{"id":39862,"date":"2024-08-29T16:21:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T14:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2a65865b-08fb-4d69-9c0e-935161fa55aa"},"modified":"2024-08-29T17:26:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T15:26:40","slug":"stonehenge-6-bamboozling-discoveries-about-the-planets-most-famous-prehistoric-monument","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/stonehenge-6-bamboozling-discoveries-about-the-planets-most-famous-prehistoric-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"Stonehenge: 6 bamboozling discoveries about the planet\u2019s most famous prehistoric monument"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discover 6 facts you probably didn’t know about Stonehenge <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 29 August 2024 at 14:21 PM<\/p>

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Impossibly huge and implausibly ancient, for countless generations Stonehenge has inspired awe in those who have cast eyes upon it. <\/strong><\/p>

Where is Stonehenge?<\/h2>
Stonehenge is sited on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.<\/p>
How big are the stones of Stonehenge?<\/h2>
Each stone is pretty big, being about 4 metres high, 2.1 metres wide, and weighing approximately 25 tons. <\/p>
How old is Stonehenge?<\/h2>
Stonehenge is thought to date back to around 2500 BC. Since Stonehenge was begun around 3000BC, with additions occurring over the next two millennia, it has become one of the planet\u2019s most famous and most puzzling pre-historic constructions. <\/p>
Why was Stonehenge built?<\/h2>
Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Although we know that the stones are aligned with the sunrise and sunset at the summer<\/a> and winter solstice<\/a> respectively \u2013 and that burials took place here \u2013 the precise motivations of those who built it might never be fully understood.<\/p>
Who were the first humans in Britain? Uncovering the mysteries of the early Brits, from Neanderthals to the Stone Age<\/a><\/li>
Where are Britain’s lost kings buried? A guide to some unorthodox royal burial sites<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
And just when you think the monument can\u2019t get any more bamboozling,Stonehenge tosses out another mystery. A group of archaeologists writingin\u00a0Nature\u00a0magazine has just announced that the monument\u2019s Altar Stone<\/a>is not from the Brecon Beacons as previous believed but was quarried inthe far north-east of Scotland. <\/p>
It was then transported either by land (over 450 miles) or sea (over 600 miles), all the way to south-west England. This astonishing feat has caused academics to reassess the capabilities and organisational nous of our Neolithic<\/a> forebears. <\/p>
According to the University College of London\u2019s Mike Parker Pearson<\/a>, who has beeninvolved in many excavations around Stonehenge, \u2018No other circle [inBritain] was made entirely of distantly-sourced stones… This has to be oneof the biggest clues about its purpose \u2013 a monument to unite people on agrand scale.\u2019\u00a0However, this latest discovery is just one of a clutch made about thetotemic monument \u2013 now in the care of English Heritage<\/a> \u2013 over the past couple of decades.<\/p>
6 spectacular discoveries about Stonehenge<\/h2>
Getty video<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The bluestone quarry<\/strong>Before the revelation about Stonehenge\u2019s Scottish connections, it was believed that the furthest flung elements of Stonehenge were the so called bluestones that came from the Preseli Hills<\/a>, a mere 150 miles away in south-west Wales.<\/p>
In 2015, by careful study of the dolerite and rhyolite in those stones, geologists were able to locate the exact outcrops from which they originated. Remarkably, when those outcrops \u2013 Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin \u2013 were excavated, Stone Age quarrying tools were unearthed. Carbon-dating of wood and hazelnuts at the site showed that the quarry had been in use from about 3400BC.<\/p>
A Welsh Stonehenge?<\/strong>At Waun Mawn, another site in the Preseli Hills, a standing stone and three recumbent stones have led researchers to declare that a stone circle similar to Stonehenge may once have stood there.<\/p>
Excavations pointed to the possibility that half a dozen bluestones had been removed from the site and that at least three of them had found their way to Stonehenge. <\/p>
Sara Maitland: how stone shapes the British countryside<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
However, this has since been disputed by Dr Brian John, who lives near the Waun Mawn site. In early 2024, he published findings that suggest that no stone was ever transported to Stonehenge from Waun Mawn and, furthermore, that no such circle ever existed. It\u2019s unlikely that we\u2019ve heard the last of this one…<\/p>
A sarsen stone quarry<\/strong>Closer to home, scientists made a geochemical analysis of the composition of the enormous sarsen stones that make Stonehenge so impressive. Their findings pointed to a place called West Woods on the fringes of the Marlborough Downs as the likely source of the rock. That\u2019s only about 15 miles away. However, given that the monoliths weigh between 20 and 30 tonnes, dragging them all even that distance musthave been a major undertaking.<\/p>
The expanding world of Stonehenge<\/strong>Stonehenge is far more than the iconic stone circle. A 1.7-mile stretch of banks and ditches known as The Avenue runs between the stones and the River Avon. Added to this is an array of round barrows and long barrows dotted about the landscape like constellations. <\/p>
Then there\u2019s the timber circle known as Woodhenge, two miles distant, which was discovered nearly a century ago.<\/p>
However, much more recent finds have shown the area to have been even more complex and widespread. The Stonehenge Riverside Project<\/a>, a six-year study begun in 2003, concentrated its efforts on Durrington Walls<\/a>, a henge over 400 yards in diameter surrounded by a bank and ditch. <\/p>
Durrington Walls. Getty video<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The researchers found not only evidence of a group of houses but also an avenue that linked Durrington Walls to the Avon. The connection to Stonehenge could then be completed by travelling along the river and up The Avenue.In 2008, archaeologists unearthed a small prehistoric stone circle on the banks of the Avon which is now known as West Amesbury Henge. Nine years later, during the construction of army housing at Larkhill to the north of Stonehenge, a causewayed enclosure was revealed.<\/p>
Wiltshire\u2019s Neolithic builders and diggers were a busy lot and it seems highly unlikely that we\u2019ve found everything they created yet.<\/p>
Europe\u2019s cemetery<\/strong>Another discovery from 2008 cast new light on the identity of some of those buried in the vicinity of Stonehenge. DNA testing was carried out on the cremated remains of more than 50 people buried in the early days of the monument \u2013 somewhere between 3000 and 2800 BC. <\/p>
The results showed that some of them had not come from the local area. They weregenetically similar to Bronze Age people buried in local mounds who were known to have come from other parts of Europe. This suggests that those found at Stonehenge may well have died far away and been cremated, only to have their charred remains carried to this important ritual site for burial.<\/p>
One choice example was unearthed three miles to the south-east of Stonehenge in 2002. The Amesbury Archer \u2013\u00a0so called because he was dug up near the village of Amesbury \u2013 had lived in Continental Europe and had been buried with various objects, presumably to aid him in the next life. Dating from the dawn of the Bronze Age, these remain the oldest gold items unearthed in Britain.<\/p>
Romans and St Paul\u2019s<\/strong>There are two names that you might not think had any connection at allwith Stonehenge: the Romans and St Paul\u2019s Cathedral.<\/p>
In 2008, the Strumble-Preseli Ancient Communities and Environmental Study (SPACES) project, led by Professor Tim Darvill and the late Geoffrey Wainwright, undertook a small-scale excavation. <\/p>
Surprisingly, they discovered what had been a shaft or a pit dug sometime during the late Roman <\/a>period. There was also evidence of further activity in medieval times. If nothing else, this reminds us that interest in Stonehenge is not a modern phenomenon. No doubt Roman and medieval Britons<\/a> who encountered Stonehenge were just as fascinated by the stone circle as we are today.<\/p>
And that St Paul\u2019s cathedral connection? Over the centuries, the stones have unfortunately been subjected to a good deal of vandalism, including the inscribing of names by visitors seeking a measure of immortality.<\/p>
One such seeker carved his name \u2013 WREN \u2013 on Stone 52. It\u2019s believed that thiswas done by none other than architect Sir Christopher Wren, whose family owned a house close to Stonehenge.<\/p>
Ley lines: Are Britain\u2019s ancient sites linked by secret pathways? Or are ley lines just a coincidence of geography and human perception?<\/a><\/li>
Six mythical locations in ancient Britain that you can visit today<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
And the revelations keep coming. Given all those that diligent archaeologists and researchers have brought to light just this century, it would be a foolhardy person indeed who declared that Stonehenge has no more secrets to reveal.<\/p>
Who knows? Perhaps something even more surprising than the Altar Stone’s Scottish origins is just around the corner…<\/p>
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How big are the stones of Stonehenge?<\/h2>Each stone is pretty big, being about 4 metres high, 2.1 metres wide, and weighing approximately 25 tons. <\/p>

How old is Stonehenge?<\/h2>Stonehenge is thought to date back to around 2500 BC. Since Stonehenge was begun around 3000BC, with additions occurring over the next two millennia, it has become one of the planet\u2019s most famous and most puzzling pre-historic constructions. <\/p>

How big are the stones of Stonehenge?<\/h2>
Each stone is pretty big, being about 4 metres high, 2.1 metres wide, and weighing approximately 25 tons. <\/p>

How old is Stonehenge?<\/h2>
Stonehenge is thought to date back to around 2500 BC. Since Stonehenge was begun around 3000BC, with additions occurring over the next two millennia, it has become one of the planet\u2019s most famous and most puzzling pre-historic constructions. <\/p>