8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500-1600 BCE.

Form

-Large megaliths in the center are 20 feet tall -Form a horseshoe surrounding a central flat stone -Post-and-lintel building, lintels grooved in place by mortise-and-tenon system. :of or relating to a system of architectural construction based on vertical supports and horizontal beams as distinguished from systems based on arches or vaults. -Hundreds of smaller stones placed around monuments.

Content

--Concentric circles of huge stones -Lintel stones are carved to create curved lines of a circle

Function

-Generally thought to be oriented toward sunrise on the longest day of the year -May also predict eclipses -New theory —Stonehenge was the center of ceremonies concerning death and burial.

Context

-It May have taken thousands of years to build; gradually redeveloping by each succeeding generation. -Some stones were imported from over 200 miles away -Smaller stones placed around the monument have an unknown purpose -One of many henges in southern England; the most recently discovered in July 2009, is called Bluehenge.

Additional Information

--Found in the Salisbury Plain in England -The first construction started around 3100BCE -Currently, archeologists are using technology to look under Stonehenge to see if it is perhaps more expansive than we originally thought.