Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge (Stonehenge), also known as the Salisbury Stone Circle, Ring of Stones, Temple of the Sun, Prehistoric Stone Table, Stonehenge Stone Hedge, or the Stoned Circle, is a famous prehistoric cultural temple site in Europe. It is located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, and was built around 4000–2000 BC (research by British archaeologists between March and April 2008 revealed that Stonehenge was actually built around 2300 BC, making it approximately 4300 years old). It is considered a sacred place in the hearts of the British people.

This massive stone structure is located on an open plain more than 120 kilometers from London, covering an area of about 11 hectares. It is primarily composed of many large, intact bluestones, each weighing around 50 tons. Stonehenge holds not only great significance in the history of architecture but also in astronomy: its main axis, the ancient path leading to the stone pillars, and the rising sun on the morning of the summer solstice all align. Additionally, the line connecting two of the stones points toward the direction of the winter solstice sunset. Therefore, it is believed that this may have been constructed by ancient humans for astronomical observation and could be considered one of the earliest prototypes of an observatory.

The main structure of Stonehenge consists of dozens of massive stone pillars arranged in several complete concentric circles. The outer perimeter of Stonehenge features a circular ditch and bank approximately 90 meters in diameter, and immediately inside are 56 circular pits. These pits were discovered by British archaeologist John Aubrey and are thus also called “Aubrey Holes.” The first stones to appear on the site were a group of sandstones, each weighing about 5 tons (also known as “heel stones”), positioned at the “entrance” of the circle. About 200 years after these stones appeared, several pillars were transported from Wales in western England and erected in the center, forming two circles—one larger and one smaller. Archaeologists refer to this as the second phase of Stonehenge’s construction. Later, the “heel stones” were moved, marking the third phase—180 large sandstone blocks were brought in and rearranged with the original blue stones into a circular and horseshoe-shaped structure. In fact, the basic outline of the third phase of Stonehenge can still be seen in the existing ruins. It is estimated that, given the technological capabilities of the time, constructing Stonehenge would have required at least 30 million man-hours, equivalent to one person working full-time for 10,000 years.

The most astounding aspect of Stonehenge is the central standing stones. The tallest of these stones reach up to 8 meters, with an average weight of nearly 30 tons. Surprisingly, many stones weighing as much as 7 tons are found resting horizontally atop pairs of upright stone pillars.