More than 4,000 years ago , the people of the Neolithic period decided to build a massive monument using earth , timber and eventually , stones , placing it high on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire , England , about 137 kilometres southwest of London . Why anyone ever decided to build Stonehenge remains a mystery , with theories ranging from religion to astronomy . Some of what was Stonehenge still stands today , as mysterious and sacred as it must have been to the hundreds of people who helped build the site .
The stones of the main monument appear to form layers of circles and horseshoe patterns that slowly enclose the site . First , there is an outer stone circle , now mostly in ruin . Within this are a smaller set of stones , also set in a circle . Within the centre of the monument are trilithons -- two pillar stones with one stone on top -- in the shape of a horseshoe . Within this is another smaller set of stones , also in a horseshoe .
It is a monument made of more than just rocks . There is the henge , or a ditch and bank , that surrounds the stone circle . There is also a laneway that extends from the northeast side of the monument from the open horseshoe to the River Avon , a few kilometres away . Several stones mark this laneway , just outside the henge of the monument .
Jutting out from the green landscape of the English countryside , the circles of stones and outlying monuments emit a power that must have been ingrained in the site itself . But it is a magnetism that can ' t be explained by architecture alone . Much of Stonehenge ' s intrigue stems from the fact that the stones are so shrouded in mystery , a characteristic that is magnified by its age .
Stonehenge was constructed in three phases , over a 2,000 year period between 3000 BCE and 1400 BCE . Erosion , time and human invasion has worn it down , leaving many of the stones in stumps similar to a set of baby teeth .
Although the site may not be as majestic as it once was , it still conveys a sense of power that seems to enclose people in its mystery , allowing no one to escape from the riddle of its purpose . Today , there is enough left of Stonehenge to speculate on its purpose , but not enough to say for sure why or how it was constructed . Astronomers , archaeologists and historians continue to debate theories on its construction and purpose , but the only thing that can be said for certain is a description of what still exists today .
On the outside of the main monument is a circle of 17 sarsen stones , or sandstones , left from a set of about 30 . These rocks stand four metres high and weigh about 25 tonnes each . Some of them still retain their lintels , which would have been secured in a type of tongue-and-groove slot .
Within this is a larger sarsen stone horseshoe in the middle of the monument . There are remnants of what would have been five sets of two stones with a lintel on top -- called a trilithon after the Greek word for three stones . The tallest of these upright sarsen stones is about 7 metres tall with lintel , acting as a reminder that the word sarsen comes from " ", meaning heathenish , foreign and vaguely satanic .
Some of the most interesting theories still being generated about Stonehenge have to do with the
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It ' s not the stones that make it sacred . It ' s the spot that ' s already sacred , or holy , and then the stones are built .
bluestones , the small rocks set in a circle between the sarsen stone circle and sarsen stone horseshoe . Originally , there may have been as many as 60 , but only a few stand today , two of which are believed to be lintels . A bluestone horseshoe can also be found within the large sarsen stone horseshoe , which would have originally been made up of 19 stones . Again , few of these are left . The stones were placed in such a way that they increased in size towards the centre and alternated in shape between tall , thin pillar-like stones and stones of a tapering obelisk shape .
These bluestones , now severely weathered and covered in lichen , may not appear blue but if freshly broken , most would have a slaty-blue colour . There are five colour variations represented in the bluestones found at Stonehenge . Some contain crystals that have given them a different shade when broken , such as the spotted dolerite , named for its pink crystals , which emits a pinkish hue . Within the bluestone horseshoe is the Altar stone -- a blue-grey stone from the shores of Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire . It may have once stood upright but now lays underneath one of the great sarsen trilithons , and is about five metres long .
Many other stones , of more historical and astronomical importance , also mark the site . One of the most intriguing is the " Heel stone ." It stands along a laneway , known as the Avenue , that extends from the open horseshoe , on the northeast corner of the monument and down toward the River Avon , two kilometres away .
Along the Avenue , closer to the stone circles , is the " Slaughter Stone " that may have once been part of a pair of stones , forming a gate to the main monument . Shaped around the stone circles are two pillar stones , known as the " Station Stones ." Originally there would have been four , placed in the shape of a rectangle .
A bank-and-ditch , or the henge of the monument , circles the main monument at about 91 metres in diameter . On the inside boundary of the henge are 56 pits , known as " Aubrey Holes " that can barely be seen . Closer to the stone circles are two other sets of pits , called " Z " and " Y " holes . These were the last additions to the monument and may have been carved out to accommodate more bluestones , but now lay empty .
All of the stones were brought far distances to Salisbury Plain , using only muscle and primitive tools , like ropes and wooden levers . The sarsen stones are believed to have been brought from Marlborough Downs , 30 kilometres to the north of Stonehenge , which is a feat incomparable by today ' s standards . But even more intriguing than this is the mystery of the bluestones . They are believed to have come from the Preseli Mountains in southwest Wales , nearly 385 kilometres away . How these stones , each weighing four tonnes , arrived at Stonehenge is still debated . But regardless of how they came to the site , it appears to have required much effort in a time before the invention of the wheel .
Clearly , a lot of trouble was taken by the builders to put those things up -- and some of the stones were brought from a long way away , Which also , incidentally , signifies how important that spot on Salisbury Plain must be if they went to all that trouble to get those stones to that particular place .
It ' s not the stones that make it sacred . It ' s the spot
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