Stonehenge is one of the most famous and mysterious ruins in the world today. An ancient megalith, or stone monument, Stonehenge has fascinated scientists and lay persons for over eight hundred years. People created and perpetuated many myths and fables through the ages about this enigmatic structure. From hundreds of years of theories and research, scientists believe they have finally discovered the answers to many of Stonehenge's mysteries, such as how, why, and by whom it was built. Three separate cultures, the Windmill Hill, Beaker and Wessex peoples, are believed to have built Stonehenge for both astrological and ceremonial purposes over a period of more than five hundred years.
Consisting of 162 stones and is 35 paces across (National Geographic Society, 95), these stones are termed menhirs, or gigantic pillars protruding from the earth. Some are sandstone, and others are blue stone. The ruins of the magnificent circular stone structure stand inside a 320 foot (97 meter) henge, or bank and ditch arrangement. ("Stonehenge" Encyclopedia Americana, NPA). Scientists named the most recognizable structure, the outer ring of stones, the sarsen circle. Inside that circle is another circle, of bluestones, and then a sarsen horseshoe. The innermost structure is a horseshoe of bluestones. All of this is around the Altar Stone, a bluestone, towards the back of the bluestone horseshoe.
At the top of a gentle slope on the chalk downlands of Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge is eight miles north of the town of Salisbury in southern England (Stonehenge FAQ, 1). It is thirty miles from the English Channel and eighty miles from London (Roop, 14). Deep green grass surrounds Stonehenge, growing on pitted and uneven earth. At 330 feet above sea level (Stonehenge, 1), Stonehenge is settled in a rural area with a temperate climate. When one stands at the site of this cromlech, on a clear day, it is possible to see up to two miles in every direction. The Stonehenge of today is a mere shadow of the mighty structure that existed 3,500 years ago (Stonehenge, 5). Due to natural weathering and human destruction, only half of the original stones remain (Stonehenge, 3).
Beginning in approximately 3,000 BC, Stonehenge is thought to have been built in three stages (National Geographic Society, 98). Each stage took several centuries, and we may never know why each stage abruptly ended. All the three stages have names; Stonehenge I, Stonehenge II, and Stonehenge III are the labels archaeologists gave these periods of construction. Most modern scientists who have studied Stonehenge agree on the peoples who built it. The Windmill Hill culture, members of a secondary Neolithic culture, built Stonehenge I. They were hunters and gathers beginning to farm. The Beaker Peoples, who came from mainland Europe as the Neolithic Era was nearing an end, built Stonehenge II. The Wessex peoples from the Early Bronze Age who, at the time, were one of the most advanced cultures in that area built Stonehenge III.
The name "Stonehenge" came from the Saxons. Originally, they called it Stanhenge. Stan is Old English for stone, and henge means "to hang." There are several theories as to the origin of this unusual name. It is possible that the stones seemed to hang in the air, or those ancient peoples were reminded of Medieval gallows. Some theorists speculate that people used Stonehenge to hang criminals, hence the name. We will never know precisely how the name was formed.
The Normans wrote the first surviving reference to Stonehenge after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Henry of Huntingdon wrote, "No one can conceive how such great stones have been so raised aloft, or why they were built here" in 1130 AD (National Geographic Society, 96). Those words are just as true today as they were almost a thousand years ago, although some discoveries have been made. In the 1620s, English architect Indigo Jones studied Stonehenge at King James I's orders. This was the first scientific study ever done on this megalith. Though it is not completely certain what Jones discovered, we know he incorrectly concluded that the Romans built it after their invasion of England (Atkinson, 186). Formal excavation and restoration began only during the 20th century, however.
