Stonehenge, Prehistoric stone circle in Wiltshire, England
Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of Amesbury. Its outer ring of sarsen uprights, each about 4 m high, 2.1 m wide and 25 tons, is topped by lintels fixed with mortise and tenon joints; inside stand smaller bluestones and free-standing trilithons, now partly ruined.
The first monument was a circular ditch and bank dug about 3000 BC, enclosing an area roughly 100 metres across with two entrances and 56 pits known as the Aubrey Holes. The sarsen circle and trilithons were raised around 2500 BC, and the bluestones were set in their present positions between 2400 and 2200 BC. About 64 cremations found in and around the Aubrey Holes make it the largest late Neolithic cemetery in the British Isles.
The name derives from Old English stān and hencg or hen(c)en, giving "hinged" or "hanging stones", recorded as Stanheng near Salisbury by 11th-century writers. The henge earthwork type takes its name from this monument. Visitors today see the solstice alignment: sunrise at midsummer and sunset at midwinter line up with the stones.
The stone circle is reached from the visitor centre by a shuttle bus or a walk of about 30 minutes across the plain. A roped path circles the stones, and the ground is uneven grass. Opening is daily from 9.30am, with last entry at 3pm; booking ahead saves up to 15%.
The outer sarsen lintels are fixed with mortise and tenon joints, a woodworking technique otherwise unknown in contemporary stone monuments. The bluestones came from the Preseli Hills in south-west Wales, and the Altar Stone from near Milford Haven; how they travelled some 240 kilometres is still debated.
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