THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249      usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded
January 1970
2021-2022: CXXXIX
"Every age has the Stonehenge it deserves...or desires."
-Jacquetta Hawkes

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER Friday, June 17, 2022
Quiz # 32: Stonehenge!

[image: stonehenge-from-above.webp]

Mid Summer's Eve at Stonehenge is scheduled for this coming Monday at 7:00
p.m! We would love you to join us for this special solstice eve event.
In honour of this upcoming program, we offer this brief quiz about, well,
Stonehenge: that marvelously monstrous Megalithic monument protruding above
the verdant turf of Salisbury Plain. We tried to incorporate as much of
Stonehenge lore and history into this 10-question debacle: including stone
weight, the Bronze age, stone names and, of course, we added a little
dabble of the inimitable Merlin, as well.
The best of luck on today's quiz!
The DA returns on Tuesday.



*1. How much does the average sarsen stone at Stonehenge weigh?*
a. 8 tons
b. 12 tons
c. 17 tons
d. 25 tons

*2. About ________ generations have elapsed since the first Stonehenge
stones were erected.*
a. 100
b. 125
c. 160
d. 180

*3.  The very first excavations were carried out in Stonehenge in
____________*
a. 1620
b. 1718
c. 1795
d. 1830


*4.  The first written account stating that the wizard Merlin was
instrumental in Stonehenge's construction dates back to the
year___________________.*
a.  1136
b. 1216
c. 1344
d. there was no written record pertaining to Merlin's involvement.

*5. Construction of Stonehenge (the first henge) started about _________
years ago, according to the most recent research.*
a.  10,000
b. 7,000
c. 5,000
d. 4,000

*6.  True or False:  Stonehenge was purchased by a single person at an
auction in 1913.*

*7.  Approximately how many people visited Stonehenge in 2019?*
a. 910,000
b. 1.1 million
c. 1.4 million
d. 1.6 million

[image: slaughter-stone-1.jpg]

*8.  (Refer to the image above)  The flat stone in the foreground is
commonly known as the __________*
a. Maiden Stone
b. Slaughter Stone
c.  Necromancer's Stone
d. Dragon Stone

[image: 99088a009.jpg]

*9.  What is the name of the rectangular stone located at the top of the
Stonehenge trilithons,*
*an example of which is seen above?*
a.  bracket
b.  lintel
c.  sarsen
d. guinevere

*10. The Bronze Age period in Britain extended between _____________ and
____________ BCE*
a. 3,000; 1,200
b. 2,500; 200
c. 2,500; 800
d. 3,100; 350



ANSWERS

*1. How much does the average sarsen stone at Stonehenge weigh?*
d. 25 tons

*2. About ________ generations have elapsed since the first Stonehenge
stones were erected.*
d. 180

*3.  The very first excavations were carried out in Stonehenge in
____________*
a. 1620
At the insistence of King James I, the Duke of Buckingham conducted an
excavation in 1620 (only four years after Shakespeare's death).
No record remains of what he discovered during this excavation.


*4.  The first written account stating that the wizard Merlin was
instrumental in Stonehenge's construction dates back to the
year___________________.*
a.  1136
Geoffrey of Monmouth explained Merlin's involvement in his history  "Kings
of Britain," written in 1136.

*5. Construction of Stonehenge (the first henge) started about _________
years ago, according to the most recent research.*
c. 5,000
Although the time frame remains disputed, most archeologists  believe that
work on Stonehenge began about 5,000 years ago.

*6.  True or False:  Stonehenge was purchased by a single person at an
auction in 1913.*
FALSE
It was purchased by a single person at an auction in *1915!*  Cecil Chubb
(1876-1934) bought Stonehenge and the surrounding land for 6,600 pounds.
In 1918, he donated it to the country.  The notion that he bought it as a
gift for his wife Mary, who soon after refused it because it caused her to
lapse into a depression, is apocryphal.

*7.  Approximately how many people visited Stonehenge in 2019?*
d. 1.6 million
That number plummeted to 315,000 in 2020 and 344,000 in 2021 due, of
course, to Covid-19 restrictions.


*8.  The flat stone in the foreground is commonly known as the __________*
b. Slaughter Stone.
This name, first used in the 18th century, was likely applied to this stone
because of the red coloration that appears when rainwater falls on it.   We
now know that iron in the stone and algae that grows around it are
responsible for this coloration.  There is no evidence to support the
assertion that any human sacrifices were performed at Stonehenge.

*9.  What is the name of the rectangular stone located at the top of the
Stonehenge trilithons,*
*an example of which is seen above?*
b.  lintel

*10. The Bronze Age period in Britain extended between _____________ and
____________ BCE*
c. 2,500; 800



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