What is stonehenge used for

In the s, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins suggested that the cluster of megalithic stones operated as an astronomical calendar, with different points corresponding to astrological phenomena such as solstices, equinoxes and eclipses. More recently, signs of illness and injury in the human remains unearthed at Stonehenge led a group of British archaeologists to speculate that it was considered a place of healing, perhaps because bluestones were thought to have curative powers.

Stonehenge has undergone several restorations over the years, and some of its boulders have been set in concrete to prevent collapse. Meanwhile, archaeological excavations and development of the surrounding area to facilitate tourism have turned up other significant sites nearby, including other henges.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. For centuries, historians and archaeologists have puzzled over the many mysteries of Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument that Neolithic builders toiled over for an estimated 1, years. While many modern scholars now agree that it served as a sacred burial ground, they have yet Like most of the bargain-hunters who packed the Palace Theatre in Salisbury, England, on the afternoon of September 21, , Cecil Chubb was looking for a deal.

Legend says the wealthy year-old lawyer had been dispatched by his wife to purchase a set of dining chairs, but Stonehenge was built in phases. Around B. Inside the bank were 56 pits, which became known as the Aubrey Holes, after antiquarian London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom and one of the largest and most important cities in the world.

The area was originally settled by early hunter gatherers around 6, B. Buckingham Palace is the London home and the administrative center of the British royal family. And what is the significance of the ley lines that bisect Stonehenge and many other similar Neolithic monuments that statistically go well beyond it being just coincidence?

Today Stonehenge is of course famous for being a gathering place for thousands of people, for one day every June, from all walks of life, including pagans and druids and those looking to experience the spectacular wonder of Stonehenge at dawn at the solstice.

Summer Solstice tour from London. There is also evidence that Stonehenge and Durrington Walls was a place of pilgrimage. What is clear is that people travelled some way to Stonehenge. A skeleton found when studied was from a person originating from what is Switzerland today for example. The bluestones first brought to Stonehenge were thought by some ancient societies to have healing properties. Some human remains found show evidence of significant injuries to those attending.

So one theory is that Stonehenge was thought to be a place of pilgrimage where miracles of healing may take place. The religious aspect also has to be accounted for and logically is the key to understanding what went on at Stonehenge.

Unfortunately we will never know for sure the detail of what they believed. Today, Stonehenge is used by pagan religions which have some similarities. Druids often use Stonehenge for formal ceremonies, normally long before the tourists arrive. Nobody knows for sure what Stonehenge was used for; that is part of the appeal and fun of visiting Stonehenge. Just come to your own personal conclusions. Stonehenge overview What is Stonehenge?

Guided coach tours Vintage red Routemaster bus Rock music tour Black taxi tour. The Mysteries of Stonehenge What was Stonehenge used for and how and why was it built?

The mysteries of Stonehenge capture the imagination. The ancient Stonehenge landscape. Stonehenge Landscape - more details There are fundamentally three strands of theories about Stonehenge of how and why it was built: The Archaeologist's viewpoint is based on observation, digs in and around Stonehenge, carbon dating and conclusions at other Neolithic sites all around the British Isles. Top of the page. Sunset at Stonehenge.

One of the major mysteries of Stonehenge was how it was built. The first stones - the bluestones from the Preseli Hills The first stones, the bluestones weighing around 4 tons each were sourced from the only place in the UK where such stone exists, in the Preseli Hills in north Pembrokeshire in Wales, nearly miles away.

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Magazine How one image captures 21 hours of a volcanic eruption. Science Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. The earliest interpretation was provided by Geoffrey of Monmouth who, in , suggested that the stones had been erected as a memorial to commemorate British leaders treacherously murdered by their Saxon foes in the years immediately following the end of Roman Britain.

The first official custodian of Stonehenge, Henry Browne, wrote and privately published the first guidebook, which he sold direct to visitors in A popular theory within the s counter-culture was that Stonehenge was an advanced form of computer or calculating device.

In his book Stonehenge Decoded , astronomer Gerald Hawkins suggests that the stones had been positioned to accurately predict major astronomical events. Listen: Mike Pitts considers how and why the monument was created, more than 4, years ago, on this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast :. Damaged and distant though it undoubtedly is, Stonehenge remains awe inspiring, especially when one considers it was put together 4, years ago by a pre-industrial farming society using tools made of bone and stone.

As far as can be determined, work at the site began somewhere after BC, with the construction of a circular, externally ditched earthwork enclosure.

Quite why this particular part of Salisbury Plain was considered important, we will never know, but the new enclosure, which contained cremation burials and settings for timber and stone uprights, including a number of bluestones from Wales, possibly acted as a form of communal cemetery.

A major change came at around BC with the addition of a horseshoe of sarsen sandstone trilithons surrounded by an outer circle of sarsens, all joined with lintels. The bluestones were, at this time, repositioned in a double circle between the larger sarsen settings. The Station Stones, a series of sarsens placed within the inner edge of the surrounding earthwork, may also belong to this phase, as indeed does the rearrangement of stones within the main, northeast-facing entrance to the enclosure.

The third stage of modification came between and BC with the construction of the Avenue, the recutting of the main enclosure ditch, and the reorganisation of the entrance stones.

Around BC, the bluestone circle was disassembled and rearranged into two oval settings, one inside the horseshoe of sarsens and one between this and the outer sarsen uprights.

By BC, the stones were being broken and carvings were being etched into the sarsens. At some point in the late- or post-Roman period, during the 4th or 5th century AD, the bluestones were again modified, but the full extent of this alteration is unknown. The first attempt to resolve the date of Stonehenge occurred in the s during an excavation commissioned by the Duke of Buckingham. None of these finds survive.

Further exploration took place in the early 19th century, work which may have contributed to the overall instability of the stones. Concerns about the security of the stones led to a renewed phase of excavation and stone straightening. Another campaign of excavation took between and , together with a programme of stabilisation, repair and stone re-erection.

Although reconstruction of the monument has helped ensure the long-term survival of Stonehenge, the results of these excavations were not published until In , two smaller, targeted archaeological excavations took place within the circle. The first which I took part in , designed to investigate the date, nature and settings of the internal smaller stones, recovered significant evidence for late- and post-Roman use of the monument.

The second, which focused on retrieving cremation burials from the earliest phase of the site, demonstrated that men, women and children had all been buried there between and BC. Research published in August revealed that some of the prehistoric cremations recovered were of individuals who were not local to the monument, possibly — although this is yet to be confirmed — originating from western Wales, Ireland or northern Scotland.

Archaeological investigation, limited although it has been to date, has proved helpful in establishing a building chronology for Stonehenge.