Stonehenge |
The Stonehenge
Photos courtesy of World Heritage Site and Bridgette Allingam
What: |
A series of stone, timber, and earth pieces arranged in a circular structure surrounded by a ditch. It seems to have been revised and redone over the course of a little more than 1,400 years. The Stonehenge is now believed to have been made in 3 different parts, each part finished in a different year. What survives today is only about half of the original monument. |
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Where: |
Salisbury Plains, 2 miles west of Amesbury, Wiltshire, South England |
When: |
About 3,100 BC and was added to until about 2,300 BC. |
Why: |
Nobody really knows for sure, it is recorded by Edmond Bolton in 1624 as being built for the Celtic queen Boudicca as a monument, others say the Druids built it as a place of worship. Some even believe it to be a place of sacrifice by the Celts as well as the speculation that the stonehenge was built as a sort of time teller, similar to an Egyptian sundial. Nonetheless, the Ancient Order of Druids have adopted the stonehenge as a temple and use it to welcome the summer soltice. |
Interesting fact: |
The Celtic druids commonly thought to have built this monument came into existence in about 300 BC, a full 2,000 years after the stonehenge had been built. Also, druids preferred to conduct their rituals in groves of trees surrounded by nature rather than in wide open plains. If this fact is correct, who really did build the stonehenge? This question, like many others about the stonehenge, only adds to its intrigue. |