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Me posing near the old age stones |
Stonehenge is located on a field near Salisbury, between two roads, the A303 and the A344. The moment is actually visible from both of these roads. The site is administered by English Heritage and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List on which it was inscribed in 1986 for its outstanding prehistoric monuments. It is considered the most important prehistoric monument in the whole of Britain.
The unparalleled stone circle that is still visible today is the final of the three distinctive stages that were completed about 3500 years ago. The builing of the stone formation is believed to date back to the Neolithic period (3000-1600 BC). Apparently, the monument was constructed in three phases. The stones are also three different types including Bluestone, Sarsen and Welsh Sandstone.
It has been estimated that these three phases of the construction required more than 30 million hours of labour. It is not really known why Stonehenge was built. Speculation on the reasons range from human sacrifice to astronomy. It nevertheless stands as a timeless monument to the people who built it.
Initially, Stonehenge was a mere large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank, and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. They form a circle about 284 feet in diameter. Excavations have revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were probably made, not for the purpose of graves, but as part of the religious ceremony. Shortly after this stage Stonehenge was abandoned, left untouched for over 1000 years.
In around 2150 BC, some 82 bluestones (some weighing 4 tonnes each) from the Preseli mountains, south-west Wales were transported to the site, nearly 240 miles away. It is thought these stones were dragged on rollers and sledges to the headwaters on Milford Haven and then loaded onto rafts. They were carried by water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again to near Warminster in Wiltshire. The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
Once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle. During the same period the original entrance of the circular earthwork was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. Also the nearer part of the Avenue was built, aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
About 2000 BC, saw the arrival of the Sarsen stones, which were almost certainly brought from the Marlborough Downs near Avebury, about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. The largest of the Sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weigh 50 tonnes and transportation by water would have been impossible, the stones could only have been moved using sledges and ropes. Modern calculations show that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the huge rollers in front of the sledge.
These were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels. Inside the circle, 5 trilithons were placed in a horseshoe arrangement. The remains of these can still be seen. Around 1500 BC when the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle is thought to be about 60, but many have been removed or broken up. Some remain only as stumps below ground level.
The area where the monument stands is surrounded by a ceremonial landscape comprising more than 300 burial mounds and major prehistoric monuments such as the Stonehenge Avenue, the Cursus, Woodhenge and Durrington Walls.
There are several artefacts found at Stonehenge. These can be viewed at the London, Salisbury and Devizes museums.
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