Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument 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. 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. 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.
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch,with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches would have served defensive purposes poorly,henges are not considered to have been defensive constructions. The three henge types are as follows,with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area:
- Henge. The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork of the Neolithic period,typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area of more than 20 m (66 ft) in diameter. There is typically little if any evidence of occupation in a henge,although they may contain ritual structures such as stone circles,timber circles and coves. Henge monument is sometimes used as a synonym for henge. Henges sometimes,but by no means always,featured stone or timber circles,and circle henge is sometimes used to describe these structures. The three largest stone circles in Britain are each within a henge. Examples of henges without significant internal monuments are the three henges of Thornborough Henges. Although having given its name to the word henge,Stonehenge is atypical in that the ditch is outside the main earthwork bank.
- Hengiform monument. Like an ordinary henge,except the central flat area is between 5 and 20 m (16–66 ft) in diameter,they comprise a modest earthwork with a fairly wide outer bank. The terms Mini henge or Dorchester henge are sometimes used as synonyms for hengiform monument. An example is the Neolithic site at Wormy Hillock Henge.
- Henge enclosure. A Neolithic ring earthwork with the ditch inside the bank,with the central flat area having abundant evidence of occupation and usually being more than 300 m (980 ft) in diameter. Some true henges are as large as this,but lack evidence of domestic occupation. Super henge is sometimes used as a synonym for a henge enclosure. However,sometimes Super henge is used to indicate size alone rather than use,e.g. "Marden henge ... is the least understood of the four British 'superhenges' ".
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles,around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire,in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain,it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.
A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. It is an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks,with a number of causeways crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded in France and 70 in Southern England and Wales,while further sites are known in Scandinavia,Belgium,Germany,Italy,Ireland and Slovakia.
Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. It lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington,just north of Amesbury in Wiltshire. The henge is the second-largest Late Neolithic palisaded enclosure known in the United Kingdom,after Hindwell in Wales.
The Thornborough Henges are an unusual ancient monument complex that includes the three aligned henges that give the site its name. They are located on a raised plateau above the River Ure near the village of Thornborough in North Yorkshire,England. The site includes many large ancient structures including a cursus,henges,burial grounds and settlements.
The Sanctuary was a stone and timber circle near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Excavation has revealed the location of the 58 stone sockets and 62 post-holes. The ring was part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain,Ireland,and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age,over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown,although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders.
Michael Parker Pearson,is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of the Neolithic British Isles,Madagascar and the archaeology of death and burial. A professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology,he previously worked for 25 years as a professor at the University of Sheffield in England,and was the director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. A prolific author,he has also written a variety of books on the subject.
Caroline Ann Tuke Malone is a British academic and archaeologist. She was Professor of Prehistory at Queen's University,Belfast from 2013 and is now emeritus professor.
Figsbury Ring is an 11.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire,notified in 1975. It is owned and managed by the National Trust.
The Stonehenge Riverside Project was a major Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded archaeological research study of the development of the Stonehenge landscape in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. In particular,the project examined the relationship between the Stones and surrounding monuments and features,including the River Avon,Durrington Walls,the Cursus,the Avenue,Woodhenge,burial mounds,and nearby standing stones. The project involved a substantial amount of fieldwork and ran from 2003 to 2009. It found that Stonehenge was built 500 years earlier than previously thought. The monument is believed to have been built to unify the peoples of Britain. It also found a previously unknown stone circle,Bluestonehenge.
Timothy Darvill OBE is an English archaeologist and author,best known for his publications on prehistoric Britain and his excavations in England,Wales,and the Isle of Man. He is Professor of Archaeology in the Faculty of Science and Technology Bournemouth University in England. In April 2008 he co-directed excavations within Stonehenge,together with Professor Geoffrey Wainwright and Dr Miles Russell,to examine the early stone structures on the site. The work featured heavily in a BBC Timewatch programme which examined the theory that Stonehenge was a prehistoric centre of healing. He was appointed OBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours.
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3300 to 900 BCE in Britain,Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that around 4,000 of these monuments were originally constructed in this part of north-western Europe during this period. Around 1,300 of them are recorded,the others having been destroyed.
Miles Russell,is a British archaeologist best known for his work and publications on the prehistoric and Roman periods and for his appearances in television programmes such as Time Team and Harry Hill's TV Burp.
Terence Meaden is an English author who writes on archaeoastronomy,mostly focusing on the megalithic sites of Avebury,Stonehenge and the Drombeg stone circle in Cork,Ireland. He is a retired physicist with a doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Oxford and a master's degree in applied landscape archaeology also from University of Oxford. Meaden is influenced by the work of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas who wrote about the Goddess worshipping Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of "Old Europe".
Falkner's Circle was a stone circle near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Built from twelve sarsen megaliths,it measured about 37 metres (121 ft) in diameter,although only one of these stones remains standing.
Winterbourne Bassett Stone Circle is the remains of a stone circle near the village of Winterbourne Bassett in Wiltshire,South West England. Investigations in the 18th and 19th centuries found evidence of an outer and inner ring,and a single central stone;today six stones are visible although none remain upright.
Clatford Stone Circle,also known as The Broadstones,was a stone circle located in the village of Clatford in the south-western English county of Wiltshire.
Tisbury Stone Circle and Henge was a stone circle and henge in Tisbury,Wiltshire. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age.
Broome Stone Circle was a stone circle located in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. The ring was part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain,Ireland,and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age,over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown,although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders.
