# Should Christopher Walken be allowed to touch Stonehenge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177 "2022-04-21T15:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/21 "2022-04-21T17:46:16Z")
If pretty funny that you think the “general run of mankind” of the past 50 years is incontrovertibly worse than the previous 4950 years. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/22 "2022-04-21T17:48:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Blasphemer! In my mind, I can totally hear this being exclaimed in Christopher Walken’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/23 "2022-04-21T17:53:21Z")
I’ve heard that the only American allowed to touch it is Tom Brady. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/24 "2022-04-21T17:53:26Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > If pretty funny that you think the “general run of mankind” of the past 50 years is incontrovertibly worse than the previous 4950 years. Wellllll… 😊 [https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/us/utah-boulder-boy-scouts/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/us/utah-boulder-boy-scouts/index.html) > **[Time is running out to punish Duckbill Rock vandals](https://www.koin.com/local/oregon-coast/time-is-running-out-to-punish-duckbill-rock-vandals/)** > > The suspects have never been punished but investigators are about to run up against a legal deadline to catch them. > **[Youths destroy 320MILLION years of history by smashing iconic 'rock' landmark](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6526325/brimham-rocks-damage-yorkshire-youths-destroy/)** > > AN “irreplaceable” iconic stone landmark that took 320million years to form has been smashed in seconds by “idiot” youths. One of the balancing stones at the Brimham Rocks w… ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/25 "2022-04-21T17:55:56Z")
So if a blind person visited, they’d be SOL, I guess. I understand the policy but hate the “absolutely no exceptions” rule. > [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > If the monument preservation people didn’t have the rule, can you imagine how long the stones would be left standing? I’d guess about 10 minutes Each rock weighs 25 tons. I’m not arguing against the rule, merely the idea that a bunch of tourists clambering over a rock that weighs the equivalent of a fully loaded garbage truck isn’t going to demolish it, not without heavy equipment and more than 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/26 "2022-04-21T17:57:17Z")
This was more than 50 years ago: > **[Elgin Marbles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Marbles)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The Elgin Marbles (/ˈɛlɡɪn/) are a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens, removed from Ottoman Greece to Britain by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, and now held in the British Museum. The majority of the sculptures were created in the 5th century BCE under the direction of sculptor and architect Phidias. > The term Parthenon Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures (Greek: Γλ... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/27 "2022-04-21T17:57:39Z")
Fer cryin’ out loud. If he’d asked me I would have charged him $10,000 or pounds or euros or whatever they use for money over there to touch the special Stonehenge stone kept in a nearby facility for only A list celebrities to touch. No pictures allowed and he’d have to sign an NDA also. ETA: I do think Walken is a very good and interesting actor, I enjoy his movies a lot. So I’d only charge him $5000. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/28 "2022-04-21T18:00:49Z")
Perhaps allow him to touch it with a gloved hand? ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/29 "2022-04-21T18:01:47Z")
I am just thinking of recent well publicized events of vandalism of monuments seemingly for the fun of it. Perhaps you’re right and this is just to be expected, but I do think that if people were allowed to approach Stonehenge (at least unsupervised) very bad things would happen in very short order. > **[Did vandalism of famed Duckbill Rock make Cape Kiwanda a safer place?](https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2019/09/02/did-vandalism-famed-duckbill-rock-make-cape-kiwanda-safer/2066811001/)** > > Since it was knocked down, there have been zero deaths, fewer rescues and not as many people traveling into the dangerous area, officials said. > **[‘It’s a horrible crime against nature,’ vandals strike near Red Rock Canyon](https://www.8newsnow.com/news/its-a-horrible-crime-against-nature-vandals-strike-near-red-rock-canyon/)** > > Reports of vandals making their way around the popular Red Rock Canyon is upsetting those who come to the area to experience the desert’s beauty. > **[Reward offered for Santa Fe Petroglyph vandal identity](https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/reward-offered-for-santa-fe-petroglyph-vandal-identity/)** > > SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico Wild is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the person who vandalized the Petroglyphs near Santa Fe. Last month, someone spray-painted the La C… > **[Vandals Destroy Ancient Rock Art At Big Bend National Park](https://kkyr.com/vandals-destroy-ancient-rock-art-at-big-bend-national-park/)** > > This kind of thing angers me to no end, what kind of self-centered jack-ass ruins artwork, on purpose! Big Bend National Park is one of my many bucket-list destinations and I'm actually hoping to make that trip this year. Thanks to vandals, some... ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/30 "2022-04-21T18:06:47Z")
I agree, but I meant deliberate damage. Of course Christopher Walken wouldn’t have damaged the stones deliberately or accidentally. The rule exists for a good reason, is all. Allowing blind people to touch the stones is a great idea for an exception to the rule, though! I like it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/31 "2022-04-21T18:56:47Z")
How about allowing deaf people to touch Christopher Walken? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/32 "2022-04-21T18:57:08Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > As long as he doesn’t try to pick up a small piece, say the size of wristwatch, and smuggle it back to the USA, I say why not? If he manages to smuggle the whole thing out, more power to him. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/33 "2022-04-21T19:09:17Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Each rock weighs 25 tons. I’m not arguing against the rule, merely the idea that a bunch of tourists clambering over a rock that weighs the equivalent of a fully loaded garbage truck isn’t going to demolish it, not without heavy equipment and more than 10 minutes. Yet the very post preceding yours listed a bunch of heavy rock formations that had stood thousands or millions of years, and were instantly destroyed by modern idiots using only their muscles. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/34 "2022-04-21T19:31:56Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Yet the very post preceding yours listed a bunch of heavy rock formations that had stood thousands or millions of years, and were instantly destroyed by modern idiots using only their muscles. Stonehenge is not precariously balanced, easily tipped over by children or child-brained adults. Just pointing out the difference there. And also I don’t think they should let people touch it because people suck. People knocked over those balanced rocks, and thought it was a good idea, other people created the circumstances where woefully ignorant people would believe the random activity in their knowledge starved brains was a good idea, and other people think taking cow worming medicine will cure Covid. I can understand why they don’t want those people touching the rock. Also, it’s a rock. If anyone doesn’t know what a rock feels like I’ll send them for just the price of postage and handling. I think own rock one that is Stonehenge stone size. First come first serve on that one, all the others will be smaller. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/35 "2022-04-21T19:39:35Z")
Yes, some Druids, Pagans, and of course archaeologists and Park people. [Stonehenge Druid Ceremony](https://solstice-tours.com/stonehenge-druid-pagan-solstice-celebration.htm#:~:text=Druids%20observe%20this%20eightfold%20cycle,perhaps%20storytelling%2C%20music%20or%20poetry). But even the Druids can’t deface or climb on the stones or anything like that. Note that Stonehenge has been defaced quite a bit in the past, stones moved, put back etc. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/36 "2022-04-21T19:54:41Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > If pretty funny that you think the “general run of mankind” of the past 50 years is incontrovertibly worse than the previous 4950 years. One of the points Mike Pitts makes in his recent (rather good) book, _How to Build Stonehenge_, is that everyone, including archaeologists, have probably underestimated the extent to which visitors have been damaging the stones continuously since they were first erected. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/37 "2022-04-21T19:59:38Z")
Miss Henge, will you tell the jury where Mr. Walken touched you? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/38 "2022-04-21T20:09:24Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Each rock weighs 25 tons. I’m not arguing against the rule, merely the idea that a bunch of tourists clambering over a rock that weighs the equivalent of a fully loaded garbage truck isn’t going to demolish it, not without heavy equipment and more than 10 minutes. But what if Walken was driving on the A303 at night, and he had a sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/39 "2022-04-21T20:11:28Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Miss Henge, will you tell the jury where Mr. Walken touched you? Could you point to it on this model? [![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.muckrack.com/mrdaily/site/images/2020/09/21/3ov9jdawqvcrwmujcg.gif) ](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.muckrack.com/mrdaily/site/images/2020/09/21/3ov9jdawqvcrwmujcg.gif) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177/40 "2022-04-21T20:11:39Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Miss Henge, will you tell the jury where Mr. Walken touched you? Right on the stones. Also fondled the pillar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-christopher-walken-be-allowed-to-touch-stonehenge/963177.md?page=3)