Stonehenge is the ultimate historical mystery

1. Stonehenge is the ultimate historical mystery

2. One of the most famous landmarks in Britain, the unique stone circle situated in modern-day Wiltshire continues to confound

historians and visitors alike. Despite extensive
research and theorising, today we are really no closer to
understanding how the stones were put there and why .

3. Ten interesting facts about Stonehenge

1. It is really,
really old
The site went through various
transformations and didn’t begin as
a ring of stones. The circular earth
bank and ditch that surrounds the
stones can be dated back to about
3100 BC, while the first stones are
believed to have been raised at the
site between 2400 and 2200 BC.
Over the next few hundred years, the
stones were rearranged and new
ones added, with the formation we
know today being created between
1930 and 1600 BC.

4. 2. It was created by a people who left no written records. This, of course, is the main reason why so many questions persist

around the site.
3. It could have been a
burial ground
In 2013, a team of
archaeologists excavated the
cremated remains of 50,000
bones at the site, belonging
to 63 men, women and
children. These bones date
back as early as 3000 BC,
though some are only dated
back to 2500 BC. This
suggests that Stonehenge
may have been a burial
ground at the start of its
history, though it is not clear
if that was the site’s primary
purpose.

5. 4. Some of the stones were brought from nearly 200 miles away They were quarried at a town near the Welsh town of Maenclochog

and somehow
transported to Wiltshire
– a feat that would have
been a major technical
accomplishment at the
time.
5. They are known as
“ringing rocks”
The monument’s stones
possess unusual acoustic
properties – when struck they
produce a loud clanging sound
– which likely explains why
someone bothered to
transport them over such a
long distance. In certain
ancient cultures, such rocks
are believed to contain healing
powers. In fact, Maenclochog
mean “ringing rock”.

6.

6. There is an Arthurian
legend about Stonehenge.
According to this legend,
the wizard Merlin
removed Stonehenge from
Ireland, where it had been
erected by giants, and
rebuilt it in Wiltshire as a
memorial to 3,000 nobles
slain in battle with the
Saxons.
7. The body of a
decapitated man
was excavated from
the site
The 7th century Saxon
man was found in 1923.

7.

8. The earliest known
realistic painting of
Stonehenge was produced
in the 16th century
Flemish artist Lucas de Heere
painted the watercolour artwork on
site, sometime between 1573 and
1575.
9. It was the cause of a battle
in 1985
The Battle of the Beanfield was a clash
between a convoy of approximately 600
New Age travellers and around 1,300
police that took place over the course of
several hours on 1 June 1985. The
battle erupted when the travellers, who
were en route to Stonehenge to set up
the Stonehenge Free Festival, were
stopped at a police roadblock seven
miles from the landmark.
The confrontation turned violent, with
eight police and 16 travellers being
hospitalised and 537 of the travellers
arrested in one of the biggest mass
arrests of civilians in English history.

8.

10. It attracts more than a million
visitors a year
The enduring myths surrounding Stonehenge make
the UNESCO World Heritage Site hugely popular.
When it first opened to the public as a tourist
attraction in the 20th century, visitors were able to
walk among the stones and even climb on them.
However, due to serious erosion of the stones, the
monument has been roped off since 1997, and
visitors only allowed to view the stones from a
distance.

9. Thank you for attention!

This project was
made by Anastasya
Tynyanskaya