Stonehenge

Stonehenge – a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, near Salisbury. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the standing stones were erected around 2200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC.

Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. The dating of cremated remains found that burials took place as early as 3000 B.C, when the first ditches were being built around the monument. Burials continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years when the giant stones which mark the landmark were put up.

• Hidden Stonehenge – A host of previously unknown archaeological monuments have been discovered around Stonehenge as part of an unprecedented digital mapping project, including remarkable new findings on the world’s largest ‘super henge’, Durrington Walls. Remote sensing techniques and geophysical surveys have discovered hundreds of new features for the detailed archaeological digital map of the Stonehenge landscape.

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• Stonehenge visitor center – more than 1 million visitors a year visit the site. The new centre houses a 360-degree Cinerama-style “virtual tour” of the monument, along with an extensive exhibition about the Neolithic Britons who built Stonehenge starting 5,000 years ago.
• Stonehenge – detailed history of the site