Built in three sections over 6,400 years by the Neolithic inhabitants of Salisbury Plain in Southern England, Stonehenge has captivated visitors for thousands of years. The site contains 30 sarcens (upright stones) weighing 26 tons and 30 lintels (horizontal top stones). Each stone weighs 6 tons and was carved from bluestone from a location several miles away. The Neolithic builders were able to create a monumental that has perplexed humanity for thousands of years using only stone tools, and without using draft animals. Even after all these years, nobody really knows why Stonehenge was built. The other mysteries surrounding Stonehenge are its construction and the significance of the giant blue stones used. Also mysterious: the people who built Stonehenge (we know very little about them because they left no written history).
Theories
The theories about Stonehenge’s construction range from glaciers moving the enormous bluestones to ropes and timbers, to aliens. As for its purpose it has been said to be a temple, a secular calendar, and that the bluestones themselves have healing powers. As a result of the recent discovery of a vast number of burials around the site, a new theory has emerged, one that states that Stonehenge was a place to celebrate the lives of the dead.
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