 Salisbury, Co. Wiltshire
The
most renowned prehistoric monument in Europe, dating as far back as
3000 BC, Stonehenge is a World Heritage Site and one of England ’s
biggest and most mysterious attractions.
The mystery
lies in how these huge stones were carried, some over 250 miles from
the Preseli Hills in South Wales , to Salisbury Plain, how these stones
particularly the distinctive Sar sen Circle of the centre capped by
lintel stones were erected and what purpose did Stonehenge serve;
ancient burial site? Sacrificial temple? Or astronomical calendar?
These questions are made all the more baffling considering the period
Stonehenge was built. Stonehenge was built over three phases spanning
1500 years from 2950 BC to 1550 BC. Though it was several centuries
after the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Stonehenge was built 2000 years
earlier than the Aztec pyramids and 3500 years earlier than the Easter
Island figures.
Stonehenge would be an incredible feat of
engineering in its day, commanding huge resources and manpower. For
example, it is estimated that the Sarsen Stones, weighing 50 tons each,
would have required 600 people to drag and lift just one.
The
stones must have held huge importance, however contrary to popular
belief they were not built by Druids, a religious sect that arrived in
Britain 1,000 years after Stonehenge. Many myths and theories have
since sprouted as to their purpose. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it
was thought they were places of horrific human sacrifice, but a more
educated guess is that rituals involved alignment with the sun and the
seasons, showing a remarkably sophisticated grasp of astronomy,
mathematics and engineering.
As a famous attraction and World
Heritage Site, Stonehenge today receives huge numbers of visitors, who
for preservation purposes are kept some distance from the stones
themselves.
There is a huge wealth of prehistoric sites in the
Wiltshire countryside of Salisbury Plain, including the 1st century
Roman-Briton village of Old Sarum , the Avebury Stone Circle, built
around 2500 BC, West Kennet Long Barrow, the largest chambered tomb in
Europe and Silbury Hill, Europe’s largest prehistoric mound.
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