Over the semester, we’ve talked about a wide variety of sites and cultures. Which one do you think is the most important, captivating, interesting, exciting, etc.    Discuss why.

Out of all the things we have discussed this semester, Stonehenge really caught my attention. Not only did we spend a couple of weeks discussing it, but those discussions also left a lot of unanswered questions. What was Stonehenge? What was Stonehenge used for? Of the many, these two questions are most important in my mind.

What was Stonehenge?
We discussed 4 theories in class. The first being that the devil brought the stones to their current place. The heel stone was believed to be ‘dropped’, thrown at a local frier, and dropped. This seemed a little far fetched to me as well as many other scholars.
The second theory is that Merlin and King Arthur magically transported the stones to the building location as healing rocks during a time of conflict in Ireland between Britain and the Saxons. Again, the stones being “magically” transported seemed unbelievable and not the correct story.
The third theory is that the Romans built the Stonehenge structures as a temple dedicated to Caelus. This could very well be true, however, the source of this information comes from an architect, John Webb, who wrote under the fake name of Inigo Jones. To me, this completely discredits any studies and conclusions drawn from the studies.
The fourth theory is that the druids, or priests, created Stonehenge for religious observations of the neopraganism practice. Although deemed unsophisticated, the druids having built Stonehenge is more probable than any of the other theories discussed in class.
I am sure I would be under archaeological attack after anyone reading this, but I believe that archaeologists simply do not know who inhibited the area at the time of building and therefore, cannot know who created the Stonehenge structures.

What was Stonehenge used for?
The most popular theory is that it the stones are used in relation to astronomical readings like a calendar to track and worship the summer solstice and the winter solstice.
It is also believed that there could have been slaughterings and other religious rituals practiced there. Seasonal importance would be dominantly attributed to Stonehenge’s importance.
Another theory is that Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage. There is evidence of burials of, most likely, far away peoples. Stonehenge has often been called the land of the dead, suggesting that this theory could be true.
The most sensible theory, in my mind, it was a place of unification. Stonehenge boarders the British Isles and there was clearly lots of labor that had to be completed for construction. This suggests that Stonehenge acted as an inter-regional cooperation that continually brought people together. To me, this is the most logical, despite not being the most popular theory of what Stonehenge was used for.