Smithsonian Channel(TM) to Premiere 'Stonehenge Deciphered'

Documentary uncovers new findings based on first dig in 50 years - airs
Saturday, September 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The meaning of Stonehenge -- the
fascinating prehistoric monument in Great Britain believed to be erected from
3000 BC to 1600 BC -- is explained as never before in an all-new documentary
that utilizes evidence from a recent Smithsonian Channel(TM)/BBC
Timewatch-sponsored dig within the inner circle -- the first dig to be allowed
in nearly 50 years.
With evidence and conclusions contrary to those posited in June news
accounts and elsewhere, British archaeologists Prof. Timothy Darvill of the
University of Bournemoth and Prof. Geoffrey Wainwright, President of the
Society of Antiquaries -- both world-renowned experts on Stonehenge -- share
the conclusions they have reached in STONEHENGE DECIPHERED, premiering
Saturday, September 27 (2008) at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. The
documentary will premiere in the U.K. on the same day as part of the BBC
Timewatch series.
In addition, an article about the program will appear on the cover of
Smithsonian Magazine's October issue and on Smithsonian.com, concurrent with
the film's premiere on Smithsonian Channel.
From late March to mid-April of this year, the dig, part of the U.K.'s
Bluestone Project, was filmed by Smithsonian Channel and BBC Timewatch under
the supervision of English Heritage, which maintains the UNESCO World Heritage
Site. So far, all conclusions about why Stonehenge was built, and what it was
for, have remained under wraps, but the professors will break their silence at
a press conference in the U.K. tentatively scheduled for September 22.
Those associated with the project will only say that new carbon dating
establishes the most precise date ever for Stonehenge, and that the recent
evidence shows that most earlier explanations for the purpose of Stonehenge
were focused on the wrong stones. The secret to Stonehenge, they believe, lies
not in the huge, iconic sarcen stones, but in the monument's smaller bluestone
rocks, which were carried over 150 miles in a feat of engineering that has
never been fully explained, from the Preseli Hills in Wales, an area reputed
to be magical, to the Stonehenge site.
ABOUT SMITHSONIAN NETWORKS
Smithsonian Networks (SN) is a joint venture between Showtime Networks
Inc. and the Smithsonian Institution. It was formed to create new channels to
showcase scientific, cultural and historical programming based largely upon
the assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex.
Smithsonian Channel features original documentaries, short-subject
explorations and innovative and groundbreaking programs highlighting America's
historical, cultural and scientific heritage. Visit Smithsonian Networks on
the Internet at www.smithsonianchannel.com
For information, contact:
Michael Shepley Stuart Zakim
212-786-9064 Showtime Networks Inc.
shepleypr@aol.com 212-708-1590
Stuart.Zakim@showtime.net

SOURCE Smithsonian Networks

Michael Shepley, +1-212-786-9064, shepleypr@aol.com, for Smithsonian Networks;
or Stuart Zakim of Showtime Networks Inc., +1-212-708-1590,
Stuart.Zakim@showtime.net