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Though it’s one of the world’s most well-known monuments, surprisingly little is known about Stonehenge. It remains a mystery just who built this legendary stone circle in Southern England. It’s also unclear exactly why they built it. But science has been uncovering clues about the ancient structure’s origins and uses.
Work on Stonehenge is thought to have started around 5,000 years ago. Early builders used small bluestones from Wales. These rocks may have been repurposed from an earlier stone circle located some 280 kilometers (170 miles) away. But Stonehenge’s most massive sarsen boulders weren’t added for another 500 years. Those rocks probably came from only about 25 km (15 mi) away.
Human remains found at Stonehenge suggest that it was used as a cemetery. At least, for the first few hundred years of its existence. The site’s stones also align with the sun on the summer and winter solstices. This suggests the site had some astronomical use.
No one knows what, if any, ceremonies took place at the monument. But research hints that its arrangement of rocks would have enhanced the sounds of voices or music inside the stone circle.
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