A2-17 · Stonehenge: Who Built It?

Stonehenge: Who Built It?

Stonehenge is a circle of huge stones that stands on Salisbury Plain in the south of England, about 140 kilometers west of London. It is one of the most famous ancient monuments in the world, and also one of the most mysterious.

How old is it? Stonehenge wasn't built in one day. The people who started it dug a big round ditch about 5,000 years ago. The big stones came about 500 years later, around 2500 BC. That's older than the pyramids of Egypt!

Where did the stones come from? There are two kinds of stones. The biggest ones, which weigh about 25 tons each, came from a place about 25 kilometers away. The smaller "bluestones" came from the Preseli Hills in Wales, which are about 225 kilometers away. And in 2024, scientists discovered that one stone, the Altar Stone, came from the north of Scotland, more than 700 kilometers away! Nobody knows exactly how people without wheels or metal tools moved them. They probably used wooden sledges, ropes and a lot of strong people.

Who built it, and why? The builders were farmers who lived in Britain in the Stone Age. They didn't write, so they didn't leave any explanation. Some scientists think Stonehenge was a temple. Others think it was a calendar, because the stones are in line with the sunrise on the longest day of the year and the sunset on the shortest. Many people were also buried there.

Today, Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every year in June, thousands of people come to watch the sun rise over the stones. Maybe one day we will find the answer to the mystery.