More than 5,000 years old, the stone arrangement found in the fields of Wiltshire has baffled researchers for centuries. A recent study suggested the ancestors of the Stonehenge builders settled in Britain around 4000BC after researchers compared DNA extracted from Neolithic human remains with that of people alive at the same time in Europe. But historian Dan Snow explored some of the questions that remain unanswered during History Hit’s ‘Stonehenge’ documentary.
The TV presenter spoke to English Heritage archaeologist Dr Heather Sebire, who revealed the recent theories.
She said: “We know nobody was living here, so it’s definitely a spiritual site, a temple, somewhere people were gathering.
“Because of the shape of it, we’re still not quite sure what actually went on here.
“Think of a modern-day cathedral, it’s all divided into different areas, these are things we may never know.
“It was a very active prehistoric landscape full of archaeology.”
Dr Sebire explained how a recent scan had uncovered an incredible secret.
She added: “Up on the ridge, you can see a Bronze Age cemetery. These people came after the main period of the stone monument’s use.
“They had the use of metal and they could do so much more with that than stone. The axe became a symbol of the Bronze Age.
“There are axes inscribed on the stones – you can’t see them with the naked eye – but with a laser scan we discovered over 100 of them.”
READ MORE: Stonehenge breakthrough: Laser scan ‘confirmed’ theory on monument’s mystery alignment
Mr Snow asked: “Is that a new theory? Stonehenge was never finished?”
Dr Sebire admitted it was an ongoing hypothesis.
She continued: “The jury is still out over whether the outer circle was ever completed.
“But in the bit behind us, you can see some of the outer stones are not really as tall as the rest.
“It’s interesting as to whether [it was finished]. Perhaps they had a bad harvest and ran out of steam.
“But a few years ago after a dry summer, some parch marks showed up and it looks as if the stone outer circle did carry on.”
