Stonehenge 2023

One of the most famous landmarks in England is Stonehenge. It is also quite probably the oldest. It is an ancient structure that was built almost 5000 years ago, though its development and construction took almost 800 years. The stones are so old, there is no written history and scant archeological information. As a pre-historic construction, it is an amazing accomplishment. Some of the stones came for a short distance, only a few miles away. Others came from Wales. All the stones weigh multiple tons and would have been extremely difficult to transport without modern machines (they'd probably be difficult to move even with modern machines). The alignment is surprising with an opening that shows the rising sun on the summer solstice or the setting sun on the winter solstice. 

The area is a World Heritage Site under the care of English Heritage. Visitors come to a small museum complex to learn as much as we know about the creation and purpose of the stone circle before visiting it.

Museum bragging about the site

The people who created the henge did not have metal. Their tools were all stone and wood. This display shows various ways they used rocks, like using flint as a cutting tool.

Tools of the pre-historic trade

One intriguing detail discovered by archeologists is a ring of small holes inside of the outer ditches and banks (or henges). They are thought to be post holes. Many of them have cremated remains in them. What was the reason to use the site as a burial ground? Convenience? Sacrifice?

Marking where human remains were found

Other remains have been found in the area, including this skeleton.

A local stiff

A set of models show the progress of the creation of Stonehenge, from circa 3000 BC to 2200 BC.

The initial henge and wooden posts, then with the stone in the middle

Adding to the avenue/entrance, then the current state

A nearby wall collects various quotes about Stonehenge. I took a picture of the one I thought most accurate.

Truer words were never spoken

Outside the visitor center is a sample of the large Sarsen stones that make up the central ring. It's assumed they were brought on sledges that were pulled by a hundred or more men.

Posing with the stone

Trying to move the stone

Another sample is the smaller, bluestones from Wales. They came much farther and were erected inside the ring of sarsen trilithons.

Bluestone

Recreations of thatch-roofed huts show how the constructors of Stonehenge probably lived. The hut below on the left is flanked by a lower hut that may have been used like a barn, i.e. to store live animals.

Recreated homes

Inside

Working on a project outside

We opted not to take the shuttle bus to the henge, walking along a path that led us to a sleeping cow.

No bull!

A more recent stone monument that was near the cow

Stonehenge is noteworthy also for the large number of barrows in the area. Dozens of barrows, or burial mounds, are within a mile of Stonehenge. Most of them date to the period after Stonehenge was built, from 2200 BC to 1600 BC. 

Three barrows in the distance

A long path leads up from the bus stop to Stonehenge.

Almost there

The stones

A pretty lady

Another view

Birds can get closer than people

The path goes all the way around the henge, enabling visitors to see from many angles.

Another side

My daughter took this picture

My youngest took this picture

Just outside the henge circle, a stone stands out on its own. Called the Heel Stone, it marks off the summer solstice. When standing inside the henge on the solstice, the sun comes up directly over the Heel Stone.

Heel stone

We visited on June 19, two days before the summer solstice. The site is closed to the general public on that day, though they were setting up many areas for visitors. 

Getting ready for someone to come

Stonehenge certainly has an air of magic about it, partly from its ancient, unknown history and partly from imaginings of that history. It is well worth visiting.