The Beginnings of
Stonehenge
About 2,000 BC, the first stone circle (which is now the inner circle),
comprised of small bluestones, was set up, but abandoned before
completion. The stones used in that first circle are believed to be from
the Prescelly Mountains, located roughly 240 miles away, at the
southwestern tip of Wales. The bluestones weigh up to 4 tons each and
about 80 stones were used, in all. Given the distance they had to
travel, this presented quite a transportation problem.
Modern theories speculate that the stones
were dragged by roller and sledge from the inland mountains to the
headwaters of Milford Haven. There they were loaded onto rafts, barges
or boats and sailed along the south coast of Wales, then up the Rivers
Avon and Frome to a point near present-day Frome in Somerset. From this
point, so the theory goes, the stones were hauled overland, again, to a
place near Warminster in Wiltshire, approximately 6 miles away. From
there, it's back into the pool for a slow float down the River Wylye to
Salisbury, then up the Salisbury Avon to West Amesbury, leaving only a
short 2 mile drag from West Amesbury to the Stonehenge site
back
|
