Stonehenge

Stonehenge was our destination this weekend. Stonehenge started being structured in 3,000 B.C. That is about 300 years before the pharos of Egypt even started the first pyramid! As you drive up to Stonehenge the first thing you see are the Sarsen stones. The Sarsen stones are the biggest of the giant stones in Stonehenge. A Sarsen usually weighs about 40 tons and is 20 feet tall. As you get closer you see the Blue stones. The Blue stones weigh around two tons and are about a man’s height. You will also notice hundreds of small hills scattered everywhere. These are burial grounds. Stonehenge still holds many secrets. Just a month ago people found the place where the stones were from. They think the people of Stonehenge got its rocks from south-Wales. That is over 120 miles away! As you think that the question pops into your mind, “How did they do it?” Many scientists have ideas, but I know the idea I believe. Scientists have found hard circular rocks. Each one is the exact same size, the size of your fist. Scientists believe people back then rolled the huge rocks on these balls. People had not yet invented the wheel, but it was very close. They rolled the rocks hundreds of miles to the Stonehenge spot. Scientists believe the people did it in stages. They started with the massive Sarsen stones. It took about 500 years to do. Then they did the smaller, but still huge Blue stones. By the time they finished, it took them about a thousand years. Scientists believe that the people used the place to bury the dead. They have found almost sixty bodies. Stonehenge also does a special thing on the winter and summer solstice. As the sun comes up and as the sun goes down, the light filters through the two biggest Sarsens. It filters through the other end and is in is an exact line with the trench. The trench is where the Stonehenge people would walk to Stonehenge. The trench leads all the way to the river, Avon, beside Stonehenge. Stonehenge is amazing!