Thousands Gather to Welcome Winter Solstice at Stonehenge
Dec 22, 2024
Thousands of tourists, pagans, druids, and those seeking the promise of spring congregated at the historic Stonehenge monument to mark the dawn of the shortest day of the year this Saturday.
Despite the low winter cloud obscuring the sun, the crowd erupted into a symphony of drumming, chanting, and singing as dawn broke on the winter solstice – the shortest day and the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The winter solstice is one of the few occasions when visitors can approach the stones at Stonehenge closely. Thousands willingly rise before dawn to experience this unique atmosphere.
Chris Smith, a 31-year-old civil servant, said, “This is all about renewal, rebirth, we’re entering into the new year, and it’s also a good time to acknowledge what’s taking place in the year that’s been. There’s such a vibe. I mean, if you look around, you’ve got everybody here, there’s such an energy in the space.”
The stone circle at Stonehenge, built around 5,000 years ago by a sun-worshipping Neolithic culture, continues to be a source of debate among researchers. Theories about its original purpose range from a temple to a solar calculator or a cemetery.
Recent findings published in the journal Archaeology International suggest Stonehenge may have had political and spiritual significance. The discovery that one of the monument’s stones, known as the “altar stone,” originated in Scotland, hundreds of miles north of the site, has added to this theory.
Lead author Mike Parker Pearson from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology said the geographical diversity of the stones implies that Stonehenge could have been a “monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos.”
The solstice also marked less than eight hours of daylight in England. However, the days will now progressively lengthen until the summer solstice in June.
