"The Sarsen Circle, about 108 feet (33 metres) in diameter, was originally comprised of 30 neatly trimmed upright sandstone blocks of which only 17 are now standing. The stones are evenly spaced approximately 1.0 to 1.4 metres apart, and stand on average 13 feet (4 metres) above the ground. They are about 6.5 feet (2 metres) wide and 3 feet (1 metre) thick and taper towards the top. They originally supported sarsen lintels forming a continuous circle around the top. Each lintel block has been shaped to the curve of the circle. The average length of the rectangular lintels is 3.2 metres (10' 6"). The lintels were fitted end-to end using tongue-and-groove joints, and fitted on top of the standing sarsen with mortice and tenon joints. The Sarsen Circle with its lintels is perhaps the most remarkable feature of Stonehenge in terms of design, precision stonework, and engineering..."

"The Trilithons are ten upright stones arranged as five freestanding pairs each with a single horizontal lintel. They were erected within the Sarsen Circle in the form of a horseshoe with the open side facing north-east towards the main entrance of the monument. They were arranged symmetrically and graded in height; the tallest is in the central position. Only three of the five Trilithons are now complete with their lintels. The other two both have only one standing stone with the second stone and lintel lying on the ground..."

"The term 'Bluestone' refers to various types of mostly igneous rocks including dolerites, rhyolites, and volcanic ash. It also includes some sandstones. The Bluestones at Stonehenge are believed to have originated from various outcrops in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire in Wales. How they were transported to the site at Stonehenge has been the subject of much speculation.

Earth Mysteries: Stonehenge - Dr. Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe

"Two of Britain's leading archaeologists, both world-renowned experts on Stonehenge, think they may have finally solved the riddle of the great standing stones. Professor Timothy Darvill and Professor Geoff Wainwright are not convinced, as others have been, that Stonehenge was a holy place or a secular tool for calculating dates. Instead, they think Stonehenge was a site of healing. 'The whole purpose of Stonehenge is that it was a prehistoric Lourdes,' says Wainwright. 'People came here to be made well.'"

This is revolutionary stuff, and it comes from a reinterpretation of the stones of the henge and the bones buried nearby. Darvill and Wainwright believe the smaller bluestones in the centre of the circle, rather than the huge sarsen stones on the perimeter, hold the key to the purpose of Stonehenge. The bluestones were dragged 250km from the mountains of southwest Wales using Stone Age technology. That's some journey, and there must have been a very good reason for attempting it. Darvill and Wainwright believe the reason was the magical, healing powers imbued in the stones by their proximity to traditional healing springs."

The Healing Stones - A New Theory for an Ancient Icon

Stonehenge was first described by Nennius in the 9th century, who wrote that it was built as a memorial to the 400 nobles who were treacherously slain nearby by Hengist in 472. Many later historians were influenced by supernatural folktales in their explanations

In 1615, Inigo Jones argued that it was a Roman temple, dedicated to Cnelus, a pagan god, and built following the Tuscan order. Later commentators maintained that it was erected by the Danes. Indeed up until the late nineteenth century the site was commonly attributed to Saxon or other, relatively later societies.

The first serious effort to understand the monument was made around 1740 by William Stukeley. As was his wont, Stukeley attributed the site to the Druids which was incorrect but his most important contribution was in taking measured drawings of the site which permitted greater analysis of its form and significance. From this work he was able to demonstrate that the henge and its stones were orientated in such a way as to have some sort of astronomical or calendrical significance.

By the turn of the nineteenth century John Lubbock was able to attribute the site to the Bronze Age based on the bronze objects found in the nearby barrows.

The monument is aligned north east - south west and it has been often suggested that particular significance was placed by its builders on the solstice and equinox points so that for example, on midsummer's morning, the sun rose directly over the heel stone, and the sun's first rays went directly into the centre of the monument between the horseshoe arrangement. It is unlikely that such an alignment can have been merely accidental. The sun rises in different directions in different geographical latitudes. For the alignment to be correct, it must have been calculated precisely for Stonehenge's latitude of 51° 11'. This alignment, therefore, must have been fundamental to the design and placement of at least some of Stonehenge's phases. Alexander Thom was of the opinion that the site was laid out with the necessary precision using his megalithic yard.

As a result, some have claimed that Stonehenge represents an "ancient observatory," although the extent of its use for that purpose is in dispute. Some have theorized that it represents a big vagina ( Article from The Observer), a computer or even an alien landing site.

From their incongruously finely worked appearance, it has been suggested that the bluestones had been transferred from an as yet unlocated earlier monument in Pembrokeshire and were brought to Salisbury Plain. Possibly this was to cement an alliance or display superiority over a conquered enemy although this can only be speculation. Recent analysis of contemporary burials found nearby known as the Boscombe Bowmen however, has indicated that at least some of the individuals associated with Stonehenge III did indeed come from modern day Wales. Oval shaped settings of bluestones similar to those at Stonehenge IIId are also known at the sites of Bedd Arthur in the Preseli Hills and at Skomer Island off the south west coast of Pembrokeshire.

Many archaeologists believe Stonehenge was an attempt to render in permanent stone, the more common timber structures that dotted Salisbury Plain at the time such as those that stood at Durrington Walls.

Much speculation has also surrounded the engineering feats required to build Stonehenge. Assuming that the bluestones were brought from Wales by hand and not transported by glaciers as Aubrey Burl has claimed, various methods of moving them relying only on timber and rope have been suggested. During 2001, in an exercise in experimental archaeology, an attempt was made to transport a large stone along a land and sea route from Wales to Stonehenge. Volunteers pulled it on a wooden sledge over land but once transferred to a replica prehistoric boat, the stone sank in rough seas in the Bristol Channel.

It has been conjectured that timber A frames were erected to raise the stones and that teams of people hauled them upright using ropes. The topmost stones may have been raised up incrementally on timber platforms and slid into place. The carpentry-type joints used on the stones imply a people well-skilled in woodworking and they could easily have had the knowledge to erect the monument using such methods.

The engraved weapons on the sarsens are unique in megalithic art in the British Isles where more abstract designs were favoured. Similarly the horseshoe arrangements of stones are unusual in a culture that otherwise arranged stones in circles. Such motifs are however common to the peoples of Brittany at the time and it has been suggested that at least two stages of Stonehenge were built under continental influence. This would go some way towards explaining the monument's atypical design, but overall, Stonehenge is still inexplicably unusual in the context of any prehistoric European culture.

Estimates of the manpower needed to build the various phases of Stonehenge put the total effort involved at millions of man hours. Stonehenge I probably needed around 11,000 manhours, Stonehenge II around 360,000 and the various parts of Stonehenge III may have involved up to 1.75 million manhours. The working of the stones is estimated to have required around 20 million manhours using the primitive tools available at the time. Certainly the will to produce such a site must have been strong and it is considered that advanced social organisation would have been necessary to build and maintain it.

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