Stonehenge Timeline
8500–7000 BCFirst Activity
Mesolithic posts, like totem poles, are raised by hunter-gatherers, to the north-west of the Stonehenge site, perhaps already marking it as an important place in the landscape.
3500 BCFirst Monuments
Early farming communities arrive from Europe around 6,000 years ago. In the landscape north of Stonehenge they build a number of monuments for ritual and gathering: a causewayed enclosure (a large earthwork with concentric banks and ditches) at Robin Hood’s Ball; two cursus monuments (huge rectangular earthworks); and long barrows (communal burial places).
Read more about Stonehenge
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Building Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a masterpiece of engineering. How did Neolithic people build it using only the simple tools and technologies available to them?
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Why Does Stonehenge Matter?
Stonehenge is a unique prehistoric monument, lying at the centre of an outstandingly rich archaeological landscape. It is an extraordinary source for the study of prehistory.
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Research on Stonehenge
Our understanding of Stonehenge is constantly changing as excavations and modern scientific techniques yield more information. Read a summary of both past and recent research.
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Restoration to Conservation
Since coming into the care of the Ministry of Works in 1918, Stonehenge has had several phases of work to protect it. Find out more about the conservation work undertaken by English Heritage.
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Stonehenge Collection Highlights
Hundreds of prehistoric objects from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site are on display at the visitor centre. You can explore ten of them here in detail.
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Virtual Tour of Stonehenge
Take an interactive tour of Stonehenge with this 360 degree view from inside the stones, which explores the monument’s key features.
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Explore the Stonehenge Landscape
Use these interactive images to discover what the landscape around Stonehenge has looked like from before the monument was built to the present day.
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The First World War Stonehenge aerodrome
As they travel from the visitor centre to the stones, few of today’s visitors to Stonehenge realise they are crossing the site of a First World War airfield. Find out more.
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Plan of Stonehenge
Download this PDF plan to see the phases of the building of Stonehenge, from the first earthwork to the arrangement of the bluestones.
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Buy the guidebook
The guidebook includes a tour and history of the site and its remarkable landscape, with many reconstruction drawings, historic images, maps and plans.
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More histories
Delve into our history pages to discover more about our sites, how they have changed over time, and who made them what they are today.