Editing Stonehenge (section)

====1600–1900====
Throughout recorded history, Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments have attracted attention from [[antiquarians]] and [[archaeologists]]. [[John Aubrey]] was one of the first to examine the site with a scientific eye in 1666, and, in his plan of the monument, he recorded the pits that now bear his name, the [[Aubrey holes]]. [[William Stukeley]] continued Aubrey's work in the early eighteenth century, but took an interest in the surrounding monuments as well, identifying (somewhat incorrectly) the Cursus and the Avenue. He also began the excavation of many of the barrows in the area, and it was his interpretation of the landscape that associated it with the [[Druids]].<ref>Stukeley, William, 1740, ''Stonehenge A Temple Restor'd to the British Druids''. London</ref> Stukeley was so fascinated with Druids that he originally named [[Disc barrow|Disc Barrows]] as Druids' Barrows.
 
[[File:Constable - Stonehenge, 1629-1888, 2006AK8142.jpg|thumb|left|As painted by [[John Constable]], 1835]]
The most accurate early plan of Stonehenge was that made by Bath architect [[John Wood, the Elder|John Wood]] in 1740.<ref>Wood, John, 1747, ''Choir Guare, Vulgarly called Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain''. Oxford</ref> His original annotated survey has now been computer-redrawn and published.<ref name="Johnson, Anthony 2008">{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Anthony |date=2008 |title=Solving Stonehenge: The New Key to an Ancient Enigma |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-05155-9}}</ref>{{rp|195}} Importantly Wood's plan was made before the collapse of the southwest trilithon, which fell in 1797 and was restored in 1958.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greaney |first=Susan |date=2018-05-29 |title=Excavation and Restoration: Stonehenge in the 1950s and 60s |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/excavation-restoration-stonehenge-1950s-60s/ |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=English Heritage}}</ref>

[[William Cunnington]] was the next to tackle the area in the early nineteenth century. He excavated some 24 barrows before digging in and around the stones, discovering charred wood, animal bones, pottery and urns. He also identified the hole in which the Slaughter Stone once stood. [[Richard Colt Hoare]] supported Cunnington's work and excavated some 379 barrows on [[Salisbury Plain]] including on some 200 in the area around the Stones, some excavated in conjunction with [[William Coxe (historian)|William Coxe]]. To alert future diggers to their work, they were careful to leave initialled metal tokens in each barrow they opened. Cunnington's finds are displayed at the [[Wiltshire Museum]]. In 1877, [[Charles Darwin]] dabbled in archaeology at the stones, experimenting with the rate at which remains sink into the earth, for his book ''[[The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Stone 22 fell during a fierce storm on 31 December 1900.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.silentearth.org/restorations-at-stonehenge-2/ |title=Silent Earth: Restorations at Stonehenge |website=www.silentearth.org |access-date=30 July 2020 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807135801/http://www.silentearth.org/restorations-at-stonehenge-2/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

[[File:stonehenge 1877.JPG|thumb|An early photograph of Stonehenge taken July 1877]]
[[File:Stonehenge on 27.01.08.jpg|thumb|The monument from a similar angle in 2008 showing the extent of reconstruction]]
[[File:Stone Henge 1920 restoration - newspaperphoto.jpg|thumb|A contemporary newspaper depiction of the 1920 restoration]]