Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of Ambursery. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 feet high, seven feet wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.

One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected Scheduled ancient monument since 1882 when legislation to protect historic monuments was first successfully introduced in Britain. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World heritage sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crownand managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National trust.

Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another five hundred years.

The Neolithic Britons who built the monument are genetically distinct from the Modern British. There is evidence to suggest that over 90% of the Neolithic British DNA was overturned by a population from the Lower Rhine characterized by the Bell Baker culture, who likely spoke an Indo-European language. It is not known if warfare, disease or just continuous large scale immigration caused their replacement.