Stone+Henge

Stonehenge

By Meghan Blenck

Located in the plains of Southern England, in the county of Wiltshire, about eight miles north of Salisbury, stand two circles of pre-historic stones that vary in height, but reach over ten feet tall. Scientists believe that the stones were placed over five thousand to sixty-five hundred years ago. That is around 3100 B.C. The stones stand in a man-made ditch called a hedge. The inner circles are called blue stones, they weigh close to five tons each. The outside circle is called the Sarsen Stones and weigh close to fifty tons each. Which leads you to the question how on earth did anyone get the stones there? And what was it used for?

Unfortunately, no one knows how, who, or even what got the stones to be there. Or even what it was used for. Some people think the Stonehenge was used as an ancient solar calendar that predicted sun rises, sunsets, eclipse, moonsets, and moon rises. Others believe that it was used as a worship place for the Druids, and other religions of the ancient people. Other people believe that it could be a spot of an ancient burial ground, but no one truly knows.

Theories claim that ancient people, most likely during the Neolithic period, must have dragged the stones in place using a roller and a sledge from an inland mountain. Great levers and other simple machines could have been used to set the stones on top, with the. This process could have taken thousands of years to complete. Some people doubt this theory because of how heavy the stones are. Belief is that technology at the time might not have been good enough to carry out a task like that. The stones' size makes Stonehenge an even bigger mystery.

Others think that people had nothing to do with creating this monument at all. Nature could have done it. With a series of glaciers and ice sheets moving during the ice age period. Carrying the rocks maybe picked up in Wales, in the unusual pattern. Geologists don’t always agree with this theory because of erosion and the time of the stones that wouldn’t fit into the time period.

Many times myths are created to explain the unexplainable, this is true for Stonehenge. Some believe that King Arthur's tale is somehow involved with the making of Stonehenge. Legend says, Merlin was asked by Aurelius, one of King Constantine’s sons, to build a monument in honor of the people who fought to defend the country. Merlin thought he had the perfect stones in Ireland for the occasion. He moved the stones.

The final and most entertaining theory is none other than aliens. Aliens from far out in space appeared on Earth and positioned the stones. Like most other major monuments of ancient times, baffled people often give credit to extraterrestrial friends giving us a hand to create places like Stonehenge and the Pyramids in Egypt. One scientist guesses the stones could be in the shape of our universe. Crop circles in strange and unusual patterns appear all over English fields, which are believed to be the landing spots for many UFOs. They still appear today, with very few clues.

Today Stonehenge still stands and is visited by people from all over the world. When people visit Stonehenge they visit a place of mystery. Druids and other religious people worship at Stonehenge regularly. Others use the monument for mediation. While you are there you can let your imagination get swept away with thought of what happened in the past. No matter what theory you believe that happen everyone can agree Stonehenge is a place of great mystery and incredibly history.