New theory explains function of Stonehenge

New light, or rather, new sound, has been shed on the mystery of Stonehenge, England's iconic prehistoric monument. At the 2012 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, Steven Waller, an independent scholar, presented a study on the archaeoacoustics of the ancient site.
The field of archaeoacoustics serves to apply the study of acoustics to ancient sites in an effort to understand and recreate the soundscapes that existed.
The basis of Waller's work comes from the phenomenon of wave interference. Waves, whether sound, light, radio, etc., interact with other waves in such a way that they can magnify or reduce in intensity depending on location relative to the source.
Although modern wave physics definitively explains this interference pattern, ancient observers could have likely attributed it to supernatural phenomena, as contended by Waller. There are "many legends of pipers connected to the stones, so I do not think this is just a superficial coincidence," Waller wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Waller performed quantitative and qualitative studies, in which he measured sound from various sources on a digital recorder. The sources included a pair of recorders (English flutes) in a field supplied by a fixed air pump and a pair of bagpipes in a room. For both cases, he measured the amplitude modulation in all directions from the source at a fixed radius.
Next, he tested the acoustics of the Stonehenge site directly. These tests utilized a spring-loaded percussion device in order to produce impulse sounds from the center of Stonehenge.  "I walked around the outside of Stonehenge to show amplitude modulation due to acoustic shadows of the megaliths," Waller wrote.
Waller then led blindfolded subjects along the same path around the flutes and asked them to sketch and describe what they thought was present. All six of the subjects reported physical obstructions, such as large megaliths or arches between themselves and the noise. When comparing this data with the geometry of Stonehenge, the theory that Stonehenge was created to recreate this phenomenon is supported.
Beyond simple enhancement of the modulation, Waller believes that Stonehenge could have been built to serve as a visual support for people. "The experience of sound being 'blocked' by invisible 'objects' was inexplicable to people unaware of sound wave cancellation," Waller wrote, "and subsequently this 'vision' served to motivate the construction of Stonehenge and other megalithic rings."
The idea that the history of Stonehenge lies in sound is supported by archaeological and mythological evidence as well. Pipers have been closely associated with Stonehenge in British culture: the site of Athgreany in modern Ireland, which also features megaliths arranged in a circular pattern, is known as the "Piper Stones." "There are carvings in Stonehenge representing axes, which were a symbol of Thunder Gods," Waller wrote, "and so possibly these connect with the thunderous reverberations that I and others have recorded in there."
This new theory is strongly supported and can work in conjunction with other potential proposals. Nevertheless, we can likely never be sure of the original purpose of Stonehenge.