DID YOU KNOW?

STONEHENGE is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire. England, 2 miles (3km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13km) north of *Salisbury.  Stonehenge's ring of standing stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000BC to 2000BC.  The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument. have been dated to about 3100BC.  Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluesetones were raised between 2400BC and 22))BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000BC.

The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 and it is a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument.  Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.  Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another five hundred years.

Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records.  Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate.  A number of myths surround the stones.

The site, specifically the great trilithon, the encompasssing horseshoe arrangement of the five central trilithon, the heel stone, and the embanked avenue are aligned to the sunset of the winter solstice and the opposing sunrise of the summer solstice. 

A natural landform at the monument's location follows this line, and may have inspired its construction.  The excavated remains of culled animal bones suggest that people may have gathered at the site for the winter ratther than the summer.  Further astronomical assoiaitons, and the precise astronomical significance of the site for its people, a a matter of speculation and debate.

There is much more information about Stonehenge on Wikipedia if you are interested in pursuing it.

*Back in the late 1940s Phil did some of his military training on Salisbury Plains not far from Stonehenge.