According to the 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose tale of King Arthur and mythical account of English history were considered factual well into the Middle Ages, Stonehenge is the handiwork of the wizard Merlin. In the mid-fifth century, the story goes, hundreds of British nobles were slaughtered by the Saxons and buried on Salisbury Plain. Four of the sarsens at Stonehenge were adorned with hundreds of carvings depicting axe-heads and a few daggers. They appear to be bronze axes of the Arreton Down type, dating from about 1750–1500 BC. Perhaps these axes were a symbol of power or status within early Bronze Age society, or were related in some way to nearby round barrow burials. [10]

When English Heritage learned of his story, they allowed him to spend an hour among the stones by himself before the 10,000 or so revellers arrived. It was a real ‘let’s do it’ moment,” said Mr Rodger-Sharp. “Ironically, Glenn was visiting Stonehenge on the day I rang him so felt he had to accept — it was as though it was fate. Once farming spread from Europe to Britain around 4000 BC, communities in Britain and Ireland redefined their relationship with nature and the land. Farming, introduced by European migrant communities, replaced the old ways of hunting and gathering. 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. In 1877, naturalist Charles Darwin traveled to Stonehenge to conduct research on a subject that had long fascinated him: earthworms. During his visit, Darwin, who was interested in the impact that worms had on objects in the soil over time, observed how a fallen stone at the ancient monument had sunk deeper into the ground as a result of the activities of the lowly creatures, who continually churn through the soil. Darwin’s research was included in what would be his final book, “The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms,” published in 1881. 7. Stonehenge is just one of several prehistoric stone circles in Great Britain.Development pressures are present and require careful management. Impacts from existing intrusive development should be mitigated where possible. It is possible that features such as the Heel Stone and the low mound known as the North Barrow were early components of Stonehenge, [3] but the earliest known major event was the construction of a circular ditch with an inner and outer bank, built about 3000 BC. This enclosed an area about 100 metres in diameter, and had two entrances. It was an early form of henge monument. [4] Those long-distance connections are being demonstrated through science, and that’s really helpful to understand that Stonehenge wasn’t an isolated culture, they were actually really interconnected,” Wilkin said. First held in 1974 during the summer solstice, the Stonehenge Free Festival started as a counter-culture gathering that grew significantly in size over time. After tens of thousands of people showed up for the 1984 festival, authorities, concerned about such issues as open drug use, banned the event for the following year. Nevertheless, on June 1, 1985, a long convoy of vehicles filled with would-be festival goers (who were part of a movement called the New Age Travellers) made its way toward Stonehenge.

Stonehenge’s builders raised the stones using joints normally found only in woodworking, and not seen at any other prehistoric monument. This makes it the most architecturally sophisticated surviving stone circle in the world. It is important to maintain and enhance the improvements to monuments achieved through grass restoration and to avoid erosion of earthen monuments and buried archaeology through visitor pressure and burrowing animals. From a study of the tree rings, it is known that Seahenge was built in the spring or summer of 2049 BC, at a time when stone tools and weapons were rapidly being replaced by metal as the material of choice for social and economic life and for offerings to supernatural forces. During that period, circles of wood and stone were in decline. Seahenge was constructed near the end of a religious tradition that had lasted for almost a millennium. Why did Stonehenge fall out of use? Marking the passage of time was important to many ancient cultures. For the people of Stonehenge who were farmers, growing crops and tending herds of animals, knowing when the seasons were changing was important. Winter might have been a time of fear as the days grew shorter and colder. People must have longed for the return of light and warmth. Marking this yearly cycle may have been one of the reasons that Neolithic people constructed Stonehenge – a monument aligned to the movements of the sun.There is a need to strengthen understanding of the overall relationship between remains, both buried and standing, at Stonehenge and at Avebury. He said: “It’s true what they say about them being addictive — I just want something on the other arm to balance it. I’d worried what my husband would think as he’s not a fan of tattoos but he’s fairly neutral and says it’s a nice design. I’ve never liked tattoos so perhaps this was a mid-life crisis. Stonehenge has always been part of me so I didn’t think there was a better way of showing it off. This survival and the huge potential of buried archaeology make the property an extremely important resource for archaeological research, which continues to uncover new evidence and expand our understanding of prehistory. Present day research has enormously improved our understanding of the property.

Stonehenge is one of the most impressive prehistoric megalithic monuments in the world on account of the sheer size of its megaliths, the sophistication of its concentric plan and architectural design, the shaping of the stones - uniquely using both Wiltshire Sarsen sandstone and Pembroke Bluestone - and the precision with which it was built. I couldn’t believe I’d done it afterwards, that I’d permanently marked myself like that but I did think it was cool. About a third of the property at both Stonehenge and Avebury is owned and managed by conservation bodies: English Heritage, a non-departmental government body, and the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds which are both charities. Agri-environment schemes, an example of partnership working between private landowners and Natural England (a non-departmental government body), are very important for protecting and enhancing the setting of prehistoric monuments through measures such as grass restoration and scrub control. Much of the property can be accessed through public rights of way as well as permissive paths and open access provided by some agri-environment schemes. Managed open access is provided at Solstice. There are a significant number of private households within the property and local residents therefore have an important role in its stewardship He went to the salon with Kate Tooley, who works in his shop and was getting a smaller tattoo in memory of a loved one. In the early Bronze Age, one of the greatest concentrations of round barrows in Britain was built in the area around Stonehenge. Many barrow groups appear to have been deliberately located on hilltops visible from Stonehenge itself, such as those on King Barrow Ridge and the particularly rich burials at the Normanton Down cemetery.We don’t know exactly how the stones were brought to Stonehenge, but some of them – the bluestones – came from the Preseli Hills in south-west Wales, over 150 miles (250km) away. 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. These are inklings of astronomical knowledge that we are really surprised people had,” Wilkin said.