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Solving Stonehenge: The New Key to an Ancient Enigma
Stonehenge is seeing a massive surge of interest at present, something which this major reassessment of the monument by geophysics expert Anthony Johnson can only fuel further. Echoing much earlier approaches Johnson focuses his attention on the placement of the stones themselves, but offers quite new conclusions. Using documentation and results from the last 250 years of surveying at stonehenge he shows that the stones were laid out to a premeditated design, and that the symmetry and geometry involved were extremely complex, so much so that it must have been geometrical considerations which played the leading role in the design of the structure. A fascinating and well argued work, which is bound to re-ignite old debates and start new ones.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2008
63 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Johnson
126 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 21, 2013
A superb book on the subject, possibly the best of the many I've read since my days studying archaeology. It's a no-bullshit study of the monument, based on solid surveying and archaeological principles. There are no hokey star alignments, other than the obvious solstice axis, no Hancock-esque cosmic interconnectedness of sacred sites, no invoking of putative "ritual" and no complicated theories about how it could have been used as a computer to almost-sort-of-predict things sometimes with a bit of fudging.
Johnson's theory is that Stonehenge is entirely self-contained, and was constructed based on simple but elegant geometrical principles, without reference to any external objects, either terrestrial or celestial. Effectively, it's a mandala made in stone, not a map. He explains how all this could have been done with the most basic tools, and uses this to explain some of the errors in placement of stones and holes as well as the accuracy, as well as the sequence in which the monument was constructed. Most cunning of all is the way in which he shows how the curve of the central horseshoe was created, based on existing stones.
A refreshing and fascinating read, totally unlike all the mystical claptrap written about the place.
Johnson's theory is that Stonehenge is entirely self-contained, and was constructed based on simple but elegant geometrical principles, without reference to any external objects, either terrestrial or celestial. Effectively, it's a mandala made in stone, not a map. He explains how all this could have been done with the most basic tools, and uses this to explain some of the errors in placement of stones and holes as well as the accuracy, as well as the sequence in which the monument was constructed. Most cunning of all is the way in which he shows how the curve of the central horseshoe was created, based on existing stones.
A refreshing and fascinating read, totally unlike all the mystical claptrap written about the place.
November 10, 2025
This has been an interesting read. It taught me a lot about the archeology of Stonehenge but it is not necessarily for those who only have basic historical knowledge as there are references to many periods of history without fully explaining them. I did enjoy the historical chapters but the chapters that were solely on archeological theories and work were burning to me.
July 8, 2020
Well written, good technical explanation for how it was designed.
April 23, 2012
Very good and concise book about Stonehenge, however not as general as the title could suggest to some readers.
The book basically goes, in a very straighforward way, explaining about the physical description of every archaological element in the monument, the correlation with radiocarbon dates so you start understanding the gradual steps in the construction of Stonehenge and finally, and this is extremely interesting, an hypothesis -and a very robust one, I must say- on how the geometric characteristics of the complex were defined by the construction method (I'm not going to spoil you the surprise. This hypothesis is very different to others where the monument was made to some specification based on external conditions (mathematical, complex astronomics, numerological, etc).
There is a section covering the historical surveys and theories, which politely complete ignores all the unscientific ones.
The reason I give this excellent book four stars is because it lacks something that for the title I would like to read more about: The construction techniques to raise and transport the stones.
The book basically goes, in a very straighforward way, explaining about the physical description of every archaological element in the monument, the correlation with radiocarbon dates so you start understanding the gradual steps in the construction of Stonehenge and finally, and this is extremely interesting, an hypothesis -and a very robust one, I must say- on how the geometric characteristics of the complex were defined by the construction method (I'm not going to spoil you the surprise. This hypothesis is very different to others where the monument was made to some specification based on external conditions (mathematical, complex astronomics, numerological, etc).
There is a section covering the historical surveys and theories, which politely complete ignores all the unscientific ones.
The reason I give this excellent book four stars is because it lacks something that for the title I would like to read more about: The construction techniques to raise and transport the stones.
July 23, 2011
Anthony Johnson sets out an interesting and convincing argument as to how Stonehenge was built and the time line for the different phases of its construction. Using analysis of the position of the stones together with the many years of archaeological research, Johnson demonstrates the simple formula that could have been applied to survey and create the monument. It was interesting to see the different approaches to it's research over the years and the changes that have occurred to the structure through natural causes or through man made error. It is clear that this book has been painstakingly researched in order to give a comprehensive and detailed account. Some of the mathematics was slightly over my head but this did not detract from the book which I found a thoroughly interesting read.
April 24, 2013
This is a brilliant book! A word of warning though, if you are not familiar with Stonehenge or overly intrigued how it was built, then this may not be the right book for you.
This book provides detailed information on different phases the monument was built starting with the early earthworks and ending with the final circles of holes that were apparently never used. It also gives overall picture of the study of Stonehenge over the past centuries. I don’t think this book really solved the mystery of Stonehenge, it taught me a lot about how it was built but it didn’t answer the “Why?” I suppose part of me is happy that it didn’t. At least for me part of the attraction is the mystery itself.
This book provides detailed information on different phases the monument was built starting with the early earthworks and ending with the final circles of holes that were apparently never used. It also gives overall picture of the study of Stonehenge over the past centuries. I don’t think this book really solved the mystery of Stonehenge, it taught me a lot about how it was built but it didn’t answer the “Why?” I suppose part of me is happy that it didn’t. At least for me part of the attraction is the mystery itself.
June 14, 2008
Despite the title the book is basically a description and a history of the exploration with a lucid explanation of how the Neolithic surveyors, using pegs and rope, mapped out the original design. The astronomical features were just routine midwinter/midsummer orientation. Mathematically the design is sophisticated.
October 9, 2012
Very nicely laid out and informative book. Brilliant in how it uses each chapter to think about Stonehenge in a different way, for example it details the way in which antiquaries have influenced current theories about Stonehenge. I really enjoyed the chapters on the geometry of the monument and also its construction. Great diagrams.
October 7, 2013
This book contains far more accurate information about the monument than any other comparable book. It is also a very good read.
November 22, 2014
I didn't actually finish this. Ran out of steam once I realized that the astronomical connections to stonehenge were tenuous, I kinda lost interest.
April 23, 2012
A good technical overview of how the monument was built in it's various phases.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews