Previous

Stonehenge

The sequence of construction

The building of the first phase of Stonehenge was begun around 1800 BC; at a time when the priests in Babylon were conducting, and recording, their observations of the celestial bodies. Over the next several hundred years a series of successive structures were erected until Stonehenge as we know it finally arose sometime around 1500 BC. ( see Lockyer - Chapter 7 )There's no definitive version of the order in which the various parts were constructed but it is possible to give a likely sequence.

The first phase involved the construction of the bank, the ditch, the Aubrey Holes and, most likely, a stone arrangement at the centre. stone flooring

The mounds /ditches associated with two of the Station Stones overlay Aubrey Holes and the bank/ ditch and the diagonal view across the 'Four Stations' is blocked by the central Sarsen stones. Indicating that the Station Stones were erected later than the bank/ ditch and Aubrey Holes, but earlier than the central Sarsen stones. The Station Stones and the Heel Stone are so intimately connected by alignments that they must belong to the same phase. Therefore the second phase of the construction of Stonehenge was the addition of the four Station Stones and the Hele Stone with most likely something in the centre.

The primary concern of the builders of this phase of Stonehenge was the interlocking pattern of alignments made by the newly raised stones. Ceramica and Stone

The third phase was the construction of the inner monument as we know it. The Bluestone horseshoe with it's surrounding Trilithons and the Bluestone circle and outer Sarsen Circle. The two standing stones in the entrance probably belong to this phase. The 'Z' and 'Y' Holes were dug after the Sarsen Circle was erected. This third phase represents Stonehenge as it has come down to us.

"The great dolmens of Stonehenge, all of local stone, look as though they were erected to give importance to the smaller stones, which were placed in position shortly after they themselves were. It has been suggested that the smaller ones which are known to have been transported all the way from the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire, were originally disposed in another order there and rearranged by the people who erected the larger ones." - Robert Graves; The White Goddess, p282.

Next .... The Hele and Station Stones