The Stonehenge stands frozen in time as a prehistoric monument in the heart of Wiltshire, England. The 5000-year-old Stonehenge rests as a testament, beginning construction around 2550 B.C.E to 1600 B.C.E, Neolithic age to Bronze age.
Most controversies border around what the actual purpose of Stonehenge was. The only thing archaeologist seem …show more content…
In this time the henge was built. The henge a ditch 2 meters deep and almost 110 meters in diameter. Inside the henge 56 pits were dug about 1 meter long each called Aubrey holes, named after the 17th century archaeologist from England who discovered them.
Then commenced phase 2 100 – 200 years later. In this time, upright wooden posts were places in the center of the henge and near the two entrances. In 2nd phase it is believed that was used for burials. Evidence suggests that 25 or more of the Aubrey holes were used for cremation burials and 30 more cremation pits were dug into the henge.
Phase 3 began 400 – 500 years later when the remaining stones and posts were removed from the holes and 30 boulders surfaced within Stonehenge. The circle, about 33 m in diameter, consisting of 30 huge boulders is now about 30 m in diameter. (source …show more content…
Some of these beginning as early on as the 1620’s when Duke of Buckingham commenced the very first excavation at the site provoked by a visit from king James. King James then got architect Inigo Jones to study the stones, the first official theory on Stonehenge was that it was built by the Romans as they were very ahead of their time therefore it must have been thought that they had futuristic machinery to move the stones however, there was no evidence of roman activity in the area. In the late 17th century John Aubrey surveyed the stones and found the Aubrey Holes, which are now named after him. He believed that Stonehenge was not built by Romans or Danes as previous theories suggested, rather that they were made by the residents of that area at the time. His other theory was left to the druids as they were the only prehistoric priests they had knowledge of. By the 18th century William Stukeley added to Aubrey’s theory about the druids after surveying the site and recorded the Avenue and nearby cursus. William Gowland, a professor leaded excavations surrounding the base of the stone promptly after one stone had fallen. Another excavation was carried out by Lieutenant-Colonel William Hawley between 1919 and 1926. This time, most of the south-eastern half was excavated. In 1966 to 1967 they discovered Mesolithic postholes. In 1978 they