Architectural Marvels

Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain, Southern England. This mysterious stone structure is a monument to the Bronze Age megalithic culture that stretched along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Stonehenge was built in several phases; the structure visible today only partially reflects the original form. The world famous monument still poses mysteries for archaeologists.

Information

Built: 30th–15th centuries BC

Location: Salisbury Plain, United Kingdom

Building material: sandstone, bluestone

World Heritage Cultural Site: 1986

Purpose

Even today, we only have hypotheses about the original purpose of Stonehenge. Some scholars believe it served as a calendar from where it was possible to observe the movement of celestial bodies. Others think it was a cultic site which sick people visited in the hopes of being cured of their illnesses.

Altar stone

At the time of the summer solstice, the sun lit the Altar Stone over the top of the Heel Stone.

Outer circle

The 30 sandstone blocks that were set up here were joined by lintels. It’s diameter was about 30 metres.

In the first phase of the construction
a circular rampart (henge) was created. 56 pits were excavated within the rampart, the function of which have not been clarified.

In the second phase, which took place at around 2100 B.C. About 80 bluestone blocks were put in place by this time and a straight avenue, leading to the NE, was built next to Stonehenge.

In the third phase, the bluestone blocks were put in their current place and 30 sandstone blocks were set up in a circle. Within the circle, 5 trilithons were added.

The two main building materials of Stonehenge are sandstone and bluestone. The transportation, arrangement and assembly of the stones required a great deal of planning and engineering knowledge. The bluestones, weighing about 4 tonnes each, were brought from a quarry hundreds of kilometres away. The origin of the sandstones, weighing 20–30 tonnes, is 32 kilometres away from Stonehenge.