It’s been there for thousands of years – but we don’t know why Stonehenge was builtpublished at 08:27 Greenwich Mean Time
No one really knows why Stonehenge was built. But people have been gathering at the stone circle for millennia.
According to English Heritage, the stone circle has “no obvious practical purpose” – the site was not lived in and could not be defended.
The stones are believed to have been moved there around 2500 BC.
The stones are deliberately placed to line up with the Sun’s movements during the two solstices, marking the changing of the seasons. Because of the connection with the Sun’s movement, and due to burials uncovered at the site, it is believed to have played a spiritual role.
The changing of the seasons would have meant a lot to the people who lived there at the time, defining what would grow and the general living conditions.
Based on Stonehenge’s design, English Heritage says it’s thought that the winter solstice – rather than summer – may have been the most important focus for the people who built the stone circle.
“We have few clues as to what they did here,” it says, adding excavations show that the area within the circle seems to have been kept clean of everyday debris.