Stonehenge is a megalithic monument on the Salisbury Plain in Southern England, composed mainly of thirty upright stones (sarsens, each over ten feet tall and weighing up to 45 tons), aligned in a circle, with thirty lintels (6 tons each) perched horizontally atop the sarsens in a continuous circle. There is also an inner circle composed of similar stones, also constructed in post-and-lintel fashion. You can say that there are a lot of great monuments all over the world, many of them are more interesting. What is special about Stonehenge? All those questions that have no exact answers. What was its function: an astronomical observatory, a religious site, or something supernatural? Who built it, and how?
Experts conducted many studies giving reason for the existence or the purpose of this thing but until now, no one can really tell why it is there.
Some have suggested that Stonehenge was built by Druids, but we don't really know much about the builders. The archaeology points to a construction date between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago, so it was built even before the first metal tools were used by humankind.
It is said that around 5000 BC, the semi nomadic people of Salisbury Plain began building this monument. The original construction was a circular ditch with 56 holes forming a ring figure. The first stone that was placed where the Stonehenge lies now is called Hell Stone. 20 years later 80 blocks of bluestone was transported by raft to be added on the site. These stones were erected forming two circles. But it did not last because it was destroyed intentionally and they work for the final phase of the site. The blue stones were removed from the circle and the huge stones that made every people amazed were put on. These stones weigh about 26 tons.
What was unexplainable about this thing was how those huge stone was transported and put on top of each other, without using any machinery and to think these people are primitive. Their motive of building Stonehenge is very intriguing.
Here are some educated guess:
Religion
It is believed that primitive people perform their rituals in this place. They came up with this theory because pig bones were found in the site but no pig skulls. This only means that the animals were already decapitated before bringing to the site. No evidence of human sacrifice was found.
Astronomy
The famous study about Stonehenge is that of “Gerald Hawkins”, wherein he used the modern computer that we have nowadays to calculate all the sightlines and their relation to the objects in the sky, especially the moon and the sun.
Observatory
The thing that really emphasizes the connection of Stonehenge to astronomy was the direction of the summer solstice or the direction of sunrise on the longest day of the year.
Prediction
It is also believed that Stonehenge was used by the Neolithic people to predict events.
Whatever the reasons behind the construction of Stonehenge is, we can say that the Neolithic people did a great job.
This picture is what they imagine and original suppose to be like this.
