Who Built Stonehenge?

Human remains more than 4,000 years old have helped scientists discover the identity of its architects.

Copyright: Jane Brayne 2004 The Boscombe Bowmen are likely to have built Stonehenge about 4300 years ago.

One thing is sure - building Stonehenge was a really tough job. Without cranes, hoists or machinery, the massive rocks were erected, some heavier than a fully-loaded truck, and they still stand undisturbed thousands of years later.. We still don't know what this mysterious configuration of rocks was for - but archaeologists have identified the architects by examining human remains more than 4,000 years old found in the area.

Stonehenge dominates Salisbury Plain in southern England and lies at the heart of an area steeped in monuments to long-forgotten pagan religions. The design evolved over many generations: first a circular ditch and bank, then a second phase of timber structures. The third phase saw the arrival of stones - the largest 23 feet tall and weighing more than 44 tons. In total, Stonehenge is made up of more than 1,500 tons of rock.

The precision with which it was built is amazing. Some believe that the massive stones were carefully aligned with stars in the sky. At some stage in its creation, the circle of upright stones was topped by huge carved rock lintels. These stones are nearly perfectly level, despite being built on sloping ground. Within the larger stones lie a circular arrangement of smaller uprights known as bluestones. And in the middle is a horseshoe with the largest of all the stones: a series of three slab constructions known as the Trilithons. Stonehenge is unique; nothing quite like it has been built before or since. But the question remains: who built it?

The suspects

There are lots of likely suspects. The first humans in Britain, at the end of the last ice-age, were primitive, stone-age hunter-gatherers. Then settlers and invaders started arriving from mainland Europe. Was Stonehenge built by ancient Britons or foreign invaders? There are clues to be found deep under the stones. Early archaeologists found deer antlers, pottery and even human remains in the area and radiocarbon dating, can determine exactly how old these artefacts are. Because they were buried directly underneath the stones, it also gives us the most likely date when Stonehenge was built.