Stonehenge: the prehistoric enigma of the English plain

In the middle of a wind-swept plain, colossal blocks of stone rise in a circle, some capped with lintels balanced in place for forty centuries. At the dawn of the summer solstice, the sun rises exactly along the monument's axis, sliding its first rays between the stones as if by appointment. No one knows for certain why prehistoric people accomplished such a feat. This is the whole vertigo of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle raised on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, in southern England. Built in stages between 3000 and 2000 BCE, it is among the most famous and most enigmatic monuments in the world. Aligned with the sun at the solstices, built with stones brought from afar, it remains an open question. To understand it is to accept the irreducible share of mystery it keeps.

A construction spanning centuries#

Stonehenge was not built in a single sweep, but over several phases spread across centuries. Around 3000 BCE, a circular ditch and bank were first dug, accompanied by holes where timbers or stones may have stood. It was only around 2500 BCE that the stone circle we know rose, at the hinge of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.

The builders of that era knew neither writing, nor iron, nor the wheel as we imagine it for such loads. That a prehistoric society could organise the transport, shaping and raising of blocks weighing several tonnes attests to considerable social coordination and know-how. Stonehenge is not only a monument: it is proof of a civilisation capable of great collective projects.

Stonehenge left us neither text nor name: only stones, raised with an obstinacy that still defies our understanding.

Stones brought from afar#

The monument combines two types of stone. The most imposing are the sarsens, enormous blocks of sandstone that can weigh some twenty tonnes, raised in a circle and capped with lintels. A remarkable detail: these lintels are fixed to the uprights by a system of tenons and mortises, borrowed from carpentry, which ensures the stability of the whole — a striking ingenuity for the time.

Inside are the famous bluestones, smaller but more mysterious still: geological analyses have shown that they come from the Preseli hills, in Wales, about 250 kilometres away. How and why people brought stones of several tonnes over such a distance, by land or by sea, remains one of the great questions of prehistoric archaeology.

A monument turned towards the sun#

Stonehenge's most striking feature is its astronomical alignment. Its main axis points towards the sunrise at the summer solstice and, at the opposite end, towards the sunset at the winter solstice. This deliberate orientation proves that its builders observed the sky and attached great importance to the rhythm of the sun — no doubt linked to the agricultural calendar and to seasonal ceremonies.

Beyond this certainty, the site's functions remain debated. It has been seen as a temple, an observatory and solar calendar, a vast funerary place — cremated human remains have been found there — even a healing site to which people came to seek the virtue of the bluestones. None of these hypotheses excludes the others, and none commands unanimity: Stonehenge was probably all of these at once, and more.

Druids, legends and received ideas#

A stubborn idea makes Stonehenge a temple of the Celtic druids. Yet the druids appeared long after the monument was built, which precedes them by more than two thousand years: they had nothing to do with it. This association, popularised in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, belongs to legend more than to history, as do the medieval tales that attributed the site to the wizard Merlin.

Today, Stonehenge has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1986 and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. At each solstice, neo-druids and the curious gather there to greet the sun, prolonging in their own way a millennia-old dialogue between stone and sky. To discover it is to learn to live with an enigma — and to learn English is to be able to read what researchers and enthusiasts still write, tirelessly, to try to pierce the secret of these standing stones.

FAQ#

When was Stonehenge built? Stonehenge was built in stages between about 3000 and 2000 BCE, at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The stone circle as we know it was raised around 2500 BCE.

What was Stonehenge used for? Its function remains debated. The main hypotheses make it a temple, a solar calendar or observatory and a funerary place, with some also seeing it as a healing site. None excludes the others, and the monument probably had several uses.

Where do the stones of Stonehenge come from? The large sarsen sandstones come from the surrounding area, but the smaller "bluestones" were transported from the Preseli hills in Wales, about 250 kilometres away, a feat whose exact course is still unknown.

Was Stonehenge built by the druids? No. The Celtic druids came long after Stonehenge, which precedes them by more than two thousand years. The association between Stonehenge and the druids is a legend popularised in the modern era, without historical foundation.

Photo credits: the images used in this article come from Pexels and Unsplash and are royalty-free.