhenge’
Travel News — By Ben Van Loon on July 28, 2010 at 11:00 amAmerica’s prehistory is more of a mystery to America than the prehistory of the rest of the world. There are strange creations and discoveries that have been made for years around the world. Stone spheres in Costa Rica, Moai in Easter Island, and Stonehenge in England, among others, continue to baffle historians and gnaw at the curiosity of the public imagination.
While there are a few of these strange places in North America, none have really rivaled the cryptic, monolithic prowess of these other archaeological mysteries – until now. Near Cincinnati, OH, at the Fort Ancient State Memorial park, archaeologists have began to unearth postholes and markings at a location called ‘Moorehead Circle,’ also dubbed Woodhenge.
Like Stonehenge, researchers believe Woodhenge was used to mark astronomical events, perhaps for religious, ritualistic, or burial purposes. Computer generated images of the site reveal that the sun’s location in the sky would have reflected into the center of Woodhenge’s antechamber, where perhaps there was an altar or astronomical loci. The post holes and their elaborate construction suggest a hefty amount of work went in to constructing the site which, unlike Stonehenge, was made primarily of oaks and hickories. Unfortunately, the use of wood means it wasn’t built to last, much like the Stonehenge builder’s village.
While Woodhenge is a legitimate historical site, Roadside America offers a host of offbeat Americana reproductions of England’s ancient monoliths. There are the Georgia Guidestones, New Hampshire’s Mystery Hill, Washington’s Sam Hill’s Stonehenge, Nebraska’s Carhenge, and a health handful of other schlocky reproductions. Even with the new found mystery of Woodhenge, America still likes to celebrate world mysteries in its own peculiar way.
[Image: ablogabouthistory]
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