Stonehenge
I.
Introduction
Stonehenge,
prehistoric ritual monument, situated on Salisbury Plain,
north of Salisbury, England, and dating from the late Stone
and early Bronze ages (circa 3000-1000 BC).
It
is the most celebrated of the megalithic monuments of England.
Stonehenge is surrounded by a circular ditch, 104 m (340
ft) in diameter and 1.5 m (5 ft) deep, within which is a
bank and a ring of 56 pits known as Aubrey holes (after
their discoverer, the British antiquarian John Aubrey).
At the northeast end a break in the ditch affords access
to a ditch-bordered avenue that extends in a generally northeastward
direction to the East Avon River. The avenue is 23 m (75
ft) wide and nearly 3 km (2 mi) long.
II.
Configuration
The monument itself consists of four concentric
ranges of stones. The outermost range is a circle, 30 m
(100 ft) in diameter, of large, linteled, sandstone blocks
called sarsen stones. Within this circle is a circle of
smaller blue stones consisting mainly of spotted dolerite,
with four specimens each of rhyolite and of volcanic ash.
The latter circle enclosed a horseshoe-shaped arrangement
of five linteled pairs of large sarsen stones. Within this
arrangement is a smaller horseshoe-shaped range of blue
stones enclosing a slab of micaceous sandstone known as
the Altar Stone. Near the entrance to the avenue lies the
so-called Slaughter Stone, a sarsen stone that may originally
have stood upright.
Grouped
around the main structure are a number of barrows, some
of which contain chips of a blue stone similar to that found
in the concentric ranges. The blue stones are from the north
flank of the Prescelly Mountains in Wales. The Altar Stone
is believed to have come from the region near Milford Haven,
Pembrokeshire.
III.
History
Stonehenge
was desecrated sometime between 55 BC and AD410 by the Romans,
who tore down a number of the upright stones. In addition,
two uprights and a lintel west of the Altar Stone fell in
January 1797, and two other stones, an upright and its lintel,
fell in 1900. In 1958 these five stones were raised, giving
the monument the approximate appearance it had during the
Roman occupation. On some of the fallen stones shallow carvings
were found (1953) depicting bronze axheads of a type used
in Britain between 1600 and 1400 BC and a hilted dagger
of a type used in Mycenae, Greece, between 1600 and 1500
BC.
The
outer bank, the ditch, and the Aubrey holes encircling the
main construction date probably from the late Stone Age
or early Bronze Age (circa 2000 BC). The main structure
is dated between the early Bronze Age and the end of the
Iron Age. The sarsen stones are dated from the carvings
at about 1500 BC.
Parts
of Stonehenge undoubtedly were built by a people who had
widespread European trade connections and who established
their principal settlements in the area between 1600 and
1300 BC. Although Stonehenge is related basically to the
circular stone or wooden temples that were constructed in
Britain during the Bronze Age, it is structurally unique
among European prehistoric monuments.
IV.
Calendrical Theory
The function of Stonehenge has long been
a matter of conjecture. In 1964 the American astronomer
Gerald S. Hawkins reported findings obtained by supplying
a computer with measurements taken at Stonehenge together
with astronomical information based on celestial positions
in 1500 BC when Stonehenge was in use. According to Hawkins
the Stonehenge complex could have been used to predict the
summer and winter solstices, the vernal and autumnal equinoxes,
and eclipses of both the sun and moon. Moreover, a variety
of other information pertaining to the sun and moon could
also be predicted with remarkable accuracy. Hawkins concluded
that Stonehenge functioned as a means of predicting the
positions of the sun and moon relative to the earth, and
thereby the seasons, and perhaps also as a simple daily
calendar.
-pic-
Stonehenge,
the circular arrangement of large stones near Salisbury,
England, was probably built in three stages between
about 3000 and 1000 BC. The function of the monument
remains unknown: once believed to be a temple for
Druids or Romans, Stonehenge
is now often thought to have been either a temple
for sun worshippers or a type of astronomical clock
or calendar. As the only natural building stones within
21 km (13 mi), Stonehenge has been decimated through
the centuries by builders and by normal climatic forces.
|
Contributed
By: Laurence Patrick Kirwan, C.M.G., T.D., B.Litt. Former
Director and Secretary, Royal Geographical Society, London,
England.
"Stonehenge,"
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com
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