Stonehenge

For most of my life, Stonehenge has always been associated with the mystical and ancient history of England. In a few words, the unknown. Set in a quiet and peaceful on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, Stonehenge has existed since time out of mind, before the iconic veneration it is given today by thousands of visitors. My sentiments on Stonehenge were echoed by Dr. Talbot, who remarked on that breezy, sunny day we visited the site that seeing places like Stonehenge makes all the medieval and Roman sites we’ve experienced thus far seem like a drop in the bucket in terms of time.

My knowledge of this prehistoric monument was somewhat limited to what I had learned in my art history classes. I knew that the Sarsen Circle was supposed to be held in place with mortice and tenon joints, and that it employs post and lintel construction. Also, Stonehenge was begun around 3,500 years ago, and was built in several stages from about 3,000 B.C.

The alignment of the stones leaves little doubt that the circle is connected with the sun and the passing of the seasons, and that its builders possessed a sophisticated understanding of both arithmetic and astronomy. Despite popular belief, the circle was not built by the Druids, who flourished more than 1,000 years after Stonehenge was completed (Leapman 262).

The most recent issue of National Geographic gives the following timeline in the building of Stonehenge:

3000 B.C. Middle Neolithic
Earthwork Enclosure: A circular ditch-and-bank monument some 375 feet across was cut into the chalk of Salisbury Plain about 3000 B.C. This earthwork is the “henge” in Stonehenge, though most Neolithic henges were built with the ditch inside the bank. Timber posts may have stoof in some of the 56 circular pits that lined the bank’s inner edge.

Timber Monuments: A distinct new phase took shape in the middle to late Neolithic period. Timber posts were erected in linear patterns near the northeast entrance and across the center toward the southern entrance. Cremation remains lead archeologists to believe the site was being used as a cemetery.

2500 B.C. Enter the Stones
Bluestones: Circular or semicircular arrangements of stones probably appeared by 2500 B.C., the earliest being pairs of four-ton bluestones (their color when wet) now known to have been brought about 250 miles from Wales. Also added: features called Station Stones, the Altar Stone, and the Heel Stone just outside the northeast entrance.

Sarsen Circle
Stonehenge gained its iconic shape with the creation of the 16-foot-high Sarsen Circle—30 worked stones topped by lintels. In a horseshoe configuration inside the circle towered five freestanding trilithons, each formed of two upright stones linked by a lintel. The tallest reached 25 feet. The chalk bank was recut, small circular earthworks were added, and a banked avenue ran nearly two miles to the River Avon.

2000 B.C. Early Bronze--Later Refinements
Bluestones that had been cast aside were repositioned as a circle and a horseshoe within the Sarsen Circle, and a double ring of pits was dug. By about 1500 B.C. Stonehenge was no longer maintained.

Recent evidence suggests that Stonehenge was used as a burial site earlier than was previously thought by researchers. An article on CNN.com suggests, “They estimate that up to 240 people were buried within Stonehenge, all as cremation deposits” (“Stonehenge”). While the complete purpose for building Stonehenge is not known yet, this bit of research takes us one step closer to understanding this enigmatic piece of the puzzle that is the history of ancient Britain.

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Works Cited

Alexander, Caroline. “If the Stones Could Speak: Searching for the Meaning of Stonehenge.” National Geographic. June 2008: 39.

Leapman, Michael. DK Eyewitness Travel: Great Britain. London: 2007.

“Stonehenge was a place of burial, researchers say.” CNN.com. Accessed 7 June 2008 from http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/05/29/stonehenge.ap/index.html.