Visiting Stonehenge
People from all over the world visit Stonehenge every year.
For some it's the trip of a lifetime, yet many are no more informed about the stones when they leave than before they arrived.
The first essential is to read about the site so that some sense can be made of the structure, its history, and the recent developments in understanding how and why it was designed and built.
The most informative books about Stonehenge are invariably written by archaeologists.
It is first and foremost an archaeological site and much of the information is buried, and above all it is archaeological research that has allowed us to provide a series of accurate dates for its inception and phases of construction.
To summarise the monument very briefly, and to within 100 years or so of major events, it began as a circular 'henge' monument (a simple bank with a ditch on the outside) created around 3,000 BC.
Just inside the bank a series of 56 holes were dug (the Aubrey Holes) which probably held timber posts.
At this time there was no axis of symmetry.
The main entrance however was to the north east (towards the midsummer sunrise).
Some 400 to 500 years later a series of radially twinned holes were dug to receive perhaps 80 stones.
The uprights that were once located in these 'Q and R Holes' are thought to be (though not demonstrably all) exotic to the Stonehenge region.
From traces in the bases of the sockets the presence of igneous rocks have been identified, these were largely 'bluestones' know to outcrop in West Wales.
How they arrived at Stonehenge is still debated, though most archaeologists argue for human transport some geologists are convinced that they were transported at least part of the way by glacial action.
Not long after this double bluestone ring was completed (if indeed it ever was) the iconic stone monument which we see today was constructed.
These massive 'sarsen' sandstone tabular blocks were brought from the local chalkland, where they outcrop on the surface, though today most of the larger examples have long since been removed (highly prized for their hardness they were used for kerbstones and steps until very recently).
The new monument consisted of a circle of 30 lintel-topped uprights surrounding 5 pairs of massive stones arranged in the form of a 'horseshoe'.
Each of the paired uprights supported a lintel and are known as 'Trilithons', a name given to them by the antiquarian William Stukeley in the 18th century.
Stukeley was also the first to notice that the entrance to Stonehenge faced the midsummer sunrise; this fact began a fascination with Stonehenge and astronomy that has endured to the present day.
On the periphery of the site, and close to where the circuit of Aubrey Holes once stood, four so called 'Station Stones' had been set up, perhaps just shortly before the construction of the central stonework.
Perhaps from the outset an unworked stone known as the Heelstone, stood just outside the entrance, and alongside it (from the evidence of excavation) stood a twin.
The pair would have thus bracketed the midsummer sunrise.
Just inside the entrance once stood a substantial 'portal' array of 2 or 3 stones, of which the fallen 'Slaughter Stone' is the only survivor.
However if we look closely at the iconic stonework we can see that almost all the stones have one 'good' face.
The better, flatter face is inwards, except for the surviving upright of the 'Great Trilithon' the most south-westerly of the horseshoe array.
This major Trilithon faced the midwinter sunset, and thus provides us with the most convincing evidence that it was this direction, and not midsummer, that was of paramount importance to the people who built the massive sarsen structure.
We must also note that that at every stage great emphasis was placed on maintaining mirrored symmetry within the design of the structure, and it would appear that is was part of the 'cosmology' behind the construction.
While the phenomenal engineering behind the building of Stonehenge has long been appreciated, the skill, accuracy and premeditation of the surveying that preceded the positioning of the stones has been largely overlooked, and until recently never studied in detail.
At some point the bluestones from the earlier monument were re-introduced into the centre forming an inner circle and horseshoe that mimicked the plan of the sarsen structure.
The last know structural activity at Stonehenge was the digging of a series of enigmatic holes around the outside of the Sarsen Circle.
Radiocarbon dating tells us that this happened around 1600 BC.
So from the time when the first earthwork was constructed to the digging of these two concentric 'Y and Z' Hole series was some 1400 years.
It seems that these somewhat irregular holes never held stones or timbers, and may simply have been abandoned to the elements.
But of course everyone wants to know why, what was Stonehenge 'for'? Interestingly, this is where most uninformed speculation begins - an area where archaeologists are rightly very wary.
A little reading will confirm, like Stukeley's observation of the solstice that almost every theory currently advanced to 'explain' Stonehenge is at least 100 years old.
These include the idea it was a temple, an 'astronomical device', a place of sacrifice, a place of healing, or a burial ground.
People have to make up their own minds, based on the evidence, not on opinions or groundless speculation, this is the major and most exciting challenge of Stonehenge.
When you visit do not simply accept the 'theories' but consider the real evidence, and your appreciation of this astonishing monument will be greatly enhanced.
Further reading: http://www.
solvingstonehenge.
co.
uk One final note: the serious visitor will undoubtedly want to gain access to the stones, this can be arranged, as individuals or by joining a 'special access' tour; details below:
For some it's the trip of a lifetime, yet many are no more informed about the stones when they leave than before they arrived.
The first essential is to read about the site so that some sense can be made of the structure, its history, and the recent developments in understanding how and why it was designed and built.
The most informative books about Stonehenge are invariably written by archaeologists.
It is first and foremost an archaeological site and much of the information is buried, and above all it is archaeological research that has allowed us to provide a series of accurate dates for its inception and phases of construction.
To summarise the monument very briefly, and to within 100 years or so of major events, it began as a circular 'henge' monument (a simple bank with a ditch on the outside) created around 3,000 BC.
Just inside the bank a series of 56 holes were dug (the Aubrey Holes) which probably held timber posts.
At this time there was no axis of symmetry.
The main entrance however was to the north east (towards the midsummer sunrise).
Some 400 to 500 years later a series of radially twinned holes were dug to receive perhaps 80 stones.
The uprights that were once located in these 'Q and R Holes' are thought to be (though not demonstrably all) exotic to the Stonehenge region.
From traces in the bases of the sockets the presence of igneous rocks have been identified, these were largely 'bluestones' know to outcrop in West Wales.
How they arrived at Stonehenge is still debated, though most archaeologists argue for human transport some geologists are convinced that they were transported at least part of the way by glacial action.
Not long after this double bluestone ring was completed (if indeed it ever was) the iconic stone monument which we see today was constructed.
These massive 'sarsen' sandstone tabular blocks were brought from the local chalkland, where they outcrop on the surface, though today most of the larger examples have long since been removed (highly prized for their hardness they were used for kerbstones and steps until very recently).
The new monument consisted of a circle of 30 lintel-topped uprights surrounding 5 pairs of massive stones arranged in the form of a 'horseshoe'.
Each of the paired uprights supported a lintel and are known as 'Trilithons', a name given to them by the antiquarian William Stukeley in the 18th century.
Stukeley was also the first to notice that the entrance to Stonehenge faced the midsummer sunrise; this fact began a fascination with Stonehenge and astronomy that has endured to the present day.
On the periphery of the site, and close to where the circuit of Aubrey Holes once stood, four so called 'Station Stones' had been set up, perhaps just shortly before the construction of the central stonework.
Perhaps from the outset an unworked stone known as the Heelstone, stood just outside the entrance, and alongside it (from the evidence of excavation) stood a twin.
The pair would have thus bracketed the midsummer sunrise.
Just inside the entrance once stood a substantial 'portal' array of 2 or 3 stones, of which the fallen 'Slaughter Stone' is the only survivor.
However if we look closely at the iconic stonework we can see that almost all the stones have one 'good' face.
The better, flatter face is inwards, except for the surviving upright of the 'Great Trilithon' the most south-westerly of the horseshoe array.
This major Trilithon faced the midwinter sunset, and thus provides us with the most convincing evidence that it was this direction, and not midsummer, that was of paramount importance to the people who built the massive sarsen structure.
We must also note that that at every stage great emphasis was placed on maintaining mirrored symmetry within the design of the structure, and it would appear that is was part of the 'cosmology' behind the construction.
While the phenomenal engineering behind the building of Stonehenge has long been appreciated, the skill, accuracy and premeditation of the surveying that preceded the positioning of the stones has been largely overlooked, and until recently never studied in detail.
At some point the bluestones from the earlier monument were re-introduced into the centre forming an inner circle and horseshoe that mimicked the plan of the sarsen structure.
The last know structural activity at Stonehenge was the digging of a series of enigmatic holes around the outside of the Sarsen Circle.
Radiocarbon dating tells us that this happened around 1600 BC.
So from the time when the first earthwork was constructed to the digging of these two concentric 'Y and Z' Hole series was some 1400 years.
It seems that these somewhat irregular holes never held stones or timbers, and may simply have been abandoned to the elements.
But of course everyone wants to know why, what was Stonehenge 'for'? Interestingly, this is where most uninformed speculation begins - an area where archaeologists are rightly very wary.
A little reading will confirm, like Stukeley's observation of the solstice that almost every theory currently advanced to 'explain' Stonehenge is at least 100 years old.
These include the idea it was a temple, an 'astronomical device', a place of sacrifice, a place of healing, or a burial ground.
People have to make up their own minds, based on the evidence, not on opinions or groundless speculation, this is the major and most exciting challenge of Stonehenge.
When you visit do not simply accept the 'theories' but consider the real evidence, and your appreciation of this astonishing monument will be greatly enhanced.
Further reading: http://www.
solvingstonehenge.
co.
uk One final note: the serious visitor will undoubtedly want to gain access to the stones, this can be arranged, as individuals or by joining a 'special access' tour; details below: