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Secrets of Stonehenge Assignment

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Secrets of Stonehenge Assignment

Uploaded by

vincentbac15192
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Baccare 1

Vincent Baccare

Professor Montgomery

HUM2210, 9:30 am

25 August 2024

Secrets of Stonehenge Summary

Stonehenge is a megalithic structure located in Southern Britain. The structure was built

during the Neolithic Period, a period more commonly referred to as the “Stone Age”. Stonehenge

consists of a circular formation of stones with a circular ditch and bank surrounding it. The

stones located towards the center stand over 20 feet tall and weigh up to 45 tons. The stones

themselves are made of sarsen and bluestones which are stones within the local area of

Stonehenge. On the tops of each upright stone are tapered knobs that fit into the holes underneath

of lintels. This arrangement allowed for the stones to interlock with one another and form a

sound and strong circular structure. Because of this innovative engineering technique, it allowed

for Stonehenge to (mostly) remain standing today.

Digs around the site during the 20th century revealed that Stonehenge was not built all at

once, but rather in stages over a long period of time. Excavations also revealed the bones of the

dead and buried at Stonehenge. Little remains of these bones, however, the bones reveled to be

the cremated remains of many Neolithic era people. The bones consist of mostly adult male

individuals from the ages of 25-45. Some experts suspect the bones to be the remains of people

of important political stature or of a royal lineage that helped erect Stonehenge.

What is even more interesting about this structure is that Stonehenge is not the only one

of its kind. Nearly 1,000 similar circular structures can be found around Britain and the world

today. These other structures are not exclusively made of stone. One such example is
Baccare 2

Woodhenge which has similar characteristics to Stonehenge but is primarily made out of wood.

One of the biggest questions about Stonehenge is how did the Neolithic people mange to

move the sarsen stones with their era of technology. One theory is that the Neolithic people

rolled the large sarsen stones on top of logs and pulled them to the building site. Another theory

is that the Neolithic people used greased rails or ball bearings to push the stones to their desired

location. Even though the question of how they built Stonehenge may never be solved, these

theories are all plausible and could have all been used back then.

Moving the sarsens was just one of the many challenges for the builders of Stonehenge.

They also had to precisely carve each stone so that they could fit and interlock with one another.

A theory on how they did so was found just off site of Stonehenge. Archeologists found hammer

stones that were believed to be used to bash and carve many of the finer details of Stonehenge.

Another looming question about Stonehenge was what the purpose of the structure was

and who or what was it for. Scholars first discovered that the entrance of Stonehenge faces

towards the rising sun on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. What is even more

interesting about the entrance is that the lead up to Stonehenge appears to have an a hedge that

starts all the way towards a nearby river. Because of this discovery, the first theory of

Stonehenge’s purpose was that it was used as an ancient observatory. This theory, however, is

discredited today and it is believed that the solstices were used instead to mark important times

of year for the people who built it. The current theory of the purpose of Stonehenge is that the

structure is a place of worship for the Neolithic people and is linked to connecting them with

their ancestors in the realm of the dead.

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