Monoliths and megaliths

Today I was joining a group of fifteen people, all of us interested in monoliths. Ok, not that I was much before but I guess we've all seen the sign in the forest. Except for the two people working with Zürich city, and forced to be there, and a couple from the water supply department, but still. Let's say ten people came by choice. Not bad considering the little marketing they had done.

And it was kinda interesting. The guide was engaged and had done a lot of research. She also looked the part, like a person who lived outdoor complete with backpack and all. And with a smile on her face.

I'm not the type to necessarily need to know my roots and where humanity came from, but she was talking in an engaging manner, and it is a bit mindblowing to think about what people did like 6,000 years ago. Apparently they liked to raise stones.

Mostly, as I understand it, they did it to bury people under, but also to gather around and it was like a place to meet.

If I got it correctly, and I cannot be sure I did, it was found in the 1930's on my mountain but it wasn't until the 70's that people realized it was something special. They were found when a water reservoir was built. And then promptly moved.

Now, they want to build a new reservoir in a new place, not far away (the old one has done it's job and cannot be repaired) and it has caused great debate, what if they find more stones? And after a build-up of the guide with all the implications it would cause, and how archeologists around the world would be excited, it turned out that the experts found...tadada...absolutely nothing. They had dug all the way down to I-cannot-remember-what-the-layer-of-the-earth-it-was, but not even a bone or remnants of a fireplace was found.

And I gotta say that seeing the stones were a bit of a disappointment. Funnily enough this is a place where I am at a lot, since the Vitaparcours track (almost) passes here, but I never noticed. So I don't think we'll get a lot of Stonehenge-fans coming to visit. Just as well. But I'm glad I went. It was in a funny way interesting, and through the city woman I found out that a lot of excursions are organized by Zürich and most of them for free! Just up my alley.