However, following a European Court of Human Rights ruling obtained by campaigners such as Arthur Uther Pendragon, the restrictions were lifted. [98] The ruling recognized that members of any genuine religion have a right to worship in their own church, and Stonehenge is a place of worship to Neo-Druids, Pagans and other "Earth based' or 'old' religions. [100] Meetings were organised by the National Trust and others to discuss the arrangements. [101] In 1998, a party of 100 people was allowed access and these included astronomers, archaeologists, Druids, locals, pagans and travellers. [101] In 2000, an open summer solstice event was held and about seven thousand people attended. [101] In 2001, the numbers increased to about 10,000. [101] Setting and access Stonehenge at sunset The Stonehenge quiz is a great way to assess your children's understanding of the topic, and what they need further help with. Helping you teach your KS2 children all about Stonehenge In July 2020, a study led by David Nash of the University of Brighton concluded that the large sarsen stones were "a direct chemical match" to those found at West Woods near Marlborough, Wiltshire, some 15 miles (25km) north of Stonehenge. [140] A core sample, originally extracted in 1958, had recently been returned. First the fifty-two sarsens were analysed using methods including x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to determine their chemical composition which revealed they were mostly similar. Then the core was destructively analysed and compared with stone samples from various locations in southern Britain. Fifty of the fifty-two megaliths were found to match sarsens in West Woods, thereby identifying the probable origin of the stones. [140] [141] [142] Stone 22 fell during a fierce storm on 31 December 1900. [116] An early photograph of Stonehenge taken July 1877 The monument from a similar angle in 2008 showing the extent of reconstruction A contemporary newspaper depiction of the 1920 restoration 1901–2000 Stonehenge from the air. Taken by 2nd Lt Philip Henry Sharpe in Summer 1906 from a Royal Engineers' tethered balloon. Needham, S. (2005). "Transforming Beaker Culture in North-West Europe: processes of fusion and fission". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. 71: 171–217. doi: 10.1017/s0079497x00001006. S2CID 193226917.

The Heel Stone, a Tertiary sandstone, may also have been erected outside the north-eastern entrance during this period. It cannot be accurately dated and may have been installed at any time during phase 3. At first, it was accompanied by a second stone, which is no longer visible. Two, or possibly three, large portal stones were set up just inside the north-eastern entrance, of which only one, the fallen Slaughter Stone, 16 feet (4.9m) long, now remains. Other features, loosely dated to phase 3, include the four Station Stones, two of which stood atop mounds. The mounds are known as " barrows" although they do not contain burials. Stonehenge Avenue, a parallel pair of ditches and banks leading two miles (3km) to the River Avon, was also added. Through the doors of a university building, down a concrete hallway and inside a foam-covered room stands a shin-high replica of one of the most mysterious monuments ever built: Stonehenge. On 14 July 2023, the Department for Transport announced that, despite the original planning application having been overturned by the High Court in 2021, the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, had approved plans for a 2mi (3.2km) road tunnel. [139] Origin of sarsens and bluestones

What Tools Did They Use To Build Stonehenge?

Newall, R. S., Stonehenge, Wiltshire – Ancient monuments and historic buildings (Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1959) In the early Bronze Age, one of the greatest concentrations of round barrows in Britain was built in the area around Stonehenge. Many barrow groups appear to have been deliberately located on hilltops visible from Stonehenge itself, such as those on King Barrow Ridge and the particularly rich burials at the Normanton Down cemetery. Hi - I'm going to be using the fact files and questions as a comprehension task before my class's trip to Stonehenge next week. I've spotted several typos: On the other hand, Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University has suggested that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. He suggests that the area around Durrington Walls Henge was a place of the living, whilst Stonehenge was a domain of the dead. A journey along the Avon to reach Stonehenge was part of a ritual passage from life to death, to celebrate past ancestors and the recently deceased. [41] Both explanations were first mooted in the twelfth century by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who extolled the curative properties of the stones and was also the first to advance the idea that Stonehenge was constructed as a funerary monument. Whatever religious, mystical or spiritual elements were central to Stonehenge, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to a contemporary religion. [51] At about the same time, a large timber circle and a second avenue were constructed at Durrington Walls overlooking the River Avon. The timber circle was orientated towards the rising Sun on the midwinter solstice, opposing the solar alignments at Stonehenge. The avenue was aligned with the setting Sun on the summer solstice and led from the river to the timber circle. Evidence of huge fires on the banks of the Avon between the two avenues also suggests that both circles were linked. They were perhaps used as a procession route on the longest and shortest days of the year. Parker Pearson speculates that the wooden circle at Durrington Walls was the centre of a 'land of the living', whilst the stone circle represented a 'land of the dead', with the Avon serving as a journey between the two. [41] Stonehenge 3 III (2400 BC to 2280 BC)

Rivers, Julian (2010). The Law of Organized Religions: Between Establishment and Secularism. Oxford University Press. p.231. The second phase of construction occurred approximately between 2900 and 2600 BC. [33] The number of postholes dating to the early third millennium BC suggests that some form of timber structure was built within the enclosure during this period. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast entrance, and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes, being only around 16 inches (0.4m) in diameter, and are much less regularly spaced. The bank was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase two. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, [33] the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles. Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been found in the ditch-fill. Dating evidence is provided by the late Neolithic grooved ware pottery that has been found in connection with the features from this phase. The Future of Stonehenge: Public consultation" (PDF). English Heritage. 2008. p.2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2011 . Retrieved 18 July 2011. The "henge" portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as henges. [12] Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. [14] As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian use. Because the wheel, pulley, and diesel engines were not yet invented, most theories claim that construction took brute force and that many oxen placed these massive stones. Wooden cranks, timber rafts, and stone axes were most likely used in the past.One of the most notable findings from Cox's research is the effect of the stones on the directionality of the voice. In an open, natural environment, like the grassy hill Stonehenge is built on, a speaker facing away from a listener would only be understood about one-third of the time. The reflections from the stones at Stonehenge would have amplified the voice by four decibels, bringing the number of sentences understood to 100%. a b Mike Parker Pearson (20 August 2008). "The Stonehenge Riverside Project". Sheffield University. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008 . Retrieved 22 September 2008. Tabletop Wargaming Stonehenge Pre-Painted Set - 28mm Wargame Terrain/AOS Scenery/Landscape Model Miniatures/Scatter Terrain Pitts, M. W., "On the Road to Stonehenge: Report on Investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979 and 1980" ( Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 48, 1982)

Around 2500 BC, Stonehenge’s first stones were built. This monument is thought to have been built to predict and monitor the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.Excavations were once again carried out in 1978 by Atkinson and John Evans, during which they discovered the remains of the Stonehenge Archer in the outer ditch, [121] and in 1979 rescue archaeology was needed alongside the Heel Stone after a cable-laying ditch was mistakenly dug on the roadside, revealing a new stone hole next to the Heel Stone. Richard Atkinson, Stuart Piggott and John F. S. Stone re-excavated much of Hawley's work in the 1940s and 1950s, and discovered the carved axes and daggers on the Sarsen Stones. Atkinson's work was instrumental in furthering the understanding of the three major phases of the monument's construction. In 1958 the stones were restored again, when three of the standing sarsens were re-erected and set in concrete bases. The last restoration was carried out in 1963 after stone 23 of the Sarsen Circle fell over. It was again re-erected, and the opportunity was taken to concrete three more stones. Later archaeologists, including Christopher Chippindale of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Brian Edwards of the University of the West of England, campaigned to give the public more knowledge of the various restorations and in 2004 English Heritage included pictures of the work in progress in its book Stonehenge: A History in Photographs. [118] [119] [120] Stonehenge, the Avenue, and three barrows adjacent to the Avenue forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Countess Farm [1] Whittle, Alasdair (1996). "Eternal stones: Stonehenge completed". Antiquity. 70 (268): 463–465. doi: 10.1017/S0003598X00083459. S2CID 163697929.