Expert: Ralph Salier - 8/1/2006

Question
what do people think the stonehenge is for

Answer
Hi Jamie.

I visited Stone Henge just 3 weeks ago.  The monument was built over a very long time during the "New Stone Age" or the "Neolithic" period.  The people of this time period were developing farming strategies and were relying on the land to support them.  This could only work if they could figure out when to plant and the best times to harvest.  And since they were at the mercy of t he weather and the elements, tried to learn about these patterns by studing the sky.  Over time, they began to understand the yearly cycle of both the sun and the moon and recognized that they were not in sync.  Stonehenge is in effect a calendar calculator which, working from both a solar and lunar perspective, could be used to determine the date.  It was used for this purpose for millenium.  What occured to the original builders is unknown and who the last user of the monument was is also unknown.  However, its disues occured around the time the Romans invaded and it soon fell into disrepair.