Solstice, from latin,the sun, statum; to make stand still. In astronomy,a) the point in the eclipticl, the greatest distance from the equator, at which the sun appears to stop or recede. Winter in the Northern Hemiphere December 22.
We have evolved from a solar calendar and a lunar one, the Isles were very keen upon the return of the sun. Being in a northern climate, their lives were staged by,the sun. They watched the sun dearly. For she brought warmth and the energy to make the land blossom with life.

Last year I visited many web sites reguarding the Standing Stones and the reasons behind the effort our forefathers undertook to erect stones all over the Britons Isles.
Last year I witnessed Avbury. I had a modern demolition fellow with me. He has lorys and heavy weight machines. I asked, "What would you have to do to move these huge stones?" He agreeded with me. They were too heavy just to use them as decoration. It would take days today at 200Pounds an hour to move them to the desired location.
I have seen them. They are all over the Britons Isles. and they are totally facinating!!!

Add your connections to the Stones!

Britons were the remembered law givers of the Isles. The British Isle community comes from a native clan and law. Which is where the Magna Carta, and all modern law are derived.
Women were included, for fathers wanted daughters to recieve the estate. In Briton Law all were equal. You had to pay fines in cattle or wealth for offences.
I love these tales of excanging a wronged death with goods. It was the begining of orderly government.
All though, later on it did not apply to the native Irish, who were surplanted by the Normans.
Oh, We Irish are still alive and we have [populated every place in the happening world.


We are the People

The standing stones of the Isles have long fascinated me....here is an address to a site which has an overall view of them..lots of photo's here...but not much in the way of raw historical data.... http://www.celtic-connection.com/myth/myth-gal.html (hope that takes ya there!)Winter solstice is surely approaching..you can feel it! Speaking as one who lives out in the countryside...and being almost always surrounded by the elements of the seasons...I find I can really relate to the way our ancient peoples appeared to view the world..the sun..the earth...etc. There is a great beauty in how they lived...and the stories which they brought to us all...*s*

Martin Brennan authored a book on the etched in stone record of theses ancient peoples left behind upon the stone faces of many of the interior and exterior megaliths. His artistic impressions are rendered in
STONES OF TIME.
He also has some in information and back ground stories. I was truly blown away by the account left on these monuments.

Any one with another resource can email me at
snailing@hotmail.com

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that Stonehenge was brought from the farthest coast of Africa and placed them in Ireland. They supposedly had medicinal qualities to them. Anyone who bathed in water ran over the stones would be cured of all ailments.
Uthor Pendragon along with fifteen hundred men tried to take Stonehenge to Britain but could not move the giant stones. Merlin was summoned and 'Placed in order the engines that were necessary, and took down the stones with great facility.'
Though the author of the text I took that from doubted that the story could be true, I think that there may be room for consideration to the story, since the Egyptians also made heavy use of stones too large for even modern machinery to move them.

It would be nice if the stones were taken from Ireland, so we could claim them back. It's fairly well established, though, based on the type of rocks used at Stonehenge, that they were mined in Wales, the nearest place where that particular type of bluestone is found. How they actually got to their present site is still a bit of a mystery. One fairly certain thing is that they were shipped, suspended between two boats, along the south Welsh coast for most of the journey. At least one (maybe more, I can't remember) was seen by divers on the sea bed a few years ago. The land crossing could have been on timber rollers or a sled, but nobody knows for sure.

had the ancient Irish business relations with the Mediterranean peoples?

It depends on how far back we're talking about. 7th and 8th century monks and pilgrims travelling to Mediterranean areas would have encouraged some commerce. From earlier times, quite a few Roman artifacts have been found in Ireland but they could have come from Britain or northern Gaul. It is known that the early Irish imported a lot of wine, much of which must have come from the Med. So, there almost certainly was trade between the two areas but I don't know if its extent has been assessed

Glad you asked.
Through the live chat site I talked to a Lass last year who was in Malta getting an education at the University. She gave me several sites on the internet to get information of the megaliths that are on several of the islands around Malta. And they have several stone engravings also. Very simular to those found in Ireland. I thought their was a relationship. She did not. She would know for she saw them first hand. But I still believe and it makes sense to me the Celts traveled to Portugal and France across the Channel and then the Irish Sea.
Granted it took them a while. I see the men of the Mediterranean scouting for available land after the Great Ice age.