Location: 3 mi (2 mi) West of Amesbury, Wiltshire Map
Construction: 2500 BC
Info: 01980 622833
Open: Apr & May: 9:30am- 6pm
Jun- Aug: 9am- 7pm
Sep & Oct: 9:30am- 6pm
Nov- Mar: 9:30am- 4pm
Closed: 20- 22 June, 24- 25 Dec
Stonehenge is the most famous Neolithic structure situated 3 mi (2 mi) West of Amesbury, Wiltshire county in United Kingdom. The construction of this formation began around 2500 BC. The megalithic complex of Stonehenge, Avebury and related sites was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986.
Stonehenge is formed by large blocks of metamorphic rocks
distributed in four concentric circles. The exterior, thirty meters
in diameter, is formed by large rectangular stones of sandstone
that, originally, were crowned by lintels, also of stone, being
today only seven in its same place. Inside this outer row is another
circle of smaller blocks of bluish sandstone. This encloses a
structure with a horseshoe shape built with sandstone stones of the
same color. In its interior remains a slab of micaceous sandstone
known as «the Altar».
The whole complex is surrounded by a circular moat measuring 104 m
in diameter. Within this space there is a terrace with 56 pits known
as the "Aubrey holes". The terrace and the moat are cut by «the
Avenue», a processional road 23 meters wide and approximately 3
kilometers long. Nearby is the "Stone of Sacrifice." Opposite is the
«Stone Heel». Stonehenge is composed of a large circle of large
megaliths whose construction dates to around 2500 BC. The circle of
sand surrounding the megaliths is considered the oldest part of the
monument, having been dated about 3100 BC.
In its beginning it was a circular monument of ritual character
surrounded by a slope and a moat, in a similar way to many others
located in the south of England.
Finally, the monument took on its current appearance, for which 32
blocks of sandstone were transported from the Preseli Mountains to
the southwest of Wales and the stone of the "Altar" was brought from
a region near Milford Haven. It is currently speculated that they
could have been moved using wooden or stone balls or bearings as
bearings, and not with logs as originally thought.
Stonehenge was part of a large complex, which included stone circles
and ceremonial avenues. The excavations carried out by the Stonehenge
Riverside project, led by the archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson of
the University of Sheffield, allowed us to discover an ancient settlement of close to a thousand houses, according to
the evidence found. These houses were only used a few days a year
and it was not a permanently inhabited village.
A little over three kilometers from Stonehenge, at Durrington Walls,
extensive circular work was found in the field, twenty times more
extensive than Stonehenge, surrounded by a ditch and a bench, where
a wooden construction was erected, now called Woodhenge, with a
design similar to that of Stonehenge and built around the same time.
Woodhenge was linked to the River Avon by a ceremonial avenue lined
with stones.
The purpose of the construction of this great monument is unknown,
but it is supposed to be used as a religious temple, funerary
monument or astronomical observatory that served to predict the
seasons.
At the summer solstice, the sun went right through the axis of the
construction, which suggests that the builders had safisticated knowledge of
astronomy. The same day, the Sun was hiding through the axis of the
Woodhenge, where they have found many animal bones and objects that
show that great parties were celebrated, probably at nightfall.
There have been found over 300 burials of human remains previously cremated,
dated between 3030 and 2340 BC. Given the small number of burials
for such a long period, it is estimated that it is not a cemetery
of Stonehenge for the general public but for certain chosen people. The
stone was the symbol of the eternal life; it served to mark or delimit
terrestrial (telluric) energy points and even to house elemental
spirits. So Stonehenge could have been used along with Woodhenge in
religious ceremonies of cult to the dead and to life, perhaps
symbolized by the wooden circle.