Stonehenge

Tracing 8,500 years of human story at Stonehenge — from Mesolithic origins through Modern times.

10 historical periods·23 key events·8,500 BCE – Present

Timeline Overview

8,500 BCEPresent

Mesolithic8,500 BCE

Long before the first stones were raised, the Stonehenge landscape was already a place of significance. Mesolithic post holes discovered in the car park area represent the earliest known structural activity on the site — massive timber posts erected by hunter-gatherer communities.

8,000 BCE

Mesolithic post holes erected

Three large pine posts are erected in what will become the Stonehenge car park. These totem-like structures — the earliest known structural activity on the site — pre-date the stone monument by over 5,000 years.

5,500 BCE

Continued Mesolithic activity in the landscape

Flint tools and evidence of camp sites indicate that the Salisbury Plain landscape continued to be used by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers for thousands of years before the first monument was constructed.

Early Neolithic4,000 BCE

The first farmers arrive on Salisbury Plain. Long barrows and cursus monuments are constructed in the wider landscape, establishing the area as a place of ceremony and funerary practice that will eventually give rise to Stonehenge itself.

3,600 BCE

The Stonehenge Cursus constructed

A massive linear earthwork approximately 2.8 km long is built north of the future stone circle. The cursus — a parallel pair of ditches and banks — may have been a processional avenue or a boundary marking sacred space.

3,500 BCE

Long barrows built on Salisbury Plain

Neolithic communities construct long barrows across the surrounding landscape. These communal tombs for the dead establish the Stonehenge area as a funerary landscape centuries before the henge is dug.

Late Neolithic3,000 BCE

The great age of Stonehenge construction. Over several centuries, the monument evolves from a simple circular earthwork to the most architecturally sophisticated stone monument in prehistoric Europe, incorporating bluestones from Wales and massive sarsen stones from the Marlborough Downs.

3,000 BCE

Phase 1: The circular ditch, bank, and Aubrey Holes

The first monument is constructed — a circular ditch and bank approximately 110 metres in diameter, with 56 pits (the Aubrey Holes) around the inner circumference. Cremated human remains are deposited in many of these pits.

2,620 BCE

Phase 2: Bluestones transported from Wales

Around 80 spotted dolerite bluestones are transported approximately 150 miles from the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire. They are initially set up in a double arc within the existing enclosure.

2,500 BCE

Phase 3: The sarsen circle and trilithons erected

Massive sarsen stones are dragged from the Marlborough Downs 25 miles to the north. They are shaped and erected as the outer circle of 30 uprights with a ring of lintels, and an inner horseshoe of five great trilithons.

2,400 BCE

Durrington Walls builders' village thrives

A vast Neolithic settlement at Durrington Walls, 3 km northeast, houses the workers who built Stonehenge. Hundreds of timber houses, evidence of massive feasts, and a timber circle (Woodhenge) form the living counterpart to the stone monument of the dead.

Bronze Age2,200 BCE

The bluestones are rearranged multiple times within the sarsen framework. The surrounding landscape fills with round barrows — the burials of a Bronze Age elite drawn to the monument's prestige. Stonehenge remains the centre of a ritual landscape but active construction ceases.

2,100 BCE

Bluestones rearranged into final positions

The bluestones are dug up, re-dressed, and rearranged into the oval and circle configurations visible today. The Y and Z holes are dug outside the sarsen circle but may never have held stones.

1,900 BCE

Bush Barrow burial

A wealthy individual is buried in a round barrow at Normanton Down, south of Stonehenge, with magnificent gold lozenge ornaments, bronze daggers, and a sceptre — the richest Bronze Age burial in Britain.

1,600 BCE

The Avenue completed

The ceremonial approach to Stonehenge — the Avenue, a pair of parallel ditches and banks — is extended from the northeast entrance down to the River Avon, creating a processional route linking the monument to the water.

Iron Age800 BCE

Stonehenge is no longer actively modified but continues to attract visitors. Pottery and animal bones suggest occasional gatherings. The monument stands as an ancient, mysterious presence in an increasingly settled and agricultural landscape.

500 BCE

Iron Age pottery deposited at Stonehenge

Iron Age pottery and animal bones found at the site suggest occasional use, perhaps for seasonal gatherings or as a landmark. The monument is already ancient and its original purpose likely forgotten.

Roman43 CE

Roman-period finds at Stonehenge indicate continued visits. Coins, brooches, and pottery suggest that Romano-Britons came to the stones — perhaps as curious visitors to an already ancient monument, or to worship in a traditional manner.

100 CE

Roman coins and pottery left at the stones

Romano-British visitors leave coins, brooches, and pottery at the monument. Whether these are offerings, casual losses, or evidence of market activity near a prominent landmark remains debated.

Saxon410 CE

The Saxon period sees Stonehenge incorporated into the mythology of the new English kingdom. The name 'Stonehenge' (from the Old English 'stan' and 'hencg,' meaning stone and hinge or hanging) is coined during this era.

645 CE

Saxon execution cemetery

A Saxon-period burial ground near Stonehenge includes what appear to be judicial executions — decapitated bodies buried in shallow graves. The ancient monument may have served as a meeting place or boundary marker for Saxon justice.

Medieval1066 CE

Stonehenge enters the written historical record through Geoffrey of Monmouth's fantastical account of Merlin and the Giant's Dance. The medieval period sees the monument become a subject of wonder and legend.

1130 CE

Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae

Geoffrey writes that Stonehenge was built by Merlin, who magically transported the stones from Ireland. The stones were said to have healing powers. This account embeds Stonehenge in the Arthurian legend cycle.

1220 CE

Henry of Huntingdon lists Stonehenge as a wonder

Medieval chroniclers include Stonehenge among the wonders of Britain. The monument's purpose is by now entirely mysterious — it is simply an object of awe.

Post-Medieval1485 CE

The age of antiquarian investigation. Inigo Jones, John Aubrey, and William Stukeley each attempt to explain Stonehenge, attributing it variously to Romans, Practitioners, and ancient Britons. Scientific archaeology gradually replaces speculation.

1620 CE

Inigo Jones surveys Stonehenge

The architect Inigo Jones, at the command of King James I, produces the first measured survey of Stonehenge and attributes its construction to the Romans — an attribution that will persist for decades.

1666 CE

John Aubrey identifies the Aubrey Holes

Aubrey visits Stonehenge and identifies the ring of pits now named after him. He attributes the monument to the Practitioners — beginning the enduring association between Stonehenge and nature practice.

1723 CE

William Stukeley discovers the Avenue and Cursus

Stukeley conducts the first truly detailed fieldwork at Stonehenge, discovering the Avenue and the Cursus. His drawings and measurements remain valuable records. He popularises the Practitioner connection that persists in popular culture.

Modern1900 CE

Scientific excavation reveals the monument's phased construction. Stonehenge is donated to the nation, inscribed as a World Heritage Site, and becomes one of the most visited and most debated ancient monuments in the world.

1918 CE

Cecil Chubb donates Stonehenge to the nation

Cecil Chubb, who purchased Stonehenge at auction in 1915 for £6,600, donates the monument to the nation. It passes into the care of the Office of Works, the forerunner of English Heritage.

1986 CE

UNESCO World Heritage inscription

Stonehenge and Avebury are jointly inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognising the outstanding universal value of the prehistoric monuments and their landscape settings.

2003 CE

Stonehenge Riverside Project begins

Mike Parker Pearson's Stonehenge Riverside Project transforms understanding, revealing the builders' village at Durrington Walls and proposing that Stonehenge was a monument to the dead connected by the River Avon to Durrington Walls, a monument to the living.

2020 CE

Sarsen source identified at West Woods

Geochemical analysis of a core sample returned from the United States identifies West Woods, near Marlborough, as the source of Stonehenge's sarsen stones — solving a mystery that had persisted for centuries.

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At a Glance

Time Span: ~8,500 years
Periods: 10
Key Events: 23
Earliest: 8,500 BCE

Periods

Mesolithic

2 events

Early Neolithic

2 events

Late Neolithic

4 events

Bronze Age

3 events

Iron Age

1 event

Roman

1 event

Saxon

1 event

Medieval

2 events

Post-Medieval

3 events

Modern

4 events

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