Overview
The monument’s great sarsen stones, some over 7 metres tall and weighing around 25 tonnes, are arranged in a ring topped by horizontal lintels, with smaller bluestones — brought about 250 km from the Preseli hills in Wales — set inside. It was raised in several phases over centuries, beginning as an earthwork and burial site.
Description
Its exact purpose is unknown; the alignment on the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset points to ritual and astronomical use, and it was a place of burial and gathering. Modern archaeology has replaced older myths that credited it to the Romans or to Merlin.
History and legacy
Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an emblem of prehistoric Britain, drawing crowds at the solstices. It remains a focus of research into Neolithic society and belief.