Stonehenge Archer | Hacker News Reader

Stonehenge Archer

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30 pointsvinnyglennon13 comments

I only just watched this very good YouTube video by Paul Whitewick yesterday, about this find:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki0C7BY6fHQ

I remember reading something before speculating the Stonehenge site was "off limits" to regular folk and these burials were from site trespassers. A bronze age Area 51 if you will.

Really sad we don't have very good idea what people 4300 years ago were up to.

Is it? It would be super cool if we did know, but is it bad if we don't? I am genuinely asking what we lose by not knowing.

I was talking to my mom yesterday about my immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents. I realized a lot of the details are irrecoverable. But I struggled to find a reason why that mattered.

There is a saying: "Those who do not know about the history, are condemend to repeat it"

(apparently from George Santayana)

But I think, if you don't care, then go on not caring.

I care, because I do not see society currently in a sane state and rather on a dark path. And by learning from history I hope to figure out things, to do my part, to help not repeat the old misstakes that lead into WW2 and alike for example. And it is not just about war or climate change, but rather direct human interaction. How is it today? How was it yesterday? How was it 4000 years ago. What was better and why? What was worse and why? Technology is only one part that makes up human society.

The saying makes the assumption that people don't want to repeat history, which may have been true a few decades ago. A great many people today actively want to repeat history, mistakes and all. They think then was better than now.

"actively want to repeat history, mistakes and all. They think then was better than now"

Well, you said it, they think it was better, so they don't want to repeat misstakes, but have a different perception of that time. Or they just refuse to acknowledge anything that does not fit their ancient Utopia. No matter how bloody it was.

Personally I am strongly drawn to neolithic times. But I know that so little is known, that all the good I think I see, might be projection into a void. And the actual history something very different (human sacrifices, slavery, ..)

But yeah, when people nowdays talk about reviving fascism in a new light, I think they activly supress reality as we do have good information about this recent time and what it means going that way.

> I am genuinely asking what we lose by not knowing.

How would we know what we're losing if we don't know? But even beyond practical uses for anthropological information about our past, we as creatures just seem to inherently value exploration and desire for knowledge. That seems reason enough for people to feel "sad" about not knowing something.

Nobody's gonna be able to read our any of our stuff. It'll be much quicker next time.

I agree, because I suspect that it would not be different from us in general (differences in details of course, which would be the interesting part)!

Are the remains displayed the way they were found? As it is, it looks like they just dumped out a box of bones. Sort of a shame given that the remsins had been "carefully and deliberately buried."

The bones appear to be displayed "as found" after 4,000 years of in ground flesh rot, ground compression, and possible other forces such as gas ballooning and worms, etc.

You can see the head -> spine -> pelvis -> leg bones indicate how the body was lain down and folded at the knees and somewhat at the waist.

Grave goods (remnants of) and orientation would have prompted the description of carefully, delibrately buried.

They are pretty much, if not exactly, as they were found. The museum's website has an "as found" picture.

https://salisburymuseum.org.uk/collections/stonehenge-archer...

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