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Stonehenge at this year's summer
and winter solstice here.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument
located in the English county of
Wiltshire, north of Salisbury. One
of the most famous sites in the
world, Stonehenge is composed of
earthworks surrounding a circular
setting of large standing stones. It
is at the centre of the most dense
complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age
monuments in England, including
several hundred burial mounds.
Archaeologists had believed that the
iconic stone monument was erected
around 2500 BC, as described in the
chronology below. One recent theory,
however, has suggested that the
first stones were not erected until
2400-2200 BC, whilst another
suggests that bluestones may have
been erected at the site as early as
3000 BC The surrounding circular
earth bank and ditch, which
constitute the earliest phase of the
monument, have been dated to about
3100 BC. The site and its
surroundings were added to the
UNESCO's list of World Heritage
Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with
Avebury Henge monument. It is a
national legally protected Scheduled
Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is
owned by the Crown and managed by
English Heritage, while the
surrounding land is owned by the
National Trust.
Archaeological evidence found by the
Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008
indicates that Stonehenge served as
a burial ground from its earliest
beginnings. The dating of
cremated remains found on the site
indicate burials from as early as
3000 BC, when the initial ditch and
bank were first dug. Burials
continued at Stonehenge for at least
another 500 years.
Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage
for neo-druids, and for certain
others following pagan or neo-pagan
beliefs. The midsummer sunrise began
attracting modern visitors in the
1870s, with the first record of
recreated Druidic practices dating
to 1905 when the Ancient Order of
Druids enacted a ceremony. Despite
efforts by archaeologists and
historians to stress the differences
between the Iron Age Druidic
religion and the much older
monument, Stonehenge has become
increasingly, almost inextricably,
associated with British Druidism,
Neopaganism and New Age philosophy.
Between 1972 and 1984, Stonehenge
was the site of a free festival.
After the Battle of the Beanfield in
1985 this use of the site was
stopped for several years, and
currently ritual use of Stonehenge
is carefully controlled.
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