STONEHENGE, ENGLAND

STONEHENGE

Visited Stonehenge on a cold, windy and rainy day.  The rocks in the middle of nowhere are truly amazing.  How did they get here?  Why here?  What is the meaning?  So many questions.  There is a walkway around the stones that you must stay on.  Past visitors climbed and wrote on the rocks so now they are protected from contact.  As you walk around the monument that is literally in a field with nothing around for miles and miles you think about the past and what happened here.  I just kept thinking that this was one of the wonders of the world.  Glad we came but will not be back anytime soon.

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 2.0 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north ofSalisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks. It is at the centre of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.^[1]

Archaeologists believe the iconic stone monument was constructed anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, as described in the chronology below.Radiocarbon dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were erected in 2400–2200 BC,^[2] whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been erected at the site as early as 3000 BC (see phase 1 below).

The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by theNational Trust.^[3][4]

Archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008 indicates that Stonehenge could possibly have served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.^[5] The dating of cremated remains found on the site indicate that deposits contain human bone material from as early as 3000 BC, when the initial ditch and bank were first dug. Such deposits continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years

FINALLY MADE IT TO ENGLAND TO VIEW STONEHENGE

SO COLD ON THIS DAY IN ENGLAND

COLD BUT HAPPY - HOW CAN YOU COMPLAIN WHEN YOU ARE SEEING HISTORY

TO BE WITH MY DAUGHTER AT STONEHENGE WAS AMAZING

YES IT IS A BUNCH OF ROCKS

IN YEARS PAST YOU CAN WALK UP AND TOUCH THE ROCKS.  NOW THEY ARE ROPED OFF

YOU LITERALLY JUST WALK AROUND THE ROCKS

HOW THEY GOT HERE IS STILL SOMEWHAT OF A MYSTERY

PRETTY COOL SIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

LOVE THE WIFE WHEN SHE IS ALL BUNDLED UP