Stonehenge
At first sight, Stonehenge looks diminutive, dwarfed by the immensity of Salisbury Plain on which it sits. As you approach the stones, the larger they loom; blunt, heavy, impassive and slightly menacing. A stone circle at the centre of concentric rings of earthworks, mounds and smaller stones, debate still rages as to its origins. Who built it, why, what was its purpose? Stonehenge hides its secrets well.
One fact most archaeologists agree on is that the present circle is by no means the first to be constructed on the site. The first monument consisted of a bank and ditch enclosure dating back to 3100BC, with two entrances, one to the north and one to the south. This was followed by phase two, possibly made of wood. Evidence indicates that sometime between phase ones and two, the circle was used for cremations but little else is known and so we move on to phase three, concentric circles of stone.
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In approximately 2500BC, eighty holes were dug in preparation for the massive stones that can be seen today. The northern entrance was widened enabling it to line up precisely with the summer and winter solstice. There is something primeval that seems to draw people to the rising sun. The careful juxtaposition between these vast stones and the rising sun still attracts thousands of people to Stonehenge to witness the sun’s first rays on the longest and shortest days of the year.
It has long been supposed that the largest stones originated in the Preseli Hills and theories abound as to how four-ton slabs of dolerite were transported the 160 miles from Wales to Salisbury. It was perhaps the absence of any cogent transportation theories that have led to the latest suggestion that the stones were the debris from glacial activity and found much closer to the site than was originally thought. What does not seem to be in doubt however, is the origin of the massive 6-ton, Altar Stone which evidence suggests can only have started life in Wales.
As the site developed sarsen stones were brought in from local quarries to create the outer circle. The skill of the masons can only be wondered at as they shaped thirteen-foot behemoths to widen slightly at the top, ensuring perfect perspective from the ground; tenon and mortise joints were added to secure the lintels. The lintel stones themselves were fashioned to curve slightly to match the rhythm of the circle before being lifted some sixteen feet into the air.
Stonehenge was constructed during the Neolithic period; we have a good idea where most of the stones came from, we know the technology was available to lift the stones. Parallel ditches leading from the Northern Entrance down to the River Avon some 3 kilometres away indicate that it served a significant purpose within the local community, but what that purpose was, no one really knows.
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