The Source of the Stones at Stonehenge

On a sloping hill on England’s Salisbury plain about 4500 years ago some people placed a very large stone. They continued to add stones to create a "henge."  These “sarsen trilithons” towered over the humans who brought them there. 

Archaeologists have studied this place that came to be known as Stonehenge for a few hundred years and believe it was visited for religious or spiritual reasons. But the question of where these bluestones originated and how they were brought to that plain has not been answered.

As of now, the Preseli Hills of Wales has been identified as the source of the henge’s smaller bluestones, which form a ring and a central horseshoe shape inside the larger henge structure. But where did the bigger sarsen rocks (duricrust silcrete) get quarried and how were these huge stones transported to Salisbury.

The most recent study proposes that 50 of the 52 megaliths came from Wiltshire which is only about 15 miles north of Stonehenge. They determined this using a stone core that was extracted in 1958 for restoration but has been lost since then to researchers. 

How these huge stones were brought and set in place is still a mystery. The weight of the largest sarsen stones (the uprights of the Great Trilithon) are 35 tonnes and the estimated weight of the heel stone is 40 tonnes. 

This mystery reminds me of the many theories about how the Great Pyramids were built. They just don't seem doable for the ancients - which is why aliens have often been unscientifically suggested as helpers.

My Own Stonehenge for the Winter Solstice

Since I am feeling more Druid than any other established faith these days, I thought I would prepare for the Winter Solstice next week by building my own little Stonehenge.

I bought a kit to build my own desktop Stonehenge. It included 16 Stonehenge rocks, a nice landscaped map for them and a guide explaining the basics of this ancient wonder.

The Winter Solstice, or Yule, is held either December 21st or 22nd. (For 2016, the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere will be at 5:44 AM ET on Wednesday, December 21.)

It marks the shortest day of the year and at Stonehenge itself, it is an important holiday to those who follow the Old Ways.

To the ancients, it appeared as if the Sun and Moon stopped in their flight across the sky. On this shortest day and longest night of the year, it was a time of both anticipation and rejoicing at the Sun’s rebirth out of the Goddess.

The Sun's representation as the male divinity, or celestial ruler, predates Christianity. As with other rituals and celebrations, the Church felt that by assimilating this pagan holiday into the Christian beliefs, it would help convert those who still followed the Old Way.

Want to try some ritual? Look here for help. I've written much more about the Winter Solstice on another website.

Stonehenge is a long way off from my home (though I plan to go one day), so if I want to embrace the solstice this year I could embrace the old and new religions and go to the nearer New York City for the celebration at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

But I'll be content this year to have my little model of the restored Stonehenge (not quite as solid and fancy as the restored version shown above). To me, it is like my bonsai - a miniature reminder brought indoors of something larger out in the world.  I may even get the miniature stone heads of Easter Island that Amazon recommended to me after my Stonehenge purchase. I'm sure that their AI has informed the universe of my interests.

And there is no shortage of books on Stonehenge available for reading on the longest night of the year.

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