Greco-Roman paganism

In March of 2007 I went to Greece to trace footsteps of St. Paul, a follower of Jesus in the first century who took the Gospel message from Asia to Europe. (This shows, by the way, that none of the major "western" religions are European in origin. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all arose in what we call the Near East part of Asia. Christianity went to Africa and perhaps India before it arrived in Europe.) We even saw Mount Olympus, the home of Zeus/Jupiter and other gods and goddesses as we flew over Athens en route to Thessaloniki.
When I got back to Athens the guide explained about the construction going on at the Acropolis—the highest point in the city, where the remains of the ancient temple of the goddess Athena towers above the bustling metropolis. Lights play on the temple at night so you see it from the hotel restaurant some three miles away. Impressive.
This temple (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) is being restored to its original glory, with the fifty-foot statue of the golden goddess from whom Athens gets its name, soon to be installed. What stunned me was the news that some modern devotees are planning to restore the cult of Athena as well. That is, they plan to hold worship gatherings—not merely as re-enactments of the pagan rites of long ago, but as sincere attempts to revive the ancient religion. Whether they will conduct animal sacrifices as did the ancients I am not sure.
Now that we have read about the Greek and Roman religions of yore, could this ancient worldview make a comeback in our times?
Could you imagine yourself joining this soon-to-be faith community? Could you believe that there are gods that actually exist such as the Greeks and Romans believed 2000-3000 years ago, from the time of Homer to that of Nero, Claudius, and Domitian? Why or why not?

Stone Age religion

On a tour of England last month, I visited again the impressive monuments of stone age people. Stonehenge is the most well known. But the one at Avebury is part of a huge area used by pre-historic people.
I noticed that National Geographic features Stonehenge in the current June 2008 issue. You might want to read it. And PBS had a program on how these ancient people (with primitive technology, such as tools made of bone and stone) moved 20 ton rock megaliths a hundred miles and erected them. Why did they do it? What was in their minds? Was it fear, awe, or practical primitive astronomy helping them in agriculture?
Some link it to ancestor worship designed to assure the return of good crops and successful hunts. Archeologists find clues as they continue to excavate larger areas. They say large settlements surrounded these henges in order to house thousands of families that came each year to work on the projects over hundreds of years.
What is a henge, exactly? What do know about the way these people looked at their existence? About what religious aspirations they held? How much is solid, almost fact, and what is speculation and outright guesswork?
Did these people believe in God? In life after death? Did religion dominate their lives or was it more a “nod to god?”
See what you can find out about this and share it under comments so we can get a dialog going on pre-historic religion. Be sure to cite your sources as you try to reach some conclusions that make sense to you.

I'll try to post some photos. If you find visuals to share, please do so as long as fair use is granted by the source.