Chris Biala
Art History 181
Professor Kennedy
September 20, 2012 The Mystery and Reasoning Behind Stonehenge
One of Britain’s greatest national icons is the Stonehenge; it is a group of large stone aligned in a circle placed in the middle of large land. To this day it is still a mystery of how this creation was made and what the original purpose was. Unfortunately according to Lacy Norri, over time many of the original stones have broken, fallen or were used for home construction and road repair. This creation is extremely impressive; it had to have required commitment and much time spent on manual labor. There are many speculations for the reasons behind this creation; some believe it was for religion or even as a hobby to spend their time. I do agree with these assumptions but I also believe that it was used as a symbol to communicate with other spectators.
Norri states that the Stonehenge was a large earthwork which is a bank and ditch arrangement called a henge. Some theorists have come up with the idea that the ditch was dug with antlers of deer’s and wood. During this time there were not many tools available so I feel that whoever created the Stonehenge relied on nature. I agree with the ideas of the theorist that they must have used antlers, wood, or their bare hands to accomplish this. Since the hole of the ditch was deep they must have had to beat the dirt or use water to soften it so that digging it would be easier. During 2000 BC the first stone circle was assembled by small blue stone that was then left there without being finished. Theorists believe these bluestones came from the Prescelly Mountains which is located two hundred forty miles away. What is extremely fascinating is that these bluestones weigh up to four tons and it is said that about eighty stones were used in all. If these people had to commute to bring these stones to the construction site, they had to have relied on their imagination or the tools surrounding them. Since there are oceans around the Stonehenge they could have used rafts to float the stone or relied on the amount of workers they had to haul these large stones over time. According to Q.L Pearce, the author of Mysterious Encounters: Stonehenge, he states that the final building phase was the longest and most complex. It is easily predicted that there was a new idea for the site using hard sandstone called sarsen stones. Geologists have not found any sarsens near the area so they predict it was transported from the Marlborough Downs which is about thirty miles away. The builders of the Stonehenge took out the circle of bluestones that were placed in the earlier phase. They replaced it with five tall pairs of sarsen stones in a horseshoe formation in the center of the circle. Pearce states that each pair was topped with cross stones called lintels and was attached with special joints that workers cut a hole called a mortice in the end of one stone. They then inserted the end of the other stone into the hole and put it tightly to secure the joint. Each stone was cut accurately to keep each stone in place. Finally the builders created an outer ring of sarsen stones that was positioned in a circle. Later on about sixty bluestones were placed to create an inner ring and an oval within the horseshoe formation. According to Pearce the two rows of pits which are called Y and Z holes were dug around the outer stones. One of the greatest mysteries about the Stonehenge is how these people managed to transport the stones weighing over fifty tons. There are two ideas that speculate either from the glaciers or these people traveled the distance. According to Pearce during the last ice Age, moving ice picked up giant blocks of stone, carrying them across great distances. Then the ice would melt leaving these blocks over the landscape. The most popular theory is that workers traveled miles then floated it on rafts. This task was not easy especially if animals were used as an aid. These people had to have trained the animals to work as a team and direct them to get the task accomplished. Theorist suggests that large stones might have been pulled on huge tracks made of logs rubbed with animal fat. Some would believe that getting the stone to the location was the challenging part, but that was only the beginning these people then had to shape the stone, smooth it out and tug it into standing position. Fortunately there have been clues to discovering the mystery of this extraordinary structure. Two miles of the site there is another henge enclosure called the Durrington Walls that measures 1500 feet in across. According to Pearce, within the enclosure archaeologists uncovered the foundations of eight small houses complete with cooking hearths. With this being said I believe that there had to be more houses around, but overtime disintegrated. Archeologists also found tools such as arrowheads, pottery, and animal bones that reveal there may have been feasting at Durrington Walls. What has not been found are human remains. Pearce states that the contrast of Stonehenge from the Durrington Walls is human remains have been found at Stonehenge. This leads many researchers to believe that the Stonehenge was built for the dead and Durrington Walls for the living. I find that very interesting because similar to Egyptian times the Stonehenge structure was a comparison to the tombs that were built in preparation for their deaths. According to Marc Aronson, the author of If Stones Could speak, he states that today about 35,000 people travel to Stonehenge on the longest day of the year. The reason for this is because on that day only the rays of the rising sun color the avenue and then split the pillars of the Stonehenge. What is extremely fascinating is that the people who built Stonehenge did not just stand within the stone circle. Aronson reveals that the ditch that was found in 2004 was a false lead; in 2005 they found the real avenue which was a roadway so important it was built with flint. Aronson states that a person standing at the Avon at the end of the same mid summer’s day would have seen the light of the setting sun moving up the avenue into the Southern Circle. This proves that people would have seen the sunrise in stone and walked along the river timing when to arrive at the circle for sunset. On the shortest day of winter the pattern is reversed. Aronson states that a person standing within the wood circle and looking out the entrance would see the sun rising up the avenue. People would walk along the Avon timing when to arrive at the Stonehenge at sunset. It is so fascinating because the turning of the year was marked by Stonehenge and the Southern Circle. This proves that the people who created Stonehenge were so brilliant to be able to find ways to build this structure and at the same time use it as a tool for time. Marc Aronson reveals from the findings of Mike Parker Pearson and the Riverside Project are confident that the Stonehenge is just one point in a much larger map which included places to feast, celebrate, and an area to bury the dead. Mike Parker Pearson and the riverside project believe that the homes that were found were covered with dirt intentionally. He believes that when people stopped using the stone circle they didn’t need the feasting place of the wooden circle. According to Pearson a man who grew up in Switzerland was buried with gold and copper near Stonehenge. Pearson believes that as people became knowledgeable in the use of metals the old ways of living changed. Instead of working as a team people broke into smaller groups. “As this happened the place of ceremonies turned into a mute message from the distant past and the stones went silent.”(Aronson 54) From reading the books and websites about Stonehenge it fascinates me to know what it is like in its current form. It is clear that over time more mysteries are being revealed about this structure. Before researching this topic my reasoning for the creation of Stonehenge was to communicate with future generations. I still stand behind my reasoning but now agree with the other theorist that it was used for religious purposes either for the dead, to worship or celebrate. If these individuals were capable to design this structure without any tools other than material that they found or with the use of animals. It proves that the world today is lacking imagination. I believe that if the minds of the people responsible for this structure were present today this world would be completely different.

Works Cited
Aronson, Marc, and Pearson Michael Parker. If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2010. Print.
Ashe, Geoffrey. "Stonehenge." Britannia.com - British History Travel. The Arthurian Encyclopedia. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html>.
Pearce, Q. L. Stonehenge. Detroit, MI: KidHaven, 2009. Print.