Keeping an open mind

This week we were asked to comment on an interview with Ramilisonina, about his work with Mike Parker Pearson on the connection between Stonehenge and Madagascar’s modern-day megaliths and a bloggers response to said interview for our Anth 397: Archaeology of Death class.

The interview with Ramilisonina can be viewed here: http://archive.archaeology.org/1001/etc/conversation.html

And the blogger’s (Brian John) response can be viewed here: http://brian-mountainman.blogspot.ca/2010/11/sacred-stones-and-madagascar.html

     There are many theories surrounding the construction, use and purpose of Stonehenge by the people in ancient times. The theory proposed by Ramilisonina is just one of many. We will never know which one is correct, and many that have been proposed or still have yet to be, may be correct. I believe that we must stay open-minded to all interpretations because we will never get a definite answer as to which is correct. We must instead hear all of them and decide for ourselves which we believe is most correct, and yet not eliminate the possibility that other explanations could be the correct ones.

     I agree with Brian’s statement, “It all goes to show how hard it is for us to see inside the heads and hearts of people living in totally different traditions and in other lands”. However I find this ironic because this quote makes him seem very open minded to many theories and interpretations of Stonehenge. Yet he readily dismisses Ramilisonina’s theory based on one conversation with one of his friends. Different cultures can develop similar or the same beliefs or ideas without having to interact, and is not that far fetched to consider a belief held in Madagascar could be an explanation for something that happened in the United Kingdom many years before. Just because they occur at different time periods and in different places does not mean that it is impossible for it to occur. I think it was unfair of Brian to say Ramilisonina theory is “a leap too far” when we will never have a definitive answer and he seems to recognize that fact with his ending statement.

Stonehenge at Night. http://thothistheibis.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/following-the-white-trail-to-stonehenge-part-v/