Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire was made from the local sandstone or sarsen, which was used for the original huge upright stones and lintels. The upright stones were themselves 5.5 metres by 2 metres and they weighed about 26 tons each.
The uprights were skilfully made to be slightly convex so that they gave a true perspective. A secondary circule and the horseshoe structure that lies in the centre of the circle were built of bluestone which occurs in Pembrokeshire in Wales. There has been great speculation as to how these stones were transported, but we still do not really know.
They may have been brought by water via the Bristol Channel and possibly the River Avon. How the massive stones were moved on land still remains a mystery, as does what the monument was actually used for – religious worship, studying the stars are just two theories.
The uprights were skilfully made to be slightly convex so that they gave a true perspective. A secondary circule and the horseshoe structure that lies in the centre of the circle were built of bluestone which occurs in Pembrokeshire in Wales. There has been great speculation as to how these stones were transported, but we still do not really know.
They may have been brought by water via the Bristol Channel and possibly the River Avon. How the massive stones were moved on land still remains a mystery, as does what the monument was actually used for – religious worship, studying the stars are just two theories.