STONEHENGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

STONEHENGE - Essay Example As Lord Byron succinctly remarked in his poem Don Juan â€Å"The Druid’s groves are gone so much the better, Stonehenge has not but what the devil is it?† (Byron, Canto 11) Although many theories exist about who built it, and the purpose for which it was built; latest archeological research points to its being built by the Britons of the Stone Age. However, given that the time frame for building the monument is so long, it was probably built in stages by different peoples, some of whom may have migrated from other areas. The builders of Stonehenge too, may have evolved from hunters and gatherers to farmers and tradesmen. It seems to be have been a highly sophisticated society, and the purpose of Stonehenge too would have evolved, from purely a burial site to include healing, using it to predict seasons, as well as for religious rites and ceremonies. A megalith which literally means large stone slabs, was a conspicuous form of expression among people of the Neolithic age. Stonehenge is a Megalithic monument, different from other such monuments due to the unique trilithons towering over the landscape and visible for miles around the area. A henge is a monument built in a circular area, of stone or wooden pillars surrounded by a ditch and ostensibly used for religious rituals. Stonehenge is situated on the Salisbury plain in Wiltshire, England. An engineering marvel of pre-historic times, Stonehenge is a tribute to the ingenuity, labor and determination of the people who built it. Stonehenge consists of layers of stone circles and horseshoe patterns. Extensive archeological research has ascertained that Stonehenge was built in three stages between 3100 and 2500 BC. â€Å"We know from modern scientific dating methods that the prehistoric people who lived in Southern Britain before 3000 BC began construction, by building a small ea rth circle called a henge, with a bank, surrounded by a ditch. Different phases of the monument were