WHERE?
    The stonehenge is situated on Salisbury Plain, near Amesbury in Wiltshire, England. It is celebrated as the finest Bronze Age megalithic monument in Europe.

WHEN?
    The monument as we have it today was the last stage in a long and complex series of stages as there were apparently four phases in the building of the stonehenge dating from 1800 BC to 1400 BC.

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WHO?
    Some say that it was built by the unknown people of ancient England who finished building the Stonehenge 2000 years before the Druids came to the Salisbury Plain. A more believable source sates that it was undoubtedly built by people who had widespread European trade connections who established their principle settlements in the area between 1600 and 1500 BC.

HOW?
    The monument itself consists of four concentric ranges of stones. The configuration is quite complicated. The outermost range is a circle, 30 m in diameter, of large sandstone rocks called sarsen stones. Within this circle is another circle smaller  blue stones which  encloses a horseshoe like shaped arrangement of five large sarsen stones. Within this circle is another smaller horseshoe like arrangement which encloses the "Alter Stone." Near the entrance lies the "Slaughter Stone." The bluestone is a mixture of rocks found on the Prescelly Mountains in SE Wales. The most widely accepted theory regards the arrival of the bluestones on Salisbury Plain as the result of human effort, with the route being partly overland and partly by water. Most of the missing stones disappeared during the Middle Ages onwards, as farmers and others used the monument as a quarry until it was officially preserved.

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WHY?
    The function or purpose of the Stonehenge has long been a matter of debate. Basically, it is related to the circular stone or wooden temples that were constructed in Britain during the Bronze Age. Nevertheless, it is structurally unique among European prehistoric monuments. An American astronomer concluded that the monument functioned as a means of predicting the positions of the sun and moon relative to the earth, and thereby the seasons, and perhaps also a simple calendar. There are some that relate it to the non-physical world due to the appearance of "Crop Circles" in the same area. Another theory is  that the stones were used to hang criminals back in 3,000 BC because Stonehenge means "hanging stones."

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FUN FACTS:
1. Early mention of Stonehenge was made in 1135 by chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth who claimed that it was brought by a tribe of giants from Africa to Ireland, and from there flown by the wizard Merlin across the sea.
2. Another legend claims that the stones were stolen from an Irish woman by the Devil, and re-erected on Salisbury Plain by Merlin for Ambrosius Aurelianus, the King of Britons.
3. Apparently, the best time to see the Stonehenge is early in the morning or in the evening, when it is not open to the public.
4. There is a theory is that numerous "barrows" in the area were arranged as a star map of the heavens.
5. In the 12th century, it was believed to be a monument over King Arthur's grave; another earlier notion was that Stonehenge was connected with the Druids, a caste of Celtic priests.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 For more info, check out these links:
http://www.stonepages.com/dmeozzi/England/England.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~shadowfax/sfstone.htm


 



 
 
Stonehenge
Great Wall
Pyramids
Leaning Tower
Taj Mahal
Hanging Gardens
Parthenon