Myths about Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a massive circle of stones, on the Salisbury plains in Wiltshire. It is Britain's most famous and impressive prehistoric site.

 There are several myths attached to it. One story says that the wizard Merlin transported it from Ireland to England. Another says that it is a druid temple where human sacrifice was offered.

According to the archaeologists, Stonehenge was built in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age periods. The earliest construction was an outer circle 321 feet in diameter, surrounded by a ditch. Just inside the bank 56 pits were dug up, but are filled up now. These are called 'Aubrey Holes'. In the northeast a gap forms the entrance. There is a large flat stone which is known as the slaughter stone o sacrificial altar. Along the pathway called the 'Avenue' is another large stone called Heel Stone. in about 2400 BC, the early Bronze age people or the Beaker folk added two circles of blue stones in the center of the site.

Later in about 2100 B.C. the blue stones were replaced by the massive sarcen sand-stone blocks. Some of these stones were 30 feet long and weighed 49 tons. These were replaced in a perfect circle, of 30 uprights capped with horizontal or lintel pieces. The lintels are dove-tailed into each other and held in position by mortice and tenon joints. The blue stones were again added just around the altar stone.

It is likely that it was a place to worship Sun but it might have also functioned as an observatory, proving that the bronze age people had an advanced knowledge of geometry and astronomy.