Stonehenge

Stonehenge

An Ancient Monument Out in the countryside in southern England is a monument formed of dirt and giant stones. Built thousands of years ago, it is known as Stonehenge. Scientists called archaeologists have been studying it for a long time. They are trying to learn how and why it was built. They also want to know more about the people who built it. They search for clues about the mysteries of this ancient monument.

Earth and Giant Stones From the sky, Stonehenge looks like a small circle inside a big circle. The bigger circle is a ditch around a raised mound of dirt. The giant sarsen stones in the outer stone circle are made of a type of sandstone. Stones called lintels once lay atop the sarsen stones, connecting them all together. The inner stones form a horseshoe shape. They are sarsen stones called trilithons, which means they're made of three parts. Two stones stand upright and one lintel lies across them. Other rocks in the circle are made of bluestone.

Where Is Stonehenge? Stonehenge sits in an open field in southern England. Experts say people have been living in that area for about ten thousand years. The settlement may have been one of the biggest in England at one time. Long ago, the area was covered in trees. People cut them down to clear land for farming.

Building Stonehenge Experts believe that people started building Stonehenge about five thousand years ago. Back then, people only had simple stone tools like deer antlers and animal bones, not powerful machines. They did almost everything with their clever minds and muscles. The stones must have been brought to Stonehenge from far away. Researchers have done tests to prove it was possible to move the stones to Stonehenge. They put huge stones on wooden sleds and dragged them on wooden rails greased with animal fat.

Lifting the standing stones must have been very difficult. Experts think the builders might have dug holes and then tipped the bottoms of the stones into the holes. Then they could be pulled upright using ropes. Workers might have slid the tops of the arches up ramps built of dirt and wood. Then the tops could be set on the standing stones. No one knows exactly how the builders built Stonehenge. They did not leave pictures or writing to explain how they did it. That is why Stonehenge remains a big mystery.