There has always been an intense debate over quite what purpose Stonehenge served. Certainly, it was the focal point in a landscape filled with prehistoric ceremonial structures. It also represented an enormous investment of labor and time.
A huge effort and great organisation were needed to carry the stones tens, and sometimes hundreds, of miles by land and water and then to shape and raise them. [readmore] Only a sophisticated society could have mustered so large a workforce and the design and construction skills necessary to produce Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments. [readmore] Stonehenge's orientation in relation to the rising and setting sun has always been one of its most remarkable features. Whether this was because its builders came from a sun-worshipping culture or because - as some scholars have asserted - the circle and its banks were part of a huge astronomical calendar, remains a mystery.
What cannot be denied is the ingenuity of the builders of Stonehenge. With only very basic tools at their disposal, they shaped the stones and formed the mortises and tenons that linked uprights to lintels. Using antlers and bones, they dug the pits to hold the stones and made the banks and ditches that enclosed them .
Mystery surrounds this 5000-year-old monument in the centre of the World Heritage Site. Visit this prehistoric site and decide for yourself whether Stonehenge was a place of sun worship, a healing sanctuary, a sacred burial site, or something different altogether!
Read moreLast entry is 2 hours prior to the closing time.
Enjoy a 25% discount off Stonehenge guidebooks. Valid until 31st March 2020. You will be given your discount voucher on the day of departure.
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