Stonehenge is a huge stone monument located on a limestone plain north of the city of Salisbury, England . Research shows that the site has continuously evolved over a period of 10,000 years. The structure was built approximately 5,000 to 4,000 years ago and was part of a larger sacred landscape that included a massive stone monument 15 times larger.
Mysteries surrounding the construction of Stonehenge
Although it is one of the most famous monuments in the world, the prehistoric stone circle known as Stonehenge remains a mystery . Built on a plain in the city of Salisbury, Stonehenge was erected in various stages between 3000 and 1500 BC. C. , Spanning the Neolithic period up to the Bronze Age.
Stonehenge was of vital importance to the ancient peoples who built it, but the purpose of the monument has been the subject of wide speculation for centuries . Theories range from Stonehenge being an ancient healing center to an alien landing site.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Stonehenge was believed by many to be a Druid temple, built by ancient Celtic pagans as the center of their religious worship. Although more recent scholars have concluded that Stonehenge was built 2,000 years before the Druids appeared, it is still a pilgrimage site for Druidric societies.
An enduring hypothesis explaining the Stonehenge construction arises from the initial observation, first made by 18th-century scholars, that the entrance to the monument faces sunrise on the day of the summer solstice. For many, this orientation suggests that ancient astronomers could have used the construction as a kind of solar calendar to track the movement of the sun and moon and mark the changing of the seasons. However, new excavations in recent years have unearthed a different theory based on the hundreds of human bones found at the site, dating back 1,000 years and showing signs of cremation prior to burial. The presence of these remains suggests that Stonehenge could have served as an ancient burial ground, as well as a ceremonial complex and a temple of the dead.
In 2010, archaeologists discovered a second stone circle located just over two kilometers away from the most famous monument. Nicknamed “Bluestonehenge,” for the 25 Welsh bluestones that originally made up the site , this secondary monument provides further evidence that Stonehenge may have been part of a massive memorial complex where high-ranking people participated in rituals and ceremonies celebrated in honor of the dead. However, as there are no written records, this theory, like all those that refer to the purpose of the construction of this monument, can only remain a matter of speculation.
A theory about Stonehenge launched in 2012 by members of the Stonehenge Riversh Project, explains that the construction of this monument marks the “unification of Great Britain” , a point at which people from all over the island worked together and used a similar style in the construction of houses, creation of ceramics and other objects. This would explain why they were able to bring bluestones from West Wales and how the resources and manpower were brought together for its construction.
