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STONEHENGE

Stonehenge is surely Britain's greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance !ts

original purpose is unclear to us, but some ha"e speculated that it was a temple made #or the worship o#

ancient earth deities !t has been called an astronomical obser"atory #or mar$ing signi#icant e"ents on the prehistoric calendar Others claim that it was a sacred site #or the burial o# high%ran$ing citizens #rom the

societies o# long ago

&hile we can't say with any degree o# certainty what it was #or, we can say that it wasn't constructed #or

any casual purpose Only something "ery important to the ancients would ha"e been worth the e##ort and

in"estment that it too$ to construct Stonehenge

Construction of the Henge

!n its day, the construction o#  Stonehenge was an impressi"e engineering #eat, reuiring commitment,time and "ast amounts o# manual labor !n its #irst phase, Stonehenge was a large earthwor$( a ban$ and

ditch arrangement called a henge, constructed appro)imately *,+++ years ago !t is belie"ed that the ditch

was dug with tools made #rom the antlers o# red deer and, possibly, wood The underlying chal$ was

loosened with pic$s and sho"eled with the shoulderblades o# cattle !t was then loaded into bas$ets andcarried away odern e)periments ha"e shown that these tools were more than eual to the great tas$ o#

earth digging and mo"ing

Who Built Stonehenge?

The uestion o# who built Stonehenge is largely unanswered, e"en today The monument's construction

has been attributed to many ancient peoples throughout the years, but the most capti"ating and enduringattribution has been to the Druids This erroneous connection was #irst made around - centuries ago by

the antiuary, John Aubrey .ulius /aesar and other 0oman writers told o# a /eltic priesthood who

#lourished around the time o# their #irst conuest 1** B/2 By this time, though, the stones had been

standing #or 3,+++ years, and were, perhaps, already in a ruined condition Besides, the 4ruids worshippedin #orest temples and had no need #or stone structures

The best guess seems to be that the Stonehenge site was begun by the people o# the late Neolithic period1around -+++ B/2 and carried #orward by people #rom a new economy which was arising at this time

These 5new5 people, called Bea$er 6ol$ because o# their use o# pottery drin$ing "essels, began to use

metal implements and to li"e in a more communal #ashion than their ancestors Some thin$ that they mayha"e been immigrants #rom the continent, but that contention is not supported by archaeological e"idence

!t is li$ely that they were indigenous people doing the same old things in new ways

As Legend Has It

The legend o# 7ing 8rthur pro"ides another story o# the construction o# Stonehenge !t is told by the

twel#th century writer, Geo##rey o# onmouth, in his History of the Kings of Britain that erlin brought

the stones to the Salisbury 9lain #rom !reland Sometime in the #i#th century, there had been a massacre o#-++ British noblemen by the treacherous Sa)on leader, Hengest Geo##rey tells us that the high $ing,

8urelius 8mbrosius, wanted to create a #itting memorial to the slain men erlin suggested an e)pedition

to !reland #or the purpose o# transplanting the Giant's 0ing stone circle to Britain 8ccording to Geo##reyo# onmouth, the stones o# the Giant's 0ing were originally brought #rom 8#rica to !reland by giants 1who

else but giants could handle the :ob;2 The stones were located on 5ount 7illaraus5 and were used as a

site #or per#orming rituals and #or healing <ed by 7ing =ther and erlin, the e)pedition arri"ed at thespot in !reland The Britons, none o# whom were giants, apparently, were unsuccess#ul in their attempts to

mo"e the great stones 8t this point, erlin realized that only his magic arts would turn the tric$ So, they

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were dismantled and shipped bac$ to Britain where they were set up 1see illus at right2 as they had been

 be#ore, in a great circle, around the mass gra"e o# the murdered noblemen The story goes on to tell that

8urelius, =ther and 8rthur's successor, /onstantine were also buried there in their time>

Present Day Stonehenge

Situated in a "ast plain, surrounded by hundreds o# round barrows, or burial mounds, the Stonehenge site

is truly impressi"e, and all the more so, the closer you approach !t is a place where much human e##ortwas e)pended #or a purpose we can only guess at Some people see it as a place steeped in magic and

mystery, some as a place where their imaginations o# the past can be #ired and others hold it to be a sacred

 place But whate"er "iewpoint is brought to it and whate"er its original purpose was, it should be treatedas the ancients treated it, as a place o# honor

The modern age has not been altogether $ind to Stonehenge, despite the lip ser"ice it pays to the preser"ation o# heritage sites There is a ma:or highway running no more than ?++ yards away #rom the

stones, and a commercial circus has sprung up around it, complete with par$ing lots, gi#t shops and ice

cream stands The organization, English Heritage, is committed to righting these wrongs, and in the

coming years, we may get to see Stonehenge in the setting #or which it was originally created 4espite allits dilapidation and the encroachment o# the modern world, Stonehenge, today, is an awe%inspiring sight,

and no tra"el itinerary around Britain should omit it