Romantic. Ancient. Mysterious. Chilling. Stonehenge was first documented in a history of England by the archdeacon of Lincoln, Henry of Huntington. Most early theories about the site were myth related suggestions - that it was transported by Merlin and was the grave of Utherpendragon. Myths gave way to factual research as the development of archaeology as a science in Europe progressed throughout the 17th century. Men like John Aubrey thought that the site had religious purposes and was built by Druids. Even today some groups of people meet religiously to mark the midsummer solstice at Stonehenge, despite the ruined state it has fallen into. Photo from Kimberly's Kreations
Excavations carried out in the 20th century have revealed that the monument was built over many years and phrases by semi-nomadic people, starting from 2800 BCE with the construction of a circular ditch 110 m (360 ft) in diameter and 1.5 m (5 ft) deep and finishing around 1000BCE- the late stone and early bronze ages- with the construction of the Sarsen Circle, made of pillars of sandstone standing 4 m (13 ft) above the ground and finally the trillthon; 5 giagantic blocks of sarson in a horseshoe layout of which 3 remain today. The closest quarry the people who built Stonehenge might have used is 200 miles away in the Prescelly Mountains, and it is theorized that they floated the stones down the coast on rafts.
The lack of written evidence has confounded everyone. How was is built is one thing, but why was it built is another! The theory that Stonehenge is an astronomical calendar originated with American astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins in the 1960s. There is, however, a lack of corresponding measures to support it, but as it is, there is nothing to disprove it. At the Winter Solstice, the midwinter sun sets, framed between 2 of the Trilithons. Station Stones are aligned in the direction of the northernmost moonset at the 'major standstill' and also the southernmost moonrise at the major standstill. Interestingly, this alignment crosses that of the winter solstice sunset and the summer solstice sunrise axis at right-angles.
For a map of Stonehenge, Click Here.