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Who Built Stonehenge?

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There are many myths and legends about Stonehenge. Travelers passing by and the peoples living near it created them. In the past, people have attributed the building of this great megalith to the Danes, Romans, Saxons, Greeks, Atlanteans, Egrptians, Phoenicians Celts, and even King Aurelius Ambrosious and Merlin. In one legend, dancing giants turned into stone, resulting in the circular position of the stones. Some people today connect Stonehenge with UFO's and aliens, pointing out that crop circles and ley lines continually appear in close vicinity to it.

Many past archeologists believed that the Druids, the high priests of the Celts, constructed it for sacrificial ceremnies. They believed that only such a mysterious and mystical group such as the Druids could build an ancient temple so magnificent as Stonehenge. It was John Aubrey, a Stonehenge antiquary (c. 1660), who first linked Stonehenge to the Druids. Dr. William Stukeley, another antiquary, also claimed the Druids were Stonehenge's architects. He, a century later than Aubrey, became so involved in this religion that he himself became a Druid. He was most instrumental in this theory and its popularization.

In recent years, however, this age-old theory has been proven impossible. Due to modern dating techniques, scientists have discovered that its builders completed Stonehenge over 1,000 years before the Celts ever inhabited this region ("Stonehenge" Encyclopedia Americana, NPA), eliminating them from the possibilities. It is true, although, that the Druids did use Stonehenge occasionally as a temple of worship and sacrifice when they moved into the region, even though they typically worshipped in marshes and forests. Modern Druids, formally named the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids, still congregate at Stonehenge on the midsummer solstice, clad in white robes and hoods. As recently as 1905, the Druids initiated 258 novices inside these stones on midsummer solstice (National Geographic Society, 97). Today, for fear of its desecration, its caretakers make Stonehenge shut off public access on midsumrner's eve, and it is on 24-hour guard year round.

Many sources site the devil, nonetheless, as a possible architect of Stonehenge. It is said that an old woman living in Ireland had the stones in her backyard. Satan discovered them and wanted them for his own. He quickly devised a way of stealing them. Dressing as a gentleman, the devil were to visit the old lady, asking if the monument was for sale. When she appeared reluctant to sell such a magnificent structure, he showed her a large bag of golden coins. He told her that she could have all the gold she could count in the time it took to move the stones. Believing that he could never move such large stones before she finished counting the coins, she agreed readily. Immediately he magically transported them to Salisbuly Plain in England, where they stand today. The old lady could not count any gold in that short amount of time, so the greedy devil kept it all. Back in Salisbury, an elderly priest overheard the devil bragging that no one would ever be able to tell how many stones his prize consisted of. Angered by the devil's boasting, the wise and strong priest said that he could. According to legend, he guessed exactly right. The devil became so enraged that he threw one of the large stones at the priest. The menhir hit the priest's heel, but the priest was so strong that his heel dented the stone (Roop, 33). Obviously, this tale is purely myth. But oddly enough, there is the imprint of a foot in the stone that archaeologists today call the Heel stone, and it stands outside the circle. Some books even refer to the Heel Stone as the Friar's Heel.

Another legend boasts that Merlin built Stonehenge with his magic at the command of King Aureoles Ambrosias. According to legend, in 450 AD, there was a very bloody war on Salisbury Plain between the British and the Saxons, who Hengeset lead. The Saxons massacred three hundred English soldiers and buried them on Salisbury Plain. Aureoles Ambrosias, Britain's wise ruler, desired a monument to the slain soldiers. When he asked Merlin for ideas, he suggested moving Ireland's Giant's Ring stone circle to Britain. Since the Giant's Ring was such a magnificent structure, King Ambrosias agreed. When arnving in Ireland, they discovered that it was much larger than they could carry. So, at King Ambrosia's command, Merlin magically dismantled the stone circle and spirited it away to its new home in Salisbury Plain, around the mass grave of the slaughtered noblemen. It also is said that Kings Uther, Constantine, and King Ambrosias himself are buried there (Haskel, 3).

Apart from the local myths and lore, we have a good idea of whom the builders really are. Most scientists agree on the modern theory that three tribes built Stonehenge at three separate times. The first peoples to work on the site were Neolithic agrarians, in approximately 3000 B.C (Schreibir, 28). Archaeologists named them the Windmill Hill people after one of their earthworks on Windmill Hill, which is near Stonehenge. The Windmill Hill people were a bend of the local peoples, from whom the name comes, and Neolithic tribe members from Eastern England. The Neolithic tribe members brought along with them a worship and reverence for circles and symmetry. Together, they were one of the first semi-nomadic hunting and gathering groups with an agricultural economy. The Windrnill Hill peoples had collective burials in large stone-encased tombs, some of which are very near Stonehenge. They built large circular furrows, or hill-top enclosures, dug around a mound. Most of their bunal mounds point east-west. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, grew wheat and mined flint.

The second peoples on the site invaded Sa lisbury Plain around 2000 BC (Hawkins,36). They were the Beaker People, or Beaker Folk, who came from Europe at the end of the Neolithic Period. Their name comes from one of their ancient traditions. They would bury beakers, or pottery drinking cups, with their dead. They did not bury their dead in mass graves, but showed more reverence for death, also a sign of cultural advancement. They buried their dead in small round graves marked by mounds called tumuli. The Beaker People were more belligerent, or warlike in nature, than most tribes of their time, archaeologists believe, because they buried their dead with more weapons, such as daggers and battle axes. Highly organized and ind ustr ious, t he B eaker Folk was from a new arising economy in Europe and around England. The Beaker Folk had a chieftain system. They began using metal implements and li ving in a more communal fashion. Scientists believe they were sun worshipers who aligned Stonehenge more exactly with certain important sun ev ents, such as mid summer and winter solstices. They might have worshipped the color blue, possibly the reason they used bluestones. They were "highly organized, skilled in many crafts, and able to work with sophisticated mathematical concepts." (Roop, 77)

The third and final peoples at the Stonehenge site are the Wessex Peoples, who arrived around 1500 BC (Schrieber, 30), at the height of the Bronze Age. These people were one of the most advanced cultures outside the Mediterranean during this period. Since their tribal base sat where ridgeways, or ancient roads, met, they became skillfill and well-organized traders, controlling trade routes throughout Southern Britain. Though this tribe saw great wealth, it was concentrated in just a few members of the society. It is possible that they were responsible for the bronze dagger carving recently found on one of the large sarsen stones. The strange thing about these peoples is their intelligence. They used greater precision in their calcutations and construction than anyone thought these ancient peoples were capable.