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Stonehenge

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   Stonehenge in 2004
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   Stonehenge in 2004
   Map sources for Stonehenge at grid reference SU123422
   Map sources for Stonehenge at grid reference SU123422

   Stonehenge is a Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monument located
   near Amesbury in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles (13 km)
   north of Salisbury. Its geographical location is 51°10′44,85″N,
   1°49′35,13″W . It is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular
   setting of large standing stones and is one of the most famous
   prehistoric sites in the world. Archaeologists think that the standing
   stones were erected between 2500 BCE and 2000 BCE although the
   surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the
   earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The
   site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World
   Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury henge monument, and
   it is also a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge
   itself is owned and managed by English Heritage whilst the surrounding
   downland is owned by the National Trust.

Etymology

   Christopher Chippendale's Stonehenge Complete gives the derivation of
   Stonehenge as coming from the Old English words "stān" meaning "stone",
   and either "hencg" meaning " hinge" (because the stone lintels hinge on
   the upright stones) or "hen(c)en" meaning " gallows" or "instrument of
   torture". Medieval gallows consisted of two uprights with a lintel
   joining them, resembling Stonehenge's trilithons, rather than looking
   like the inverted L-shape more familiar today.

   The "henge" portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as
   henges. Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a
   circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. As often happens in
   archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian usage,
   and Stonehenge cannot in fact be truly classified as a henge site as
   its bank is inside its ditch. Despite being contemporary with true
   Neolithic henges and stone circles, Stonehenge is in many ways
   atypical. For example, its extant trilithons make it unique. Stonehenge
   is only distantly related to the other stones circles in the British
   Isles, such as the Ring of Brodgar.
   Stonehenge 2005
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   Stonehenge 2005
   Plan of Stonehenge today. After Cleal et al and Pitts
   Enlarge
   Plan of Stonehenge today. After Cleal et al and Pitts

Development of Stonehenge

   The Stonehenge complex was built in several construction phases
   spanning 2,000 years, although there is evidence for activity both
   before and afterwards on the site.

   Dating and understanding the various phases of activity at Stonehenge
   is not a simple task; it is complicated by poorly-kept early excavation
   records, surprisingly few accurate scientific dates and the disturbance
   of the natural chalk by periglacial effects and animal burrowing. The
   modern phasing most generally agreed by archaeologists is detailed
   below. Features mentioned in the text are numbered and shown on the
   plan, right, which illustrates the site as of 2004. The plan omits the
   trilithon lintels for clarity. Holes that no longer, or never,
   contained stones are shown as open circles and stones visible today are
   shown coloured.

Before the monument

   Archaeologists have found four (or possibly five, although one may have
   been a natural tree throw) large Mesolithic postholes which date to
   around 8000 BC nearby, beneath the modern tourist car-park. These held
   pine posts around 0.75m (2.4ft) in diameter which were erected and left
   to rot in situ. Three of the posts (and possibly four) were in an
   east-west alignment and may have had ritual significance; no parallels
   are known from Britain at the time but similar sites have been found in
   Scandinavia. At this time, Salisbury Plain was still wooded but four
   thousand years later, during the earlier Neolithic, a cursus monument
   was built 600m north of the site as the first farmers began to clear
   the forest and exploit the area. Several other early Neolithic sites, a
   causewayed enclosure at Robin Hood's Ball and long barrow tombs were
   built in the surrounding landscape.

Stonehenge 1

   Stonehenge 1. After Cleal et al
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   Stonehenge 1. After Cleal et al

   The first monument consisted of a circular bank and ditch enclosure (7
   and 8) measuring around 110 m (360 feet) in diameter with a large
   entrance to the north east and a smaller one to the south (14). It
   stood in open grassland on a slightly sloping but not especially
   remarkable spot. The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the
   bottom of the ditch as well as some worked flint tools. The bones were
   considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch and the
   people who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to
   burial. The ditch itself was continuous but had been dug in sections,
   like the ditches of the earlier causewayed enclosures in the area. The
   chalk dug from the ditch was piled up to form the bank. This first
   stage is dated to around 3100 BC after which the ditch began to silt up
   naturally and was not cleared out by the builders. Within the outer
   edge of the enclosed area was dug a circle of 56 pits, each around 1m
   in diameter (13), known as the Aubrey holes after John Aubrey, the
   seventeenth century antiquarian who was thought to have first
   identified them. The pits may have contained standing timbers, creating
   a timber circle although there is no excavated evidence of them. A
   small outer bank beyond the ditch could also date to this period (9)..

Stonehenge 2

   Evidence of the second phase is no longer visible. It appears from the
   number of postholes dating to this period that some form of timber
   structure was built within the enclosure during the early 3rd
   millennium BC. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast
   entrance and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the
   southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes,
   being only around 0.4m in diameter and are much less regularly spaced.
   The bank was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to
   silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have
   contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two
   centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the
   holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during
   Phase 2. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch
   and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half.
   Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed
   cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest known cremation cemetery
   in the British Isles. Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been
   found in the ditch fill. Late Neolithic grooved ware pottery has been
   found in connection with the features from this phase providing dating
   evidence.

Stonehenge 3 I

   Archaeological excavation has indicated that around 2600 BC, timber was
   abandoned in favour of stone and two concentric crescents of holes
   (called the Q and R Holes) were dug in the centre of the site. Again,
   there is little firm dating evidence for this phase. The holes held up
   to 80 standing stones (shown blue on the plan) 43 of which were derived
   from the Preseli Hills, 250 km away in modern day Pembrokeshire in
   Wales. Other standing stones may well have been small sarsens, used
   later as lintels. The far-travelled stones, which weighed about four
   tons, consisted mostly of spotted dolerite but included examples of
   rhyolite, tuff and volcanic and calcareous ash. Each measures around 2m
   in height, between 1m and 1.5m wide and around 0.8m thick. What was to
   become known as the Altar Stone (1), a six-ton specimen of green
   micaceous sandstone, twice the height of the bluestones, is derived
   from either South Pembrokeshire or the Brecon Beacons and may have
   stood as a single large monolith.

   The north eastern entrance was also widened at this time with the
   result that it precisely matched the direction of the midsummer sunrise
   and midwinter sunset of the period. This phase of the monument was
   abandoned unfinished however, the small standing stones were apparently
   removed and the Q and R holes purposefully backfilled. Even so, the
   monument appears to have eclipsed the site at Avebury in importance
   towards the end of this phase and the Amesbury Archer, found in 2002
   three miles (5 km) to the south, would have seen the site in this
   state.

   The Heelstone (5) may also have been erected outside the north eastern
   entrance during this period although it cannot be securely dated and
   may have been installed at any time in phase 3. At first, a second
   stone, now no longer visible, joined it. Two, or possibly three, large
   portal stones were set up just inside the northeastern entrance of
   which only one, the fallen Slaughter Stone (4), 16 ft (4.9 m) long, now
   remains. Other features loosely dated to phase 3 include the four
   Station Stones (6), two of which stood atop mounds (2 and 3). The
   mounds are known as 'barrows' although they do not contain burials. The
   Avenue, (10), a parallel pair of ditches and banks leading 3 km to the
   River Avon was also added. Ditches were later dug around the Station
   Stones and the Heelstone, which was by then reduced to a single
   monolith.

Stonehenge 3 II

   The next major phase of activity at the tail end of the 3rd millennium
   BC saw 30 enormous sarsen stones (shown grey on the plan) brought from
   a quarry around 24 miles (40 km) north to the site on the Marlborough
   Downs. The stones were dressed and fashioned with mortise and tenon
   joints before 30 were erected as a 33 m (108 ft) diameter circle of
   standing stones with a 'lintel' of 30 stones resting on top. The
   lintels were joined to one another using another woodworking method,
   the tongue in groove joint. Each standing stone was around 4.1 m (13.5
   feet) high, 2.1 m (7.5 feet) wide and weighed around 25 tons. Each had
   clearly been worked with the final effect in mind; the orthostats widen
   slightly towards the top in order that their perspective remains
   constant as they rise up from the ground whilst the lintel stones curve
   slightly to continue the circular appearance of the earlier monument.
   The sides of the stones that face inwards are smoother and more finely
   worked than the sides that face outwards. The average thickness of
   these stones is 1.1 m (3.75 feet) and the average distance between them
   is 1 m (3.5 feet). A total of 74 stones would have been needed to
   complete the circle and unless some of the sarsens were removed from
   the site, it would seem that the ring was left incomplete. Of the
   lintel stones, they are each around 3.2 m long (10.5 feet), 1 m (3.5
   feet) wide and 0.8 m (2.75 feet) thick. The tops of the lintels are 4.9
   m (16 feet) above the ground.

   Within this circle stood five trilithons of dressed sarsen stone
   arranged in a horseshoe shape 13.7 m (45 feet) across with its open end
   facing north east. These huge stones, ten uprights and five lintels,
   weigh up to 50 tons each and were again linked using complex jointings.
   They are arranged symmetrically; the smallest pair of trilithons were
   around 6 m (20 feet) tall, the next pair a little higher and the
   largest, single trilithon in the south west corner would have been 7.3
   m (24 feet) tall. Only one upright from the Great Trilithon still
   stands; 6.7 m (22 ft) is visible and a further 2.4 m (8 feet) is below
   ground.

   The images of a 'dagger' and 14 'axe-heads' have been recorded carved
   on one of the sarsens, known as stone 53. Further axe-head carvings
   have been seen on the outer faces of stones known as numbers 3, 4, and
   5. They are difficult to date but are morphologically similar to later
   Bronze Age weapons; recent laser scanning work on the carvings supports
   this interpretation. The pair of trilithons in north east are smallest,
   measuring around 6 m (20 feet) in height and the largest is the
   trilithon in the south west of the horseshoe is almost 7.5 m (24 feet)
   tall.

   This ambitious phase is radiocarbon dated to between 2440 and 2100 BC.

Stonehenge 3 III

   Later in the Bronze Age, the bluestones appear to have been re-erected
   for the first time, although the precise details of this period are
   still unclear. They were placed within the outer sarsen circle and at
   this time may have been trimmed in some way. A few have timber
   working-style cuts in them like the sarsens themselves, suggesting they
   may have been linked with lintels and part of a larger structure during
   this phase.

Stonehenge 3 IV

   This phase saw further rearrangement of the bluestones as they were
   placed in a circle between the two settings of sarsens and in an oval
   in the very centre. Some archaeologists argue that some of the
   bluestones in this period were part of a second group brought from
   Wales. All the stones were well-spaced uprights without any of the
   linking lintels inferred in Stonehenge 3 III. The Altar Stone may have
   been moved within the oval and stood vertically. Although this would
   seem the most impressive phase of work, Stonehenge 3 IV was rather
   shabbily built compared to its immediate predecessors, the newly
   re-installed bluestones were not at all well founded and began to fall
   over. However, only minor changes were made after this phase.
   Stonehenge 3 IV dates from 2280 to 1930 BC.

Stonehenge 3 V

   Soon afterwards, the north eastern section of the Phase 3 IV Bluestone
   circle was removed, creating a horseshoe-shaped setting termed the
   Bluestone Horseshoe. This mirrored the shape of the central sarsen
   Trilithons and dates from 2270 to 1930 BC. This phase is contemporary
   with the famous Seahenge site in Norfolk.

Stonehenge 3 VI

   Two further rings of pits were dug outside the outermost sarsen circle,
   called the Y and Z Holes (11 and 12). The Z holes were about 2m outside
   the outermost sarsen circle and the Y holes about 5m further out. These
   were each of thirty pits and each seems to match with one of the
   uprights in the outer sarsen circle. They were never filled with stones
   however and were permitted to silt up over the next few centuries;
   their upper fills contain Iron Age and Roman material. Monument
   building at Stonehenge appears to have ended around 1600 BC.

After the monument

   Even though the last known construction of Stonehenge was about 1600
   BC, and the last known usage of Stonehenge was during the Iron Age (if
   not as late as the 7th century), where Roman coins, prehistoric
   pottery, an unusual bone point and a skeleton of a young male (780-410
   cal BC) were found, we have no idea if Stonehenge was in continuous use
   or exactly how it was used. The burial of a decapitated Saxon man has
   also been excavated from Stonehenge, dated to the 7th century. The site
   was known by scholars during the Middle Ages and since then it has been
   studied and adopted by numerous different groups. For further details
   of Stonehenge's historical role, see below.

Theories about Stonehenge

Early interpretations

   Stonehenge
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   Stonehenge

   Many early historians were influenced by supernatural folktales in
   their explanations. Some legends held that Merlin the wizard had a
   giant build the structure for him or that he had magically transported
   it from Mount Killaraus in Ireland, while others held the Devil
   responsible. Henry of Huntingdon was the first to write of the monument
   around 1130 soon followed by Geoffrey of Monmouth who was the first to
   record fanciful associations with King Arthur which led the monument to
   be incorporated into the wider cycle of European medieval romance.

   In 1615, Inigo Jones argued that Stonehenge was a Roman temple,
   dedicated to Caelus, (a Latin name for the Greek sky-god Ouranos), and
   built following the Tuscan order. Later commentators maintained that
   the Danes erected it. Indeed, up until the late nineteenth century, the
   site was commonly attributed to the Saxons or other relatively recent
   societies.

   The first academic effort to survey and understand the monument was
   made around 1640 by John Aubrey. He declared Stonehenge the work of
   Druids. This view was greatly popularised by William Stukeley. Aubrey
   also contributed the first measured drawings of the site, which
   permitted greater analysis of its form and significance. From this
   work, he was able to demonstrate an astronomical or calendrical role in
   the stones' placement.

   By the turn of the nineteenth century, John Lubbock was able to
   attribute the site to the Bronze Age based on the bronze objects found
   in the nearby barrows.

   The early attempts to figure out the people who had undertaken this
   colossal project have since been debunked. While there have been
   precious few in the way of real theories to explain who built the site,
   or why, there can be an assessment of what we know to be fact and what
   has been proven false.

   First there is the matter of radio carbon dating the construction of
   the site itself. As has been already stated in the construction
   outlines above, the monument building of the site began around the year
   3100 BC and ended around the year 1600 BC. This allows the elimination
   of a few of the theories that have been presented. The original theory
   that the Druids were the ones who built the site can be discounted
   first since it is the more popular one. The Celtic society that spawned
   the Druid priesthood came into being only after the year 300 BC. In
   addition to this, the theory that the Druids using the site for
   sacrifices is thin, considering that the Druids were pagans and
   performed the majority of their rituals in the woods or mountains,
   areas better suited for “earth rituals” than an open field. As to the
   other theory relating to the Romans, this is more ludicrous yet. The
   Romans never even came to the British Isles until they conquered the
   land in 43 AD. The theories of Inigo Jones and others that Stonehenge
   was built as a Roman temple have been long dismissed. They were early
   theories, and when the actual dates of construction came out, any talk
   of merely early Saxon or Roman workers building the site are no longer
   considered. Other popular notions mentioned, aliens coming to Earth to
   build primitive man a map to the stars were dismissed out of hand,
   since besides being utterly impractical (why would aliens give a
   species that could barely write such a gift?), there is absolutely no
   physical evidence to back it up, save unsupported supposition about the
   frequency of these sites in the area. The problem with this is that who
   we do not know who originally started building it or the purpose behind
   it. It is difficult to imagine it being built for uses only one or two
   days in the year. And since it appears that it was built in three or
   four distinct stages, it is virtually impossible to tell what the
   purpose might have been since it was obviously worked on by a number of
   different cultures.

   Other theories that have been taken out of consideration were the idea
   that Egyptian or Mycenaean or even Greek cultures, which coincided with
   the popular belief that these cultures infused Europe with Bronze Age
   culture. After the testing showed that the megalithic structures in
   both England and France predate these cultures, they were removed. Also
   mentioned on this site are the findings of John Lubbock at the turn of
   the 19th century that point to this site being a Bronze Age creation,
   based on axe heads and daggers and other artifacts that have been
   found. However, a number of carvings that were also thought to point to
   Bronze Age origin have since been refuted as being put in later,
   raising the serious question of whether or not the artifacts were used
   in the site or buried there at a later date in some sort of funerary
   rites.

   The question that dominates the debate as to what Stonehenge was used
   for can be easily divided into those that believe it to be a religious
   or a scientific observatory. The scientific idea carries more weight.
   As outlined in the theories section below, Gerald Hawkins noted 165 key
   sites that he stated correlated very strongly with the rising and
   setting points of the sun and moon. He believed that because of this,
   the site could be used to anticipate interstellar phenomena. There have
   been odd occurrences, like the Hale-Bopp comet passing directly over
   this site at the turn of the millennium to support this theory. This
   has sparked the idea that the site was created in order to help
   commemorate the solstices, as the alignment with the sun and moon would
   seem to indicate.

   Further supporting this line of evidence is the fact that the site’s
   alignment is focused along the lunar lines in a way that increases the
   accuracy of procession, which is the amount that the Earth’s slight
   tilt on its axis, or “wobble” will eventually change the timing of
   lunar events. In short, this site could have been set up to more
   accurately predict events taking place in the heavens above. While
   there is still no conclusive evidence that this site was indeed
   intended for use as an observatory, the fact also that much of the
   support for the religious use for this has come from a purely political
   standpoint. The modern Celts, who were for a long time believed to be
   the creators of the site, have moved quickly to claim the site as their
   own. They now hold festivals and ceremonies at different times during
   the year. The problem with this has been outlined above, with the
   carbon dating refuting their hand in the site’s creation. There are a
   number of assumptions that have supported this theory, however. It is
   known that on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, the sun
   shines directly through the centre of the structure, which given many
   of the cultural attitudes of sun worship that were rampant at the time,
   seems to indicate a religious purpose. In addition, much of what
   survives from the distant past, buildings, etc., have all been
   religious in nature.

   Again, much of the early interpretations as to the nature of this site
   and the reason for its construction can be theorized and speculated
   upon, but there is no bulk of hard evidence to point us in one
   direction or the other. There are portions of the site that have not
   been excavated, such as the West portion, so there remain possible hard
   facts out there. All we can say for certain at this point is when it
   was built and the mathematical facts stated above that go along with
   it.

Archaeoastronomy and Stonehenge

   Stonehenge is aligned northeast–southwest, and it has been suggested
   that particular significance was placed by its builders on the solstice
   and equinox points, so for example on a midsummer's morning, the sun
   rose close to the Heelstone, and the sun's first rays went directly
   into the centre of the monument between the horseshoe arrangement. It
   is unlikely that such an alignment could have been merely accidental.

   A huge debate was triggered by the 1963 publication of Stonehenge
   Decoded, by British born astronomer Gerald Hawkins, who claimed to see
   a large number of astronomical alignments, both lunar and solar, at the
   site and argued that Stonehenge could have been used to predict
   eclipses. Hawkins' book received wide publicity, partly because he used
   a computer in his calculations, then a rarity. Further contributions to
   the debate came from British astronomer C. A. Newham and Sir Fred
   Hoyle, the famous Cambridge cosmologist, as well as by Alexander Thom,
   a retired professor of engineering, who had been studying stone circles
   for more than 20 years. Their theories have faced criticism in recent
   decades from Richard Atkinson and others who have suggested
   impracticalities in the 'Stone Age calculator' interpretative approach.
   Today, the consensus is that most of the astronomical case, although
   not all, was overstated.

The bluestones

   Roger Mercer has observed that the bluestones are incongruously finely
   worked and has suggested that they were transferred to Salisbury Plain
   from an as yet unlocated earlier monument in Pembrokeshire. J. F. S.
   Stone felt that a Bluestone monument had earlier stood near the nearby
   Stonehenge cursus and been moved to their current site from there. If
   Mercer's theory is correct then the bluestones may have been
   transplanted to cement an alliance or display superiority over a
   conquered enemy although this can only be speculation. Oval shaped
   settings of bluestones similar to those at Stonehenge 3iv are also
   known at the sites of Bedd Arthur in the Preseli Hills and at Skomer
   Island off the southwest coast of Pembrokeshire. Some archaeologists
   have suggested that the igneous bluestones and sedimentary sarsens had
   some symbolism, of a union between two cultures from different
   landscapes and therefore from different backgrounds.

   Recent analysis of contemporary burials found nearby known as the
   Boscombe Bowmen, has indicated that at least some of the individuals
   associated with Stonehenge 3 came either from Wales or from some other
   European area of ancient rocks. Petrological analysis of the stones
   themselves has verified that they could only have come from the Preseli
   Hills and it is tempting to connect the two.

   The main source of the bluestones is now identified with the dolerite
   outcrops around Carn Menyn although work led by Olwen Williams-Thorpe
   of the Open University has shown that other bluestones came from
   outcrops up to 10 km away.

   Aubrey Burl and a number of geologists and geomorphologists contend
   that the bluestones were not transported by human agency at all and
   were instead brought by glaciers at least part of the way from Wales
   during the Pleistocene. There is good geological and glaciological
   evidence that glacier ice did move across Preseli and did reach the
   Somerset coast. However, it is uncertain that it reached Salisbury
   Plain, and no further specimens of the unusual dolerite stone have so
   far been found in the vicinity. One current view is that glacier ice
   transported the stones as far as Somerset, and that they were collected
   from there by the builders of Stonehenge. .

Stonehenge as part of a ritual landscape

   Sunset at Stonehenge
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   Sunset at Stonehenge

   Many archaeologists believe Stonehenge was an attempt to render in
   permanent stone the more common timber structures that dotted Salisbury
   Plain at the time, such as those that stood at Durrington Walls. Modern
   anthropological evidence has been used by Mike Parker Pearson and the
   Malagasy archaeologist Ramilisonina to suggest that timber was
   associated with the living and stone with the ancestral dead amongst
   prehistoric peoples. They have argued that Stonehenge was the terminus
   of a long, ritualised funerary procession for treating the dead, which
   began in the east, during sunrise at Woodhenge and Durrington Walls,
   moved down the Avon and then along the Avenue reaching Stonehenge in
   the west at sunset. The journey from wood to stone via water was, they
   consider, a symbolic journey from life to death. There is no
   satisfactory evidence to suggest that Stonehenge's astronomical
   alignments were anything more than symbolic and current interpretations
   favour a ritual role for the monument that takes into account its
   numerous burials and its presence within a wider landscape of sacred
   sites. Many also believe that the site may have had astrological/
   spiritual significance attached to it.

Construction techniques and design

   Closeup of Stonehenge
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   Closeup of Stonehenge
   Stonehenge from a distance
   Enlarge
   Stonehenge from a distance

   Much speculation has surrounded the engineering feats required to build
   Stonehenge. Assuming the bluestones were brought from Wales by hand,
   and not transported by glaciers as Aubrey Burl has claimed, various
   methods of moving them relying only on timber and rope have been
   suggested. In a 2001 exercise in experimental archaeology, an attempt
   was made to transport a large stone along a land and sea route from
   Wales to Stonehenge. Volunteers pulled it for some miles (with great
   difficulty) on a wooden sledge over land, using modern roads and
   low-friction netting to assist sliding, but once transferred to a
   replica prehistoric boat, the stone sank in Milford Haven, before it
   even reached the rough seas of the Bristol Channel.

   As far as positioning the stones, it has been suggested that timber
   A-frames were erected to raise the stones, and that teams of people
   then hauled them upright using ropes. The topmost stones may have been
   raised up incrementally on timber platforms and slid into place or
   pushed up ramps. The carpentry-type joints used on the stones imply a
   people well skilled in woodworking and they could easily have had the
   knowledge to erect the monument using such methods. In 2003 retired
   construction worker Wally Wallington demonstrated ingenious techniques
   based on fundamental principles of levers, fulcrums and counterweights
   to show that a single man can rotate, walk, lift and tip a ten-ton
   cast-concrete monolith into an upright position. He is progressing with
   his plan to construct a simulated Stonehenge comprising of eight
   uprights and two lintels.

   Alexander Thom was of the opinion that the site was laid out with the
   necessary precision using his megalithic yard.

   The engraved weapons on the sarsens are unique in megalithic art in the
   British Isles, where more abstract designs were invariably favoured.
   Similarly, the horseshoe arrangements of stones are unusual in a
   culture that otherwise arranged stones in circles. The axe motif is,
   however, common to the peoples of Brittany at the time, and it has been
   suggested at least two stages of Stonehenge were built under
   continental influence. This would go some way towards explaining the
   monument's atypical design, but overall, Stonehenge is still
   inexplicably unusual in the context of any prehistoric European
   culture.

   Estimates of the manpower needed to build Stonehenge put the total
   effort involved at millions of hours of work. Stonehenge 1 probably
   needed around 11,000 man-hours (or 460 man-days) of work, Stonehenge 2
   around 360,000 (15,000 man-days or 41 years) and the various parts of
   Stonehenge 3 may have involved up to 1.75 million hours (73 000 days or
   200 years) of work. The working of the stones is estimated to have
   required around 20 million hours (830 000 days or 2300 years) of work
   using the primitive tools available at the time. Certainly, the will to
   produce such a site must have been strong, and it is considered that
   advanced social organisation would have been necessary to build and
   maintain it.

Alternative views

   Stonehenge's fame comes not only from its archaeological significance
   or potential early astronomical role but also in its less tangible
   effect on visitors, what Christopher Chippindale describes as "the
   physical sensation of the place", something that transcends the
   rational, scientific view of the monument. This manifests itself in the
   spiritual role of the site for many different groups and a belief that
   no single scientific explanation can do justice to it as a symbol of
   the great achievement of the ancient Britons and as a symbol of
   something that continues to confound mainstream archaeology.

   Some people claim to have seen UFOs in the area, perhaps connected with
   the military installations around Warminster, that has led to ideas
   over it being an extraterrestrial landing site. Alfred Watkins found
   three ley lines running through the site and others have employed
   numerology dowsing or geomancy to reach diverse conclusions regarding
   the site's power and purpose. New Age and neo-pagan beliefs might see
   Stonehenge as a sacred place of worship which can conflict with its
   more mainstream role as an archaeological site, tourist attraction, or
   marketing tool. Post-processualist archaeologists might consider that
   treating Stonehenge as a computer or observatory is to apply modern
   concepts from our own technology-driven era back into the past. Even
   the role of indigenous peoples in archaeology, rarely applied in
   Western Europe, has created a new function for the site as a symbol of
   Welsh nationalism.

   The significance of the 'ownership' of Stonehenge in terms of the
   differing meanings and interpretations held by the many orthodox and
   unorthodox stakeholders in the site has been increasingly apparent in
   recent decades. Researchers Jenny Blain and Robert J. Wallis (Sacred
   Sites, Contested Rites/Rights project, http://www.sacredsites.org.uk)
   have pointed to the huge variety of views which show the continued and
   growing importance of Stonehenge today, as symbol and 'Icon of
   Britishness'; and indicate also the increased awareness of pasts by
   many people with no training in archaeology or heritage. For many,
   Stonehenge and other ancient monuments form part of the 'living
   landscape' which holds its own stories and which is there to be engaged
   with as people mark the seasons of the year. Today's mythology around
   Stonehenge includes the recent history of the Battle of the Beanfield
   and the previous Free festivals. Stonehenge has not one meaning but
   many. Today, curators English Heritage facilitate 'managed open access'
   at solstices and equinoxes, with some disputes over the days on which
   these fall. Blain and Wallis argue that issues over access relate not
   only to physical presence at the stones but to interpretations of past
   and validity of 'new-indigenous' and pagan usages in the present and
   such 'alternative' views have been central in alerting public awareness
   to the issues of roads, tunnels and landscape, noted below.

Excavations at Stonehenge

   The first recorded excavations at Stonehenge were carried out by
   William Cunnington and Richard Colt Hoare. In 1798, Cunnington
   investigated the pit beneath a recently fallen trilithon and in 1810,
   both men dug beneath the fallen Slaughter Stone and concluded that it
   had once stood up. They may have also excavated one of the Aubrey Holes
   beneath it. In 1900 William Gowland undertook the first extensive work,
   establishing that antler picks had been used to dig the stone holes and
   that the stones themselves had been worked to shape on site.

   The largest excavation at Stonehenge was undertaken by
   Lieutenant-Colonel William Hawley and Robert S. Newall after the site
   had come into state hands. Their work, initially focusing on righting
   fallen stones, began in 1919 following the transfer of land and
   continued until 1926. It was funded by the Office of Works. The two men
   excavated many portions of the features at Stonehenge and were the
   first to establish that it was a multi-phase site.

   In 1950 the Society of Antiquaries commissioned Richard Atkinson,
   Stuart Piggott and John FS Stone to carry out further excavations. They
   recovered many cremations and developed the phasing that still
   dominates much of what is written about Stonehenge. In 1979 and 1980
   Mike Pitts led two smaller investigations as part of service trenching,
   close by the Heelstone, finding cryoturbated chalk and evidence for its
   neighbour.

Myths and legends

   The Heelstone
   Enlarge
   The Heelstone

"Friar's Heel" or the "Sunday Stone"

   The Heel Stone was once known as "Friar's Heel." A folk tale, which
   cannot be dated earlier than the seventeenth century, relates the
   origin of the name of this stone:

   The Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up,
   and brought them to Salisbury plain. One of the stones fell into the
   Avon, the rest were carried to the plain. The Devil then cried out,
   "No-one will ever find out how these stones came here." A friar
   replied, "That's what you think!," whereupon the Devil threw one of the
   stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground
   and is still there.

   Some claim "Friar's Heel" is a corruption of "Freyja's He-ol" or
   "Freyja Sul", from the Nordic goddess Freyja and (allegedly) the Welsh
   words for "way" and "Friday" respectively.

Arthurian legend

   Stonehenge is also mentioned within Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of
   Monmouth said that Merlin the wizard directed its removal from Ireland,
   where it had been constructed on Mount Killaraus by Giants, who brought
   the stones from Africa. After it had been rebuilt near Amesbury,
   Geoffrey further narrates how first Ambrosius Aurelianus, then Uther
   Pendragon, and finally Constantine III, were buried inside the ring of
   stones. In many places in his Historia Regum Britanniae Geoffrey mixes
   British legend and his own imagination; it is intriguing that he
   connects Ambrosius Aurelianus with this prehistoric monument, seeing
   how there is place-name evidence to connect Ambrosius with nearby
   Amesbury.

   In World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics (3rd
   ed.), by Donna Rosenburg, on pp. 428-30, she summarizes the Stonehenge
   story of the definitive Arthur legend. By this the reader learns that,
   according to the legend of King Arthur, the rocks of Stonehenge were
   paganistic healing rocks from Africa. Giants brought them from Africa
   to Ireland for their demonic healing properties. The second King of
   Britain, Aurelius Ambrosias (5th Century), wished to erect a memorial
   to the nobles who had died in battle with the Saxons. Those nobles were
   buried near Salisbury. With the help of Merlin, Aurelius made
   Stonehenge that monument. So the King sent Merlin, Uther Pendragon
   (Arthur's father), and 15,000 knights to Ireland to retrieve the rocks.
   They slew 7,000 Irish. As the knights tried to move the rocks with
   ropes and force, they failed. Then Merlin whispered witchcraft
   incantations over the rocks and they became as light as pebbles. Then
   Stonehenge was dedicated in Britain. Shortly after, Aurelius died and
   was buried within the Stonehenge monument, or "The Giants' Ring of
   Stonehenge".

Recent history

   The sun rising over Stonehenge on the Summer solstice 2005 (21 June).
   Enlarge
   The sun rising over Stonehenge on the Summer solstice 2005 ( 21 June).

   By the beginning of the 20th century a number of the stones had fallen
   or were leaning precariously, probably due to the increase in curious
   visitors clambering on them during the nineteenth century. Three phases
   of conservation work were undertaken which righted some unstable or
   fallen stones and carefully replaced them in their original positions
   using information from antiquarian drawings.

   Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and those following
   pagan or neo-pagan beliefs. The midsummer sunrise began attracting
   modern visitors in 1870s, with the first record of recreated Druidic
   practices dating to 1905 when the Ancient Order of Druids enacted a
   ceremony. Despite efforts by archaeologists and historians to stress
   the differences between the Iron Age Druidic religion, the much older
   monument and modern Druidry, Stonehenge has become increasingly, almost
   inextricably, associated with British Druidism, Neo Paganism and New
   Age philosophy.

   The earlier rituals were augmented by the Stonehenge free festival,
   held between 1972 and 1984, and loosely organised by the Politantric
   Circle. However, in 1985 the site was closed to festivalgoers by
   English Heritage and the National Trust by which time the number of
   midsummer visitors had risen from 500 to 30,000. A consequence of the
   end of the festival was the violent confrontation between the police
   and new age travellers that became known as the Battle of the Beanfield
   when police blockaded a convoy of travellers to prevent them from
   approaching Stonehenge. There was then no midsummer access for almost
   fifteen years until limited opening was negotiated in 2000.

   In more recent years, the setting of the monument has been affected by
   the proximity of the A303 road between Amesbury and Winterbourne Stoke,
   and the A344. In early 2003, the Department for Transport announced
   that the A303 would be upgraded, including the construction of the
   Stonehenge road tunnel. The controversial plans have not yet been
   finalised by the government.

   Also announced has been a new heritage centre, which was intended to be
   open in 2006. Current provision for visitors has often been criticised;
   in 1993 Stonehenge's presentation was condemned by the Public Accounts
   Committee of the British House of Commons as 'a national disgrace'.
   English Heritage proposes a new purpose-built facility 3km from the
   stones at Countess Road in Amesbury, on the edge of the World Heritage
   Site boundary. Locals in Amesbury have complained that the scheme would
   shift traffic congestion from Stonehenge to their own village. They
   have also suggested that the necessary time that the public would now
   have to spend travelling to and from Stonehenge would likely dissuade
   many visitors, especially American and Japanese tourists on
   whistle-stop tours of England, from visiting at all.

   In July 2005 the plans were thrown into uncertainty following refusal
   of planning permission for the visitors' centre by Salisbury District
   Council whilst the British government placed the rising costs of the
   road scheme under review.

Replicas and derivative names

   Detail of Carhenge, a Stonehenge replica constructed from vintage
   American cars.
   Enlarge
   Detail of Carhenge, a Stonehenge replica constructed from vintage
   American cars.

   There is a full-size replica of Stonehenge as it would have been before
   decay at Maryhill in Washington state, built by Sam Hill as a war
   memorial. Stonehenge Aotearoa in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand is
   a modern adaptation aligned with the astronomy seen from the Antipodes;
   it was built by the Phoenix Astronomical Society from wood and sprayed
   concrete. The University of Missouri at Rolla has a half-scale replica
   located on campus, UMR Stonehenge. East Stroudsburg University, in East
   Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, has a small replica on its campus dubbed
   "Stroudhenge".

   Carhenge was constructed from vintage American cars near Alliance,
   Nebraska by the artist Jim Reynolds in 1987. Another replica, called
   Stonehenge II, in Texas is constructed from an adobe-like material.
   Tankhenge existed in the border zone of Berlin in the early 1990s after
   the collapse of the Wall. Tankhenge was constructed from three
   ex-Soviet armoured personnel carriers.

   A full-size Stonehenge made out of foam — and inevitably called
   Foamhenge — stands near Natural Bridge, Virginia .

   Another modern take on Stonehenge exists outside of Sante Fe, New
   Mexico, constructed out of junked refrigerators, known as
   'Fridgehenge'. The site was created by the artist Adam Jonas Horowitz.

   Another full-size exact replica of what Stonehenge would have looked
   like 4000 years ago, also made of foam, was constructed and erected
   just 10 mi (16 km) southwest of the actual Stonehenge. It was used for
   scientific and archaeological studies and was removed after.

   The rock band Black Sabbath featured a Stonehenge stage set for the
   1983-1984 Born Again tour that ended up being too large to fit in most
   venues. This was parodied in the movie This is Spinal Tap, when the
   band orders a Stonehenge set but it arrives in miniature due to a
   confusion between feet and inches. There was also a Chicago based heavy
   metal band named Stonehenge that actually owned the trademark to the
   name. Stonehenge met with underground success in the 1990's - 2000's
   performing with acts such as Pantera, Iced Earth, Trouble and Manowar.

   In the MMORPG Runescape, there is a Stonehenge look-alike sometimes
   refered to as "Runehenge (rune being taken from the name of the game)

   Aside from modern replicas, several other archaeological sites have had
   Stonehenge's name partially or fully incorporated into their own names.
   America's Stonehenge is an unusual and controversial site in New
   Hampshire. A henge near Stonehenge containing concentric rings of
   postholes for standing timbers, discovered in 1922, was named Woodhenge
   by its excavators because of similarities with Stonehenge. The timber
   Seahenge in Norfolk was named as such by journalists writing about its
   discovery in 1998.

   In May 2006, reports emerged of an " Amazon Stonehenge" Calcoene, 390
   kilometres from Macapa, the capital of Amapa state, near Brazil's
   border with French Guyana. It is comprised of 127 stones, possibly
   forming astronomical observing points.

   MIThenge refers to an astronomical event in which the sun directly
   lines up with the Infinite Corridor of the Massachusetts Institute of
   Technology. These are the only evenings in which the entire corridor is
   illuminated by direct sunlight.

Stonehenge in popular culture

   In the film Troll 2 (1990), Creedence claims that her druid ancestors
   came from Stonehenge.

   In the film Shanghai Knights they crash onto Stonehenge in a car.

   In the video game EarthBound, Stonehenge houses an alien facility
   underneath it.

   Stonehenge is a venue in the video game Guitar Hero II.

   A miniature Stonehenge was featured in the mockumentary This is Spinal
   Tap.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge"
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