Editing Stonehenge (section)

==Early history==
[[File:Stonehenge plan.jpg|thumb|Plan of Stonehenge in 2004. After Cleal ''et al.'' and Pitts. ''Italicised numbers in the text refer to the labels on this plan.'' Trilithon lintels omitted for clarity. Holes that no longer, or never, contained stones are shown as open circles. Stones visible today are shown coloured.]]

[[Mike Parker Pearson]], leader of the [[Stonehenge Riverside Project]] based around [[Durrington Walls]], noted that Stonehenge appears to have been associated with burial from the earliest period of its existence:

{{blockquote|Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead.<ref name="burial" />}}

Stonehenge evolved in several construction phases spanning at least 1500 years. There is evidence of large-scale construction on and around the monument that perhaps extends the landscape's time frame to 6500 years. Dating and understanding the various phases of activity are complicated by [[Disturbance (archaeology)|disturbance]] of the natural [[chalk]] by [[periglacial]] effects and animal burrowing, poor quality early [[excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] records, and a lack of accurate, scientifically verified dates. The modern phasing most generally agreed to by archaeologists is detailed below. Features mentioned in the text are numbered and shown on the plan, right.

===Before the monument (from 8000 BC)===
Archaeologists have found four, or possibly five, large [[Mesolithic]] [[posthole]]s (one may have been a natural [[tree throw]]), which date to around 8000 BC, beneath the nearby old tourist car park in use until 2013. These held pine posts around {{convert|0.75|m|order=flip|spell=in}} in diameter, which were erected and eventually rotted in place. Three of the posts (and possibly four) were in an east–west alignment which may have had [[ritual]] significance.<ref>Exon, 30–31; Southern, Patricia, ''The Story of Stonehenge'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=4myoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP15 Ch. 2] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407053434/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4myoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP15|date=7 April 2018 }}, 2012, Amberley Publishing Limited, {{ISBN|1-4456-1587-8|978-1-4456-1587-5}}</ref> Another Mesolithic astronomical site in Britain is [[Warren Field]] in [[Aberdeenshire]], which is considered the world's oldest [[lunisolar calendar]], corrected yearly by observing the [[midwinter solstice]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=V. Gaffney |display-authors=etal |title=Time and a Place: A luni-solar 'time-reckoner' from 8th millennium BC Scotland |url=http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue34/gaffney_index.html |url-status=live |journal=[[Internet Archaeology]] |date=2013 |issue=34 |doi=10.11141/ia.34.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718145814/http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue34/gaffney_index.html |archive-date=18 July 2013 |access-date=16 July 2013|doi-access=free }}</ref> Similar but later sites have been found in [[Scandinavia]].<ref>Exon, 30</ref> A settlement that may have been contemporaneous with the posts has been found at [[Blick Mead]], a reliable year-round spring {{convert|1|mi|spell=in}} from Stonehenge.<ref name="UB"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-cradle-of-stonehenge-blick-mead-a-mesolithic-site-in-the-stonehenge-landscape |title='The Cradle of Stonehenge'? Blick Mead – a Mesolithic Site in the Stonehenge Landscape – Lecture Transcript |last=Professor David Jacques FSA |date=21 September 2016 |website=www.gresham.ac.uk |publisher=Gresham College |access-date=15 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116170229/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-cradle-of-stonehenge-blick-mead-a-mesolithic-site-in-the-stonehenge-landscape |archive-date=16 January 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Salisbury Plain]] was then still wooded, but, 4,000 years later, during the earlier Neolithic, people built a [[causewayed enclosure]] at [[Robin Hood's Ball]], and [[long barrow]] tombs in the surrounding landscape. In approximately 3500 BC, a [[Stonehenge Cursus]] was built {{convert|700|m|ft|order=flip}} north of the site as the first farmers began to clear the trees and develop the area. Other previously overlooked stone or wooden structures and burial mounds may date as far back as 4000 BC.<ref name=webb>{{cite book |last=Webb |first=John |title=Stone-Henge Restored with Observations on Rules of Architecture |date=1665 |publisher=Tho. Bassett |location=London |page=17 |oclc=650116061}}</ref><ref name=Charlton>{{cite book |last=Charlton |first=Dr. Walter |title=The Chorea Gigantum, Or, Stone-Heng Restored to the Danes |date=1715 |publisher=James Bettenham |location=London |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRg4nQAACAAJ |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426231306/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRg4nQAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Charcoal from the 'Blick Mead' camp {{convert|2.4|km|order=flip}} from Stonehenge (near the [[Vespasian's Camp]] site) has been dated to 4000 BC.<ref name=sarah>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/11303127/Stonehenge-discovery-could-rewrite-British-pre-history.html |title=Stonehenge discovery could rewrite British pre-history |work=Daily Telegraph |author=Sarah Knapton |date=19 December 2014 |access-date=19 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219192353/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/11303127/Stonehenge-discovery-could-rewrite-British-pre-history.html |archive-date=19 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[University of Buckingham]]'s Humanities Research Institute believes that the community who built Stonehenge lived here for several millennia, making it potentially "one of the pivotal places in the history of the Stonehenge landscape."<ref name=UB>{{cite web |url=http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/research/hri/blickmead |work=University of Buckingham |title=The New Discoveries at Blick Mead: the Key to the Stonehenge Landscape |access-date=26 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227095402/http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/research/hri/blickmead |archive-date=27 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Stonehenge 1 (c. 3100 BC)===
[[File:Stonehenge phase one.jpg|thumb|Stonehenge 1. After Cleal ''et al.'']]

The first monument consisted of a circular bank and ditch [[Enclosure (archaeology)|enclosure]] made of [[Late Cretaceous]] ([[Santonian]] Age) Seaford [[chalk]], measuring about {{convert|110|m|order=flip}} in diameter, with a large entrance to the north east and a smaller one to the south. It stood in open [[grassland]] on a slightly sloping spot.<ref name="field2010" /> The builders placed the bones of [[deer]] and [[ox]]en in the bottom of the ditch, as well as some worked [[flint]] tools. The bones were considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch, and the people who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to burial. The ditch was continuous but had been dug in sections, like the ditches of the earlier causewayed enclosures in the area. The chalk dug from the ditch was piled up to form the bank. This first stage is dated to around 3100 BC, after which the ditch began to silt up naturally. Within the outer edge of the enclosed area is a circle of 56 pits, each about {{convert|1|m|ft|order=flip}} in diameter, known as the [[Aubrey holes]] after [[John Aubrey]], the 17th-century [[antiquarian]] who was thought to have first identified them. These pits and the bank and ditch together are known as the Palisade or Gate Ditch.<ref>Cleal et al, 1996. Antiquity, 1996 Jun, Vol.70(268), pp.463–465</ref> The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a [[timber circle]], although there is no excavated evidence of them. A recent excavation has suggested that the Aubrey Holes may have originally been used to erect a [[bluestone]] circle.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parker Pearson |first1=Mike |first2=Julian |last2=Richards |first3=Mike |last3=Pitts |title=Stonehenge 'older than believed' |work=BBC News |date=9 October 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/7660860.stm |access-date=14 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012100802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/7660860.stm |archive-date=12 October 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> If this were the case, it would advance the earliest known stone structure at the monument by some 500 years.

In 2013, a team of archaeologists, led by [[Mike Parker Pearson]], excavated more than 50,000 cremated bone fragments, from 63 individuals, buried at Stonehenge.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |first=Maev |last=Kennedy |title=Stonehenge may have been burial site for Stone Age elite, say archaeologists |date=9 March 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/mar/09/archaeology-stonehenge-bones-burial-ground |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date = 11 March 2013 |location=London |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130909210109/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/mar/09/archaeology-stonehenge-bones-burial-ground |archive-date = 9 September 2013 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite news |first=James |last=Legge |title=Stonehenge: new study suggests landmark started life as a graveyard for the 'prehistoric elite' |date=9 March 2012 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/stonehenge-new-study-suggests-landmark-started-life-as-a-graveyard-for-the-prehistoric-elite-8527686.html |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date = 11 March 2013 |location=London |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130312031243/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/stonehenge-new-study-suggests-landmark-started-life-as-a-graveyard-for-the-prehistoric-elite-8527686.html |archive-date = 12 March 2013 |url-status = live}}</ref> These remains were originally buried individually in the Aubrey holes, but were exhumed in 1920 during an excavation by [[William Hawley]], who considered them unimportant and in 1935 re-buried them together in one hole, Aubrey Hole 7.<ref name="Sheffield Uni">{{cite web |author=Mike Parker Pearson |title=The Stonehenge Riverside Project |publisher=Sheffield University |date=20 August 2008 |url=http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/stonehenge |access-date=22 September 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081026122920/http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/stonehenge |archive-date= 26 October 2008}}</ref> Physical and chemical analysis of the remains has shown that the cremated were almost equally men and women, and included some children.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Independent"/> There is evidence that the underlying chalk beneath the graves was crushed by substantial weight, so the team concluded that the first bluestones brought from Wales were probably used as grave markers.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Independent"/> [[Radiocarbon dating]] of the remains has put the date of the site 500 years earlier than previously estimated, to around 3000 BC.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Independent"/> A 2018 study of the [[strontium]] content of the bones found that many of the individuals buried there around the time of construction had probably come from near the source of the bluestone in Wales and had not extensively lived in the area of Stonehenge before death.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Strontium isotope analysis on cremated human remains from Stonehenge support links with west Wales |author=Christophe Snoeck|display-authors=etal |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=10790 |date=2 August 2018 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-28969-8 |pmid=30072719 |pmc=6072783 |bibcode=2018NatSR...810790S | issn = 2045-2322 }}</ref>

Between 2017 and 2021, studies by Professor Parker Pearson (UCL) and his team [[#Origin of sarsens and bluestones|suggested]] that the [[bluestone]]s used in Stonehenge had been moved there following dismantling of a stone circle of identical size to the first known Stonehenge circle (110m) at the Welsh site of [[Waun Mawn]] in the [[Preseli Hills]].<ref name=Pearson-Pollard-etal-2021-02-12/><ref name=Curry-2021-02-11/> It had contained bluestones, one of which showed evidence of having been reused in Stonehenge. The stone was identified by its unusual pentagonal shape and by [[Luminescence dating|luminescence soil dating]] from the filled-in sockets which showed the circle had been erected around 3400–3200 BC, and dismantled around 300–400 years later, consistent with the dates attributed to the creation of Stonehenge.<ref name=Pearson-Pollard-etal-2021-02-12/><ref name=Curry-2021-02-11/> The cessation of human activity in that area at the same time suggested migration as a reason, but it is believed that other stones may have come from other sources.<ref name=Pearson-Pollard-etal-2021-02-12/><ref name=Curry-2021-02-11/>

===Stonehenge 2 (c. 2900 BC)===
The second phase of construction occurred approximately between 2900 and 2600 BC.<ref name="Burns">{{cite book |last1=Burns |first1=William E. |title=Science and Technology in World History |date=2020 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=100}}</ref> The number of postholes dating to the early third millennium BC suggests that some form of timber structure was built within the enclosure during this period. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast entrance, and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes, being only around {{convert|0.4|m|in|order=flip}} in diameter, and are much less regularly spaced. The bank was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, [[cremation]] burials dating to the two centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase two. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an [[enclosed cremation cemetery]] at this time,<ref name="Burns"/> the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles. Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been found in the ditch-fill. Dating evidence is provided by the late Neolithic [[grooved ware]] pottery that has been found in connection with the features from this phase.

===Stonehenge 3 I (c. 2600 BC)===
[[File:Stonehenge dagger.jpg|thumb|[[Graffiti]] on the sarsen stones include ancient [[Stone carving|carvings]] of a dagger and an axe.]]

Archaeological excavation has indicated that around 2600 BC, the builders abandoned timber in favour of stone and dug two concentric arrays of holes (the [[Q and R Holes]]) in the centre of the site. These stone sockets are only partly known (hence on present evidence are sometimes described as forming 'crescents'); however, they could be the remains of a double ring. Again, there is little firm dating evidence for this phase. The holes held up to 80 standing stones (shown blue on the plan), only 43 of which can be traced today. It is generally accepted that the [[bluestone]]s (some of which are made of [[dolerite]], an igneous rock), were transported by the builders from the [[Preseli Hills]], {{convert|150|mi}} away in modern-day [[Pembrokeshire]] in Wales. Another theory is that they were brought much nearer to the site as [[glacial erratics]] by the [[Irish Sea Glacier]]<ref>{{cite press release |title=Stonehenge: glacial transport of bluestones now confirmed? |publisher=University of Leicester |last=John |first=Brian|author-link=Brian John |date=26 February 2011 |url=http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/pdf-files/uploaded-to-ebulletin-2011/Bluestones%20press%20release.pdf |access-date=22 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904112857/http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/pdf-files/uploaded-to-ebulletin-2011/Bluestones%20press%20release.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> although there is no evidence of glacial deposition within southern central England.<ref name="Antiquity">{{cite journal |last1=Parker Pearson |first1=Michael|display-authors=etal |date=December 2015 |title=Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge |journal=Antiquity |volume=89 |issue=348 |pages=1331–1352 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2015.177|doi-access=free}}</ref> A 2019 publication announced that evidence of Megalithic quarrying had been found at quarries in Wales identified as a source of Stonehenge's bluestone, indicating that the bluestone was quarried by human agency and not transported by glacial action.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones |year=2019 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2018.111 |last1=Pearson |first1=Mike Parker |last2=Pollard |first2=Josh |last3=Richards |first3=Colin |last4=Welham |first4=Kate |last5=Casswell |first5=Chris |last6=French |first6=Charles |last7=Schlee |first7=Duncan |last8=Shaw |first8=Dave |last9=Simmons |first9=Ellen |last10=Stanford |first10=Adam |last11=Bevins |first11=Richard |last12=Ixer |first12=Rob |journal=Antiquity |volume=93 |issue=367 |pages=45–62 |s2cid=166415345 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The long-distance human transport theory was bolstered in 2011 by the discovery of a megalithic bluestone quarry at [[Craig Rhos-y-felin]], near [[Crymych]] in Pembrokeshire, which is the most likely place for some of the stones to have been obtained.<ref name="Antiquity"/> Other standing stones may well have been small [[sarsen]]s (sandstone), used later as lintels. The stones, which weighed about two tons, could have been moved by lifting and carrying them on rows of poles and rectangular frameworks of poles, as recorded in China, Japan and India. It is not known whether the stones were taken directly from their quarries to Salisbury Plain or were the result of the removal of a venerated stone circle from Preseli to Salisbury Plain to "merge two sacred centres into one, to unify two politically separate regions, or to legitimise the ancestral identity of migrants moving from one region to another".<ref name="Antiquity"/> Evidence of a {{convert|110|m|ft|adj=on}} stone circle at [[Waun Mawn]] near Preseli, which could have contained some or all of the stones in Stonehenge, has been found, including a hole from a rock that matches the unusual cross-section of a Stonehenge bluestone "like a key in a lock".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=2021-02-12 |title=Dramatic discovery links Stonehenge to its original site – in Wales |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/dramatic-discovery-links-stonehenge-to-its-original-site-in-wales |access-date=2021-02-12 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=12 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212220821/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/dramatic-discovery-links-stonehenge-to-its-original-site-in-wales |url-status=live }}</ref> Each monolith measures around {{convert|2|m|ft|order=flip}} in height, between {{convert|1|and|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} wide and around {{convert|0.8|m|ft|order=flip}} thick. 

What was to become known as the [[Altar Stone (Stonehenge)|Altar Stone]] was believed to have been derived from the [[Senni Beds]], perhaps from {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=off}} east of the Preseli Hills in the Brecon Beacons.<ref name="Antiquity"/> Work announced in 2024 by a team from [[Curtin University]], who analysed the chemical composition of fragments of rock that had fallen off the Altar Stone, and dated them, found that the best match was with rocks in the [[Orcadian Basin]] (which includes [[Caithness]], [[Orkney]], and the [[Moray Firth]] regions of north-eastern Scotland). The researchers stated that this implies the stone was transported some {{convert|430|mile}}, and thus demonstrates cultural links between Southern England and Northern Scotland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=Anthony J. I. |last2=Kirkland |first2=Christopher L. |last3=Bevins |first3=Richard E. |last4=Pearce |first4=Nick J. G. |last5=Glorie |first5=Stijn |last6=Ixer |first6=Rob A. |title=A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=15 August 2024 |volume=632 |issue=8025 |pages=570–575 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07652-1|pmid=39143341 |pmc=11324516 |bibcode=2024Natur.632..570C }}</ref>

The north-eastern entrance was widened at this time, with the result that it precisely matched the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset of the period. This phase of the monument was abandoned unfinished, however; the small standing stones were apparently removed and the Q and R holes purposefully backfilled.

The [[Heel Stone]], a [[Tertiary]] sandstone, may also have been erected outside the north-eastern entrance during this period. It cannot be accurately dated and may have been installed at any time during phase 3. At first, it was accompanied by a second stone, which is no longer visible. Two, or possibly three, large [[portal stones]] were set up just inside the north-eastern entrance, of which only one, the fallen Slaughter Stone, {{convert|4.9|m|order=flip}} long, now remains. Other features, loosely dated to phase 3, include the four [[Station Stones]], two of which stood atop mounds. The mounds are known as "[[Tumulus|barrows]]" although they do not contain burials. [[Stonehenge Avenue]], a parallel pair of ditches and banks leading {{convert|2|mi|km|0|spell=in}} to the [[River Avon, Hampshire|River Avon]], was also added.

===Stonehenge 3 II (2600 BC to 2400 BC)===
[[File:Stonehenge diagram.png|thumb|Sketch showing the [[tongue and groove]] and [[mortise and tenon]] joints used in the outer [[Sarsen]] circle]]
[[File:Stone Plan.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of the central stone structure today; after Johnson 2008]]

During the next major phase of activity, 30&nbsp;enormous [[Oligocene]]–[[Miocene]] sarsen stones (shown grey on the plan) were brought to the site. They came from a quarry around {{convert|16|mi}} north of Stonehenge, in [[West Woods]], [[Wiltshire]].<ref name="Nash">{{cite journal |last1=Nash |first1=David |last2=Ciborowski |first2=T. Jake R. |last3=Ullyott |first3=J. Stewart |last4=Pearson |first4=Mick Parker |title=Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge |journal=Science Advances |date=29 Jul 2020 |volume=5 |issue=31 |pages=eabc0133 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abc0133 |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |pmid=32832694 |pmc=7439454 |bibcode= 2020SciA....6..133N|s2cid=220937543 |language=en|doi-access=free}}</ref> The stones were [[Ashlar|dressed]] and fashioned with [[mortise and tenon]] joints before 30&nbsp;sarsens were erected in a circle of standing stones approximately {{convert|30|m|order=flip}} in diameter, with a ring of 30&nbsp;lintel stones resting on top. The lintels were fitted to one another using [[tongue and groove]] joints – a woodworking method, again.<ref name=pearsonchap>Pearson ''et al.'' 2013</ref> Each standing stone was around {{convert|4.11|m|ft|order=flip}} high, {{convert|2.13|m|ft|order=flip}} wide, and {{convert|1.06|m|ft|order=flip}} deep, weighing around 26&nbsp;tons. Each had clearly been worked with the final visual effect in mind: The [[orthostat]]s widen slightly towards the top in order that their perspective remains constant when viewed from the ground, while the lintel stones curve slightly to continue the circular appearance of the earlier monument.<ref name=fernie>Fernie 1994</ref>

The inward-facing surfaces of the stones are smoother and more finely worked than the outer surfaces. The average thickness of the stones is {{convert|1.1|m|ft|order=flip}} and the average distance between them is {{convert|1|m|ft|order=flip}}. A total of 75&nbsp;stones would have been needed to complete the circle (60&nbsp;stones) and the trilithon horseshoe (15&nbsp;stones). It was thought the ring might have been left incomplete, but an exceptionally dry summer in 2013 revealed patches of parched grass which may correspond to the location of missing sarsens.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Patchmarks at Stonehenge |journal=Antiquity |date=July 2013 |first1=Simon |last1=Banton |first2=Mark |last2=Bowden |first3=Tim |last3=Daw |first4=Damian |last4=Grady |first5=Sharon |last5=Soutar |volume=88 |issue=341 |pages=733–739 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00050651 |s2cid=162412146}}</ref> The lintel stones are each around {{convert|3.2|m|ft|order=flip}} long, {{convert|1|m|ft|order=flip}} wide and {{convert|0.8|m|ft|order=flip}} thick. The tops of the lintels are {{convert|4.9|m|ft|order=flip}} above the ground.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stonehenge |url=http://arthistoryresources.net/stonehenge/stonehenge.html |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=arthistoryresources.net}}</ref>

Within this circle stood five [[trilithon]]s of dressed [[sarsen]] stone arranged in a horseshoe shape {{convert|13.7|m|ft|order=flip}} across, with its open end facing northeast. These huge stones, ten uprights and five lintels, weigh up to 50&nbsp;tons each. They were linked using complex jointing. They are arranged symmetrically. The smallest pair of trilithons were around {{convert|6|m|ft|order=flip}} tall, the next pair a little higher, and the largest, single trilithon in the south-west corner would have been {{convert|7.3|m|ft|order=flip}} tall. Only one upright from the Great Trilithon still stands, of which {{convert|6.7|m|ft|order=flip}} is visible and a further {{convert|2.4|m|ft|order=flip}} is below ground. The images of a 'dagger' and 14&nbsp;'axeheads' have been carved on one of the sarsens, known as stone&nbsp;53; further carvings of axeheads have been seen on the outer faces of stones&nbsp;3, 4, and 5. The carvings are difficult to date but are morphologically similar to late Bronze Age weapons. [[Laser scanning at Stonehenge|Early 21st&nbsp;century laser scanning of the carvings]] supports this interpretation. The pair of trilithons in the north east are smallest, measuring around {{convert|6|m|ft|order=flip}} in height; the largest, which is in the south-west of the horseshoe, is almost {{convert|7.5|m|ft|order=flip}} tall.{{dubious|Semi-protected edit request on 20 October 2019|reason=inconsistent with previously stated height of 2.4 m|date=October 2019}}

This ambitious phase has been [[radiocarbon dated]] to between 2600 and 2400&nbsp;BC,<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Mike |last1=Pearson |first2=Ros |last2=Cleal |first3=Peter |last3=Marshall |first4=Stuart |last4=Needham |first5=Josh |last5=Pollard |first6=Colin |last6=Richards |first7=Clive |last7=Ruggles |first8=Alison |last8=Sheridan |first9=Julian |last9=Thomas |author-link9=Julian Thomas |first10=Chris |last10=Tilley |first11=Kate |last11=Welham |first12=Andrew |last12=Chamberlain |first13=Carolyn |last13=Chenery |first14=Jane |last14=Evans |first15=Chris |last15=Knüsel |display-authors=6 |date=September 2007 |title=The age of Stonehenge |journal=Antiquity |volume=811 |issue=313 |pages=617–639 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00095624 |s2cid=162960418 |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/5811/1/5811.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=20 March 2020 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807153859/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/5811/1/5811.pdf}}</ref> slightly earlier than the [[Stonehenge Archer]], discovered in the outer ditch of the monument in 1978, and the two sets of burials, known as the [[Amesbury Archer]] and the [[Boscombe Bowmen]], discovered {{convert|3|mi|km|0|spell=in}} to the west. Analysis of animal teeth found {{convert|2|mi|km|0|spell=in}} away at [[Durrington Walls]], thought by Parker Pearson to be the 'builders camp', suggests that, during some period between 2600 and 2400 BC, as many as 4,000 people gathered at the site for the mid-winter and mid-summer festivals; the evidence showed that the animals had been slaughtered around nine months or 15 months after their spring birth. [[Strontium]] [[isotope analysis]] of the animal teeth showed that some had been brought from as far afield as the Scottish Highlands for the celebrations.<ref name=Independent/><ref name="BBC News">{{cite news |title=Stonehenge builders travelled from far, say researchers |date=9 March 2013 |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21724084 |url-status = live |access-date = 11 March 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130310171730/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21724084 |archive-date = 10 March 2013}}</ref>

At about the same time, a large [[timber circle]] and a second avenue were constructed at [[Durrington Walls]] overlooking the [[River Avon, Hampshire|River Avon]]. The timber circle was oriented towards the rising Sun on the [[midwinter solstice]], opposing the solar alignments at Stonehenge. The avenue was aligned with the setting Sun on the [[summer solstice]] and led from the river to the timber circle. Evidence of huge fires on the banks of the Avon between the two avenues also suggests that both circles were linked. They were perhaps used as a procession route on the longest and shortest days of the year. Parker Pearson speculates that the wooden circle at Durrington Walls was the centre of a 'land of the living', whilst the stone circle represented a 'land of the dead', with the Avon serving as a journey between the two.<ref name=Pearson-2005>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=M. Parker |date=2005 |title=Bronze Age Britain |pages=63–67 |publisher=B.T. Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-8849-4}}</ref>

=== Stonehenge 3 III (2400 BC to 2280 BC) ===
Later in the [[Bronze Age]], although the exact details of activities during this period are still unclear, the bluestones appear to have been re-erected. They were placed within the outer sarsen circle and may have been trimmed in some way. Like the sarsens, a few have timber-working style cuts in them suggesting that, during this phase, they may have been linked with lintels and were part of a larger structure.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===Stonehenge 3 IV (2280 BC to 1930 BC)===
This phase saw further rearrangement of the bluestones. They were arranged in a circle between the two rings of sarsens and in an oval at the centre of the inner ring. Some archaeologists argue that some of these bluestones were from a second group brought from Wales. All the stones formed well-spaced uprights without any of the linking lintels inferred in Stonehenge 3 III. The Altar Stone may have been moved within the oval at this time and re-erected vertically. Although this would seem the most impressive phase of work, Stonehenge 3 IV was rather shabbily built compared to its immediate predecessors, as the newly re-installed bluestones were not well-founded and began to fall over. However, only minor changes were made after this phase.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}[[File:Stonehenge render.jpg|thumb|Computer rendering of the overall site as it may have appeared{{Clarification needed|reason=What point in time is depicted? What sources were used to create this model?|date=October 2023}}]]

===Stonehenge 3 V (1930 BC to 1600 BC)===
Soon afterwards, the northeastern section of the Phase 3 IV bluestone circle was removed, creating a horseshoe-shaped setting (the Bluestone Horseshoe) which mirrored the shape of the central sarsen Trilithons. This phase is contemporary with the [[Seahenge]] site in Norfolk.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===After the monument (1600 BC on)===
{{main|Y and Z Holes}}

The Y and Z Holes are the last known construction at Stonehenge, built about 1600 BC, and the last usage of it was probably during the [[Iron Age]]. [[Roman coins]] and [[medieval]] artefacts have all been found in or around the monument but it is unknown whether the monument was in continuous use throughout [[British prehistory]] and beyond, or exactly how it would have been used. Notable is the massive Iron Age [[hillfort]] known as [[Vespasian's Camp]] (despite its name, not a Roman site) built alongside the Avenue near the Avon. A decapitated seventh-century [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] man was excavated from Stonehenge in 1923.<ref>[http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/000109.html "Skeleton unearthed at Stonehenge was decapitated"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630102958/http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/000109.html|date=30 June 2010 }}, BBC News (9 June 2000), ABCE News (13 June 2000), Fox News (14 June 2000), ''New Scientist'' (17 June 2000), Archeo News (2 July 2000)</ref> The site was known to scholars during the [[Middle Ages]] and since then it has been studied and adopted by numerous groups.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Research on Stonehenge |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/history/research/ |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=English Heritage}}</ref>