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