Stonehenge trivia | 50 facts about the monument

Stonehenge is a famous monument, that captures the interest of many people because of the mystery around it.

Today, we are about to find out more about this impressive, yet mysterious, monument of the world.

1. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument.
2. It is located in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury.
3. It consists of a ring of standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons.
4. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli (burial mounds).
5. Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.
6. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC.
7. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC,
8. But they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.
9. One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon.
10. It has been a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1882.
11. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 1986.
12. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown.
13. It is managed by English Heritage.
14. The  surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.
15. Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.
16. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another 500 years.
17. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Ælfric’s tenth-century glossary, in which henge-cliff is given the meaning “precipice”, or stone; thus, the stanenges or Stanheng “not far from Salisbury” recorded by eleventh-century writers are “stones supported in the air”.
18. In 1740 William Stukeley notes, “Pendulous rocks are now called henges in Yorkshire…I doubt not, Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stones.”
19. Christopher Chippindale’s Stonehenge Complete gives the derivation of the name Stonehenge as coming from the Old English words stān meaning “stone”, and either hencg meaning “hinge” (because the stone lintels hinge on the upright stones) or hen(c)en meaning “to hang” or “gallows” or “instrument of torture” (though elsewhere in his book, Chippindale cites the “suspended stones” etymology).
20. The “henge” portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as henges.
21. Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch.
22. As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian use. Because its bank is inside its ditch, Stonehenge is not truly a henge site.
23. The large verticals and arches are made of sarsen.
24. Sarsen is a type of sandstone that is common in the region.
25. The smaller stones are known as bluestones.
26. Fun facts: blustones are not blue, but they appear to have a slight bluish tint when they’re wet.
27. The giant three-piece arches for which Stonehenge is known are called trilithons.
28. Most modern scholars think that these giant stones had to be moved 150 miles to become part of Stonehenge.
29. The methods through which these stones made the trip is one of Stonehenge’s great mysteries,
30. Theories vary including everything from rafts to teams of oxen.
31. In 1923, however, archaeologists discovered a decapitated Anglo-Saxon man from the 7th century CE.
32. The man’s beheading suggests he was an executed criminal, but his burial at Stonehenge may indicate that he had previously been in a position of power, possibly even a royal one.
33. According to English Heritage cites: “Today, the interpretation of Stonehenge which is most generally accepted is that of a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun.”
34. More farfetched theories speculate that Stonehenge is a model of the solar system constructed by ancient alien visitors.
35. Historian and explorer Henry of Huntingdon made what is believed to be the first written mention of Stonehenge.
36. It dates to 1130 CE.
37. Medieval Britons sank their teeth into an unlikely proposition set forth by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a cleric and historian responsible for a good deal of British lore.
38. Geoffrey proclaimed that the mysterious monument was the work of legendary wizard Merlin.
39. The outrageous claim remained a trusted hypothesis for centuries.
40. Some people used to belive that the the stones were moved from Wales to Wiltshire by the Devil in a simple act of provocative mischief.
41. The nearby Heel Stone, also known as the Friar’s Heel, was allegedly chucked at a combative friar by the Devil, sticking permanently in the ground upon impact.
42. In 1905, a collective of neo-Druids reclaimed the grounds in the name of their ideological ancestry.
43. The 700-man group, operating under the banner of the century-old Ancient Order of the Druids, orchestrated an elaborate induction ceremony, complete with wizard-like robes, fake beards, and a massive amount of alcohol. Unsurprisingly, the contemporary print media gleefully ridiculed the event.
44. It wasn’t until 1977 that the mounting of Stonehenge’s rock structures became explicitly prohibited.
45. During the early 20th century tourists were given chisels to facilitate souvenir-taking!
46. Charles Darwin turned his focus to the humble earthworm.
47. He publishes a book entitle The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms just a year before his death.
48. His work was among the earliest in modern scientific excavations of Stonehenge.
49. In the 1870s, Darwin studied the endemic earthworm population to convince the world of their important role in nature, which included causing large stones to sink into the ground.
50. Stonehenge uses to be a normal, whole circle.