Grade 4J.Brown

Stonehenge

Stonehenge - Overview Before Main Construction Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4, 5, & 6 Related Sites Who Built Stonehenge and Why? Stonehenge Today

Location

Before Main Construction Mesolithic and Neolithic (8,000-7,000

BCE)• Mesolithic

Hunter-gathers dug pits and erected pine posts 650 ft. from current location Unusual for hunter-gathers to build monuments

• Neolithic Within 3 mi. radius

17 barrows By Bronze Age (2,200-1,700 BCE), over 1,000 barrows

surrounded Stonehenge area 2 cursus monuments

Stage 1 3,000-2,935 BCE Oldest part of Stonehenge Circular enclosure

• 330 foot diameter ditch Flanked inside by a high bank Flanked outside by low bank Bottom filled red deer antler picks and at-time century old cattle and

deer bones• Entrances

Main entrance facing northeast Second entrance facing south

Aubrey Holes• Pits named after John Aubrey

Discovered by Aubrey in 1666 Purpose officially unknown, but suggested they have astronomical

meaning• 56 Aubrey Holes form a ring inside the circular enclosure

Aubrey Holes

Stage 2 2,640-2,480 BCE Bluestones British (term

for foreign stones)• Each 2-4 tons • Believed total of 80, but

only 43 remain• From Preseli Hills in

southwest Wales 240 miles away

• Original configuration most likely a ring

Stage 2 cont. Sarsen Stones

• Each about 18 ft. tall and 25 tons

• From Marlborough Downs 20 miles away

• Horseshoe shape 5 trilithons Giant trilithon

Largest and middle trilithon One 29 ft. tall, other 32 ft. tall 45 tons each

• Ring Circle around horseshoe 30 stones Linked by 7-ton, curved lintels

Stage 3 2,470-2,280 BCE Ceremonial avenue

• 2 miles long• Flanked by ditches and banks• Width varies from 60-115 ft. wide• Runs to the River Avon where it connects to a 100

foot diameter henge Built after bluestones removed

• First 1,600 ft. leading away from Stonehenge aligns with the summer solstice sunrise/sunset In 2008, was discovered to lay on top of a natural

chalk ridge

Stage 4, 5, & 6 2,280-1,520 BCE Stage 4

• Bluestones reconstructed• Ring between the sarsen ring

and horseshoe Oval inside sarsen horseshoe

Believed to have been altered into horseshoe by the Romans

Stage 5• Ring of pits constructed

around sarsen circle• Called the Z holes

Stage 6• Ring of pits around the Z

holes• Called the Y holes

Related Sites Durrington Walls

• Built 2,500 BCE• Large earthen circle• 2 miles NE of Stonehenge• Also has an avenue

560 ft. long 100 ft. wide Aligns with the summer solstice

sunset Southern Circle

• Also known as Woodhenge• Consists of 6 wooden circles• Entrance aligns with the winter

solstice sunrise Possible that Stonehenge,

Durrington Walls, and Southern Circle may all be part of one complex

Who Built Stonehenge and Why? Officially unknown who built it or why Past assumptions

• John Aubrey (17th Century) and William Stukeley (18th Century) Believed that Druids written about by Julius Caesar built it But modern testing shows that Stonehenge is was already built by

than• 1963, Gerald Hawkins

Believed was a type of “computer” for solar and lunar eclipses• Point boundary between ancient territories• A seasonal gathering place• 1998, Ramilisonia

Believed to be a monument to dead with the stones symbolizing the eternal afterlife

Generally accepted importance• Burial mound• Astronomical connection

Stonehenge Today Protected

• English Heritage• UNESCO (1986)

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

Many of the original stones have fallen or been removed throughout history

Damaged by visitors A highway was built only 100 yards

away