Stonehenge

For other uses, see Stonehenge (disambiguation).

Stonehenge
Stonehenge in July 2007
Stonehenge is located in Wiltshire
Stonehenge
Map of Wiltshire showing the location of Stonehenge
LocationWiltshire, England
RegionSalisbury Plain
Coordinates51°10′44″N 1°49′34″W / 51.17889°N 1.82611°W / 51.17889; -1.82611
TypeMonument
HeightEach standing stone was around 13 ft (4.0 m) high
History
MaterialSarsen, Bluestone
FoundedNeolithic and Bronze Age
Site notes
Excavation datesMultiple
OwnershipThe Crown
ManagementEnglish Heritage
Websitewww.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii
Designated1986 (10th session)
Part ofStonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
Reference no.373
RegionEurope and North America
Official nameStonehenge, the Avenue, and three barrows adjacent to the Avenue forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Countess Farm[1]
Designated18 August 1882; 142 years ago (1882-08-18)
Reference no.1010140[1]

Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones, held in place with mortise and tenon joints, a feature unique among contemporary monuments.[2][3] Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli (burial mounds).[4]

Stonehenge was constructed in several phases beginning about 3100 BC and continuing until about 1600 BC. The famous circle of large sarsen stones were placed between 2600 BC and 2400 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the bluestones were given their current positions between 2400 and 2200 BC,[5] although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.[6][7][8]

One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon.[9] It has been a legally protected scheduled monument since 1882,[1] when the Ancient Monuments Protection Act was passed in the UK. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.[10][11]

Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.[12] Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another 500 years.[13]

  1. ^ a b c Historic England. "Stonehenge, the Avenue, and three barrows adjacent to the Avenue forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Countess Farm (1010140)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  2. ^ Anon. "Stonehenge : Wiltshire England What is it?". Megalithic Europe. The Bradshaw Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  3. ^ Alexander, Caroline. "If the Stones Could Speak: Searching for the Meaning of Stonehenge". National Geographic Magazine. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 28 September 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  4. ^ Young, Christopher; Chadburn, Amanda; Bedu, Isabelle (January 2009). "Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan 2009" (PDF). UNESCO: 20–22.
  5. ^ Morgan, James (21 September 2008). "Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC News was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Scott, Julie; Selwyn, Tom (2010). Thinking Through Tourism. Berg. p. 191.
  10. ^ "History of Stonehenge". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016. The monument remained in private ownership until 1918 when Cecil Chubb, a local man who had purchased Stonehenge from the Antrobus family at an auction three years previously, gave it to the nation. Thereafter, the duty to conserve the monument fell to the state, today a role performed on its behalf by English Heritage.
  11. ^ "Ancient ceremonial landscape of great archaeological and wildlife interest". Stonehenge Landscape. National Trust. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  12. ^ Pitts, Mike (8 August 2008). "Stonehenge: one of our largest excavations draws to a close". British Archaeology (102): 13. ISSN 1357-4442.
  13. ^ Schmid, Randolph E. (29 May 2008). "Study: Stonehenge was a burial site for centuries". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.