STONEHENGE -Wiltshire, England

Quick guide
Age estimated at 3100 BC
Location Wiltshire, UK
OS Reference SU 122 422
Type of stone Bluestone, Sarsen, Welsh Sandstone
Worship Lunar, Solar
Access English Heritage - there is a charge to visit the stones
Extra notes Except on special occasions, visitors are unable to walk amongst the stones
This was created from Audio made for a British Airways audio cassette tour of the UK South of England.
Written and narrated by Blain Fairman in 1990.
Audio production by Robert Nichol AudioProductions London.
pictures added to this version 2008 by Robert Nichol to create a Youtube video

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) west of Amesbury and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC, however this was not the first stone structure on the site
The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury henge monument, and it is also a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge itself is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.
New archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project indicates that Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings
The dating of cremated remains found that burials took place as early as 3000 B.C, when the first ditches were being built around the monument. Burials continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years when the giant stones which mark the landmark were put up. According to Professor Mike Parker Pearson, head of Stonehenge Riverside Project
Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[TheFlemburger]

y the heck does the woman speaking hope to never find out why stonehenge was built :/

[TheFlemburger]

@sonofherne yes i agree. well said.

[UKDannyBoyy91]

@sonofherne How is it selfish? its just my opinion if we knew about how all the mysterious things on this planet how they came about and why its here etc then it be boring dont you like to think how things got here? all the different ways? thats what makes these stones great and so popular cause we dont know why there here and who did it etc if we KNEW all the long it wouldnt be AS popular but thats just my opinion.

[sonofherne]

@UKDannyBoyy91 That's very selfish and I don't think knowing would take anything away from the majesty of places like this. It's a bit like saying, I don't want to know how a car works as I'd soon like to believe it's being propelled along by horses under the hood and a fire breathing dragon in the back.

[sonofherne]

@isaacthegeek More like a causewayed enclosure. Stonehenge is a hybrid of megalithic building ideas at a time when we all could work together. Fancy, generations of your kin each working on a part, all but a few never actually seeing the final product. I think it was more about the act of building than what it was eventually used for when it was completed.

[sonofherne]

@AcidfartProductions Which would tell you what? The interior has already been largely dug, and geophysed. I know because I've seen the results. They know what's under it. Chalk, soil and bedrock. No bunker, no cave with sleeping knights.

[sonofherne]

@Standuble Correct! they have done one recently that shows a bit more, but even then there's no way there was no wipe out of the indigenous peoples. What they were thinking as saxon dna might not be at all. More saxon dna in the scots. The old idea of deposed celts in Scotland, Ireland and Wales is wrong. England is also "celtic" and in parts used to speak a celtic language up until 900 years ago.

[UKDannyBoyy91]

@browneye870 Oh of cause you wont say nevermind............

[UKDannyBoyy91]

@browneye870 Wow what?

[browneye870]

@UKDannyBoyy91 Wow.

[AcidfartProductions]

I would try digging under it...