Why is stonehenge impressive

The careful siting of monuments in relation to the landscape helps us to further understand the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Criterion i : The monuments of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites demonstrate outstanding creative and technological achievements in prehistoric times. Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world. It is unrivalled in its design and unique engineering, featuring huge horizontal stone lintels capping the outer circle and the trilithons, locked together by carefully shaped joints.

It is distinguished by the unique use of two different kinds of stones Bluestones and Sarsens , their size the largest weighing over 40 t and the distance they were transported up to km.

The sheer scale of some of the surrounding monuments is also remarkable: the Stonehenge Cursus and the Avenue are both about 3 km long, while Durrington Walls is the largest known henge in Britain, around m in diameter, demonstrating the ability of prehistoric peoples to conceive, design and construct features of great size and complexity.

Avebury prehistoric stone circle is the largest in the world. The encircling henge consists of a huge bank and ditch 1. Leading from two of its four entrances, the West Kennet and Beckhampton Avenues of parallel standing stones still connect it with other monuments in the landscape. Another outstanding monument, Silbury Hill, is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Built around BC, it stands The purpose of this imposing, skilfully engineered monument remains obscure.

Criterion ii : The World Heritage property provides an outstanding illustration of the evolution of monument construction and of the continual use and shaping of the landscape over more than years, from the early Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

The monuments and landscape have had an unwavering influence on architects, artists, historians and archaeologists, and still retain a huge potential for future research. The megalithic and earthen monuments of the World Heritage property demonstrate the shaping of the landscape through monument building for around years from circa BC, reflecting the importance and wide influence of both areas.

Since the 12th century when Stonehenge was considered one of the wonders of the world by the chroniclers Henry de Huntington and Geoffrey de Monmouth, the Stonehenge and Avebury Sites have excited curiosity and been the subject of study and speculation. Since early investigations by John Aubrey , Inigo Jones , and William Stukeley , they have had an unwavering influence on architects, archaeologists, artists and historians.

The two parts of the World Heritage property provide an excellent opportunity for further research. Criterion iii : The complexes of monuments at Stonehenge and Avebury provide an exceptional insight into the funerary and ceremonial practices in Britain in the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Together with their settings and associated sites, they form landscapes without parallel. The design, position and interrelationship of the monuments and sites are evidence of a wealthy and highly organised prehistoric society able to impose its concepts on the environment. An outstanding example is the alignment of the Stonehenge Avenue probably a processional route and Stonehenge stone circle on the axis of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, indicating their ceremonial and astronomical character.

At Avebury the length and size of some of the features such as the West Kennet Avenue, which connects the Henge to the Sanctuary over 2 km away, are further evidence of this. A profound insight into the changing mortuary culture of the periods is provided by the use of Stonehenge as a cremation cemetery, by the West Kennet Long Barrow, the largest known Neolithic stone-chambered collective tomb in southern England, and by the hundreds of other burial sites illustrating evolving funerary rites.

The boundaries of the property capture the attributes that together convey Outstanding Universal Value at Stonehenge and Avebury. They contain the major Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that exemplify the creative genius and technological skills for which the property is inscribed. The Avebury and Stonehenge landscapes are extensive, both being around 25 square kilometres, and capture the relationship between the monuments as well as their landscape setting.

The setting of some key monuments extends beyond the boundary. Provision of buffer zones or planning guidance based on a comprehensive setting study should be considered to protect the setting of both individual monuments and the overall setting of the property. The survival of the Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments at both Stonehenge and Avebury is exceptional and remarkable given their age — they were built and used between around and BC. Stone and earth monuments retain their original design and materials.

The timber structures have disappeared but postholes indicate their location. Monuments have been regularly maintained and repaired as necessary.

Stonehenge is just one part of a larger sacred landscape that contains many other stone and wooden structures as well as burials. Archaeologists have also found evidence for widespread prehistoric hunting and a road that may have led to Stonehenge. From what scientists can tell, Salisbury Plain was considered to be a sacred area long before Stonehenge itself was constructed.

As early as 10, years ago, three large pine posts, which were totem poles of sorts, were erected at the site. Hunting played an important role in the area. Researchers have uncovered roughly animal bones and 12, flint tools or fragments, just a mile away from Stonehenge, the finds dating from B. The presence of abundant game may have led people to consider the area sacred. Dozens of burial mounds have been discovered near Stonehenge indicating that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were buried there in ancient times.

At least 17 shrines, some in the shape of a circle, have also been discovered near Stonehenge. A " House of the Dead " was recently discovered near Stonehenge that dates to B.

Those logs were likely heavily greased with pig fat, according to a Newcastle University press release. Archaeologists studying pottery fragments at the site believe the original containers were more likely large buckets used to catch the animal fat as the pigs were "spit-roasted. After cracks were found in one of the sarsen stones during excavations in , workers drilled cylindrical cores from the stone before inserting metal rods to secure it. The three core samples seemed to vanish afterward, but as CNN reports , one of them reappeared six decades later.

It turns out one of the workers had saved the centimeter-long core, displaying it on a wall in his office. He returned it to English Heritage in May , on the eve of his 90th birthday, and researchers say studying this core could reveal new insights about the origins of the sarsen stones.

To raise the stones, a large hole was dug, with half of the hole lined with wooden stakes. The stone would be moved into position and forced upright using ropes and possibly a wooden structure; the hole was then packed tightly with rubble.

To secure the upright stones with the horizontal lintels, Stonehenge's builders made mortise holes and protruding tenons to ensure stability. The lintels were then fit together using tongue-and-groove joints. Those who have never visited Stonehenge may imagine it's a sacred site secluded in idyllic natural surroundings, but in fact, there's a major highway less than yards from the stones.

In addition, the site is surrounded by what Brittania. Stonehenge has become such a recognizable symbol that it has made cameo appearances in many cultural features. It was in the Beatles' film "Help!

And let's not forget "National Lampoon's European Vacation," in which Clark Griswold bumps into one of the stones and knocks them all down, one by one, like a giant stack of dominoes. But how were the ginormous boulders lifted to their standing position? They then used ropes and strong wooden poles and frames to raise them up, before packing the ditches with rocks and rubble to hold them in place.

Once again, no one really knows for sure. But the stones themselves give us a few clues, which have given rise to many different theories…. Each year, on 21 June the longest day of the year , the sun always rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge — a single large sarsen stone which stands outside of the main monument. And the sun always sets over the Heel Stone on the shortest day of the year. But one thing is for sure — Stonehenge was used as a cemetery. Experts estimate that about people are buried on the grounds.

They also think that important funeral ceremonies would have been performed at the site — though why the dead were laid to rest there, no one knows…. While you wait for it to be checked and approved why not to add a pre-selected message and a cool badge.