---
node: stonehenge
type: art
slug: stonehenge
title: "Stonehenge"
lead: "Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain in southern England, built in stages from about 3000 to 2000 BC. It is the most famous megalithic monument in the world."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: stonehenge.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stonehenge,_Condado_de_Wiltshire,_Inglaterra,_2014-08-12,_DD_09.JPG"
image_author: "Diego Delso"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

The monument's great sarsen stones, some over 7 metres tall and weighing around 25 tonnes, are arranged in a ring topped by horizontal lintels, with smaller bluestones — brought about 250 km from the Preseli hills in Wales — set inside. It was raised in several phases over centuries, beginning as an earthwork and burial site.

## Description

Its exact purpose is unknown; the alignment on the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset points to ritual and astronomical use, and it was a place of burial and gathering. Modern archaeology has replaced older myths that credited it to the Romans or to Merlin.

## History and legacy

Stonehenge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an emblem of prehistoric Britain, drawing crowds at the solstices. It remains a focus of research into Neolithic society and belief.