from the Stonehenge: the American Tour Facebook page

This is a blog dedicated to the idea of the Stonehenge replica and its endless variations, not because we think Stonehenge replicas are a good idea–if that were true, this would be a serious blog–but on the contrary because we think the whole idea is by its very nature ridiculous and in some hard-to-define way, unrelentingly humourous.* People just can’t help themselves!

That said, there is, of course, nothing funny about an exact replica of Stonehenge made of foam being loaded onto an eighteen-wheeler and carted around North America so people can experience Stonehenge without having to meet any English people or accidentally photograph sheep. Well, we’re glad you don’t find it funny, because an enterprising group of students from Tallahassee has created a Kickstarter–an internet method of generating contributions from small but interesting projects–to do exactly that. Here is part of the pitch on their Kickstarter page:

“A monument of such amazing wonder and beauty should be seen by as many people as possible, don’t you think? However, visiting Stonehenge is much harder than it seems, and only a limited number of people WORLDWIDE see it each year, and even then, only a fraction of those people purchase the special access pass which is required to let them walk among the stones. Imagine all the hassle that goes into seeing this epic monument. Now, imagine just having to travel to a museum near you to walk amongst its legendary beauty.”

Nothing humourous there! Americans will be able to travel a short distance, walk among the foam stones, experience 4000 years of history, and not handle any of that funny money! Where they are getting the 4000-year-old foam, we are not certain, but there is still time for the details to be ironed out.

Another page announces: “We are planning five festivals to celebrate the exhibit, each one will involve several days of celebration, with camping, eating, music, art exhibits, dancing, all night fires, staged pagan rituals, and the whole druid party thing.” Splendid.

We were, of course, bemused to see their statement that it would be the “first life-size replica”. Hello, have we met?** It is remarkable how often we see this claim, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, and no doubt whoever is doing the Clonehenge blog hundreds of years from now (bless their semi-organic hearts) will see the same thing–no one ever checks first! The claim that it will be the world’s most accurate replica, however, is welcome. Make it so!

Stonehenge: the American Tour, GoStonehengeTour, and one or two other names are used, but they are all the same project. Visit their Facebook page! Pledge money! Make this a reality, gentle hengeophiles! A pledge to this Kickstarter is a vote for Stonehenge, or a vote for absurdity. Either way, we all win!

[We will not even attempt to address the motto: “If we build it, will you come?”]

In the past year, we have seen a Stonehenge replica built of recycled stones in Australia, a guerilla replica, for which a man was arrested, built in Ireland, a full-sized inflatable Stonehenge touring the UK, a group formed to build henges, more than one wonderful cakehenge, and numerous others of various natures. What next? Only the Stonehenge brain virus knows for sure! Stay tuned, and happy henging!

* Unlike our posts.

** Maryhill, Washington’s replica springs to mind, as well as the one in Montana, Esperance Australia’s replica, and the remarkable but now defunct BBC Foamhenge. There may be others on the List of Permanent Replicas.