The most fascinating facts you never knew about Stonehenge

Over the centuries, Stonehenge has captured the curiosity of scholars and mystics alike. This prehistoric stone monument holds a supernatural mystique, somewhat due to the sheer implausibility of its construction, especially with the technology available at the time. This mysterious history, paired with its astronomical significance, has made this enigmatic landmark an important site for spiritualists, especially the druid culture in Western England. While there’s still so much we don’t know about Stonehenge, get ready to dive into the fascinating facts that we do know: from the incredible engineering of the stones to the acoustic quality of the original site.

See Stonehenge up close and personal on Elegance of Great Britain

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Let’s start at the beginning. Stonehenge is thought to have been built 5000 years ago, making older than the pyramids of Egypt. Archaeologists think that construction started around 3,000 BCE, during the late Neolithic Age. It took a whole 1,300 years to build, initially starting as a circular ditch and bank and then evolving over centuries, with the massive stones added over time.

The enormous stones that make up Stonehenge, known as megaliths, weigh an average of 20 tons each. The heaviest – the Heel Stone, stands in isolation to the main circle, and weighs an incredible 30 tons. These huge stones, called sarsens, are accompanied by smaller bluestones, which weigh around 4 tons each. Neither are local to the area, with the sarsens coming from a quarry 20 miles away and the bluestones an massive 180 miles away. The notion that the rocks were transported from so far away is equally as impressive (and baffling) as the monument’s construction itself.

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What truly boggles the mind is how it was built. The Neolithic civilization that created Stonehenge preceded some of the most basic iterations of our technology, including the wheel. So how on earth did we erect these mammoth slabs, or transport them to the Salisbury Plain in the first place? The truth is that no-one knows. Scholars can’t agree on its construction, leaving room for the mystics’ claim of supernatural origins, posing that it was either through magic or some ancient alien technology. Whatever the method, Stonehenge’s construction still remains a riddle to this day.

One of Stonehenge’s most curious features the placement of the enormous lintels on top of supporting sarsens. These are the horizontal rocks you see lying on top of two supporting megaliths, which together make a . Researchers have found hollow holes (mortises) burrowed into the horizontal lintels, and protrusions (tenons) carved into the two supporting slabs, which would fit together to secure the construction. As well as this, the lintels are remarkably level, suggesting they were specifically measured, carved, and placed to be so. Such techniques, typically only used in carpentry, are incredibly impressive for a Neolithic civilization.

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It seems Stonehenge also served as a burial ground – one of Britain’s largest, in fact. Excavations have uncovered the largest amount of Neolithic cremated human remains, leading to theories that it was a place of ancestral worship and ceremony.

Studies have shown that Stonehenge possessed unique acoustic properties. In research conducted by acoustic engineers at the University of Salford, they found that the original monument, with an unbroken outer circle of trilithons and several more massive slabs placed within the center, would have reverberated any sounds made inside the circle. The human voice would have been 4 decibels louder, with no echoes, so that anyone standing within the outer circle could hear conversations from the center perfectly. Also remarkable is that any noise would not escape that outer circle, so the happenings inside the site would be inaudible to those standing outside the circle. This has added some weight to theories that small, special rituals held for a select few likely took place within the sacred stone circle.

Stonehenge’s astronomical alignment remains one of its most remarkable features. During the summer solstice, the sun rises precisely over the Heel Stone and casts its rays into the center of the stone circle. And on the winter solstice, the sun sets in the exact same place. This suggests that our Neolithic ancestors built Stonehenge as a celestial observatory or a calendar. While nothing is confirmed, there are more theories about how the rest of the stones may have been positioned to align as an astronomical calandar.

This celestial significance has survived throughout the years. Today, thousands flock to Stonehenge to celebrate summer and winter solstice events. Many see it as a pilgrimage, and come to perform rituals, sing songs and dance together all night until the sunrise.

Stonehenge remains an enigmatic symbol of human ingenuity and ancient craftsmanship. As we uncover more about its history, these fascinating facts only deepen our sense of wonder and admiration for this extraordinary, UNESCO-listed monument. We here at Insight Vacations are continuously captivated by its curious allure, which is why you can visit Stonehenge on many of our UK itineraries, including Elegance of Great Britain. We recommend you experience Stonehenge in person to truly feel the mystique of this amazing place, which reminds us of the mysteries that lie within our ancient past.