2013-03-23
Explanation
This comic imagines Stonehenge as the set of an ancient game show. A robed host with a scepter addresses a contestant named "Cuidightheach" (a pseudo-Celtic name), telling him he has ten choices: behind one curtain is a giant wheel of cheese, and behind the others is a savage flogging. The host asks the audience'''s favorite question: "Which you gonna pick?" The scene is presented as an ancient British game show set among stone pillars with curtains.
The comic then jumps forward 5,000 years to the present day, where a modern historian stands at the ruins of Stonehenge and confidently declares, "We believe the inner ring of Stonehenge was used for celestial timekeeping." The joke is the contrast between what Stonehenge was actually used for in this fictional scenario -- a cruel, cheese-themed game show -- and the serious, scholarly interpretations that archaeologists and historians have constructed around it.
The votey panel adds a final punchline from the ancient host: "The cheese was a metaphor for more flogging," meaning there was never actually a good prize behind any curtain. This makes the game show even crueler and more absurd -- the entire premise of choice was an illusion, and the contestants were always going to be flogged regardless.