Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

Stonehenge, is a prehistoric monument, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, 3 km west of Amesbury. It consists of, an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones.
Inside, is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens, joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise, on the summer solstice. The stones, are set within earthworks, in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic, and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli (burial mounds).

Archaeologists believe, that Stonehenge was constructed from, 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding, circular earth bank, and ditch, which constitute, the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that, the first bluestones were raised between, 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site, as early as 3000 BC.

Stonehenge, could have been a burial ground, from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone, date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another 500 years.

One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge, is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected, Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1882, when legislation to protect historic monuments, was first successfully introduced in Britain. The site and its surroundings, were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, in 1986. Stonehenge, is owned by the Crown, and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by, the National Trust.