stonehenge guide

Mystery origins of Stonehenge unravelling

9 05 2011

Stonehenge is an ancient site which dominates Salisbury Plain in the south west of England. Much of where the stones came from and how they were moved is still an enigma.

Built around 3100 BC, the origins and purpose remains the subject of much debate around the world.

At the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff some detective work is taking place that could help solve this historical conundrum.

With precision and patience Dr. Richard Bevins is examining a minute piece of stone that is part of a 5000-year-old mystery.
Under his microscope is a sample taken from Stonehenge.

Bevins says the whereabouts of some of the stones is already known.

“Stonehenge comprises an outer circle, an inner circle and an inner horseshoe. The outer circle, which are the very big stones are actually local to the Stonehenge area, to Salisbury Plain.”

In the 1920s scientists traced the origins of the remaining stones, known as Bluestones, to an unspecified part of the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

This is 240km from Stonehenge. It remains unclear how an ancient civilisation would have transported such heavy stones such a huge distance.

Bevins says: “These stones that form the inner circle and the inner horseshoe, the Bluestones, they still weigh two to three tons so they’re substantial pieces of rock to be moving around the countryside, if it was humans.”

A unique discovery is now fuelling further debate about how the architects of Stonehenge moved their building materials from Wales to the south west of England.

Dr. Bevins and a team of scientists have matched stone samples from Stonehenge with ones taken from the Preseli Hills and uncovered their precise origin.

They have done it by using new technologies by analysing and comparing their mineral content.

“We got a good match in terms of what they looked like in hand specimen and down the microscope,” says Bevins. “But we wanted to go one stage further, we wanted to have a diagnostic technique, we wanted some data.”

Still in Wales, at the University of Aberystwyth, geochemist Dr Nick Pearce was tasked with analysing the zircon crystals that are embedded in the stone samples.

He pioneered a technique that uses a laser to vaporise the crystals so that their chemical make up can be scrutinised.

Pearce explains how the technique works.

“We get hold of the samples as thin sections. We’ve identified in those where the grains of zircon are that we want to analyse and then we put those samples into the glazer abrasion ISO PMS system, fire a very powerful laser on top of the samples, on the individual grains within the sample. The vapour gets transported then into a mass spectrometer and we analyse the components of that mineral grain.”

By matching the chemical finger prints of their stone samples they have proven the origin of stones used to build parts of Stonehenge.

In a picturesque and quiet corner of West Wales called Pont Saesnon is a rocky outcrop that looks like any other in this mountainous country.

But thousands of years ago it provided the building blocks for the ancient structure of Stonehenge that still captivates people today.

Pearce says their research has located the exact spot the stones came from.

“It pins them down to place where nobody has really considered they came from before; on the north side of the Preseli Hills in North Pembrokeshire and not localities on the top of the Presellis.”

The unearthing of the stone’s origins also challenges the theories on how the builders of Stonehenge transported their materials to Salisbury Plain.

“It was always thought they were transported by humans south down towards the Bristol Channel and put onto rafts at Milford Haven. Well this location changes that perspective,” Bevins says.

It’s now thought the stones took an alternative route and travelled 16km west to the natural harbours that dot the Welsh coastline then shipped to their final resting place on Salisbury Plain, in England.

This theory now needs to be tested by archaeologists.

These new discoveries bring people who are fascinated with Stonehenge one step closer to unlocking its mysteries.

More information: http://www.3news.co.nz/
Sponsored by ‘The Stonehenge Tour Company’ www.StonehengeTours.com

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : Blue Stones, megalith, Stonehenge, Stonehenge archaeological digs, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, Stonehenge tours, wiltshire

Stonehenge: Could 2011’s solstice mass event be the last?

8 05 2011

As we recently observed people are fully entitled to see Stonehenge as their temple. However, while such claims are harmless in themselves they have also been responsible for some unwelcome effects. For isn’t it clear that a wish to avoid offending people of a spiritual nature has led to a reluctance to say that no, access by tens of thousands of revellers at Summer Solstice is unseemly and damaging and really must end?
1995 Stonehenge Summer Solstice

: Get off those Stones! 1995 Stonehenge Summer Solstice

It seems to us there’s an easy and equitable solution that balances tourism, spirituality and conservation in a proper manner:

1. No more thousands of tipsy revellers standing on the stones. (It’s recent, not traditional, it carries a risk of damage to both the monument and the revellers and brings shame on our country – and it simply shouldn’t happen as English Heritage knows full well.)
2. Spiritual people yes. Of course. But in limited numbers, selected by ballot from the membership of well established pagan organisations.
3. Other people (whether non-spiritual or spiritual but without demonstrable group affiliations), yes of course and also in limited numbers, selected by ballot from those who apply.

So how many in total? That’s entirely EH’s affair, depending purely on how many they think can be safely and sensibly admitted without imposing a risk of damage or broadcasting an image to the world that we don’t treat Stonehenge as it should be treated. It’s certainly time they decided what they could cope with rather than unsuccessfully trying to cope with many times more than they can!

So let’s SHARE Stonehenge, it’s the obvious thing to do. But not abuse it, which is also obvious.

If spiritual people agree to that and people in general agree to that (following a consultation) then English Heritage could surely have a mandate to make radical changes to what happens at Stonehenge as soon as next year?

How about it?

Article extracted rom the excellent Heritage Journal – http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/
Sponsored by the Stonehenge Tour Company –

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : Druids, Pagans, Stonehenge, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, stonehenge open access, stonehenge summer solstice 2011, Stonehenge tours, wiltshire

Stonehenge Summer Solstice Celebrations 2011 – June 20th / June 21st

27 04 2011

English Heritage are again expected to provide “Managed Open Access” to Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice. Please help to create a peaceful occasion by taking personal responsibility and following the conditions (see below).

Please note that a high volume of traffic is anticipated in the Stonehenge area on the evening of Sunday 20th June. The car park (enter off the A303 from the roundabout – it’s signposted) will open at around 7pm on Monday 20th June, and close at around noon on Tuesday 21st June.
Note that last admission to the car park for vehicles is at around 6am. Access Access to the stones themselves is expected to be from around 8.30pm on Monday 20th June until 8am on Tuesday 21st June.

Stonehenge Summer Solstice

There’s likely to be casual entertainment from samba bands & drummers but no amplified music is allowed. When you visit Stonehenge for the Solstice, please remember it is a Sacred Place to many and should be respected. Van loads of police have been present in the area in case of any trouble, but generally a jovial mood prevails. Few arrests have been made in previous years, mostly in relation to minor drug offences.

Facilities Toilets and drinking water are available and welfare is provided by festival welfare services. There are normally one or two food and drink vans with reasonable prices but huge queues, all well away from the stones themselves.

Sunrise is at around 4:45am.

Conditions Rules include no camping, no dogs, no fires or fireworks, no glass bottles, no large bags or rucksacks, and no climbing onto the stones. Please use the bags given free on arrival and take them out, filled with your litter, to the skips provided.

Please respect the rules so that we’re all able to enjoy the solstice morning at Stonehenge for years to come.

Getting there: Where possible, please travel to Stonehenge using public transport. The local bus company, Wilts & Dorset, will be running a service from Salisbury railway and bus stations to Stonehenge over the Solstice period. This bus service will commence at 1830 hours (6.30pm) on Monday 20th June and run regularly until 0115 hours (1.15am) on Tuesday 21st June. A service taking people back to Salisbury will start again at 0400 hours (4am) and run frequently until 0945 hours (9.45am). Access to Stonehenge from the bus drop off point is through the National Trust farmland. More information will be here when available. Needless to say this service is extremly busy, please allow plenty of time.

From London: Our friends at the ‘Stonehenge Tour Company’ will be offering their usual small group unobtrusive tours to the solstice from London. There are two services departing London at 4pm and 1am – Click here: ‘Stonehenge Summer Solstice Tour 2011’

LINKS: http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/stonehenge/2011/
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/explore/summer-solstice-2011/:
http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

TWITTER: Follow Stonehenge on twitter. Get all the latest news and Solstice uddates – http://twitter.com/ST0NEHENGE

FACEBOOK: Join Stonehenge on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stonehenge.tours

See you all at the Summer Solstice, yipee……………..

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : private access, Solstice, Stonehenge, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, stonehenge open access, stonehenge summer solstice 2011, Stonehenge tours, world heritage site

Why the future of Stonehenge must live up to its past

25 04 2011

Interesting article by Steve Kemp of Amesbury, Wiltshire in This is Devon.

Western Daily Press reader Steve Kemp, of Amesbury, Wiltshire, met foreign tourists as they marvelled at the Stonehenge World Heritage site – and asked them for their impressions. Many shared his view that more could be done to present the stones more helpfully and favourably when the world comes visiting. The nearby A303 is a major distraction for many visitors, Steve found. Pictured right are some of the visitors he met, and some famous images of Stonehenge over the years

A303 Stonehenge

It’s around 5,000 years old, a World Heritage site since 1986 and as well known throughout the universe as the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall. It’s in Wiltshire. It has to be Stonehenge.

Cared for by English Heritage, the ‘stones’ are visited by just over a million people each year. That’s a few less than the Roman Baths and Spa but more than the Eden Project. Well over half that number come from abroad. Having paid an entrance fee of up to £7.50, selected one of the audio headsets available in ten different languages from Japanese to Russian, Mandarin to French, what do our guests really think of the Stonehenge experience? Living within walking distance of the stones, and having a free pass (courtesy of the previous owner, Sir Cecil Chubb) I thought I’d try and find out.

Four young men from Singapore approached me with a request to take their picture in front of the monument. They had hired a car for a week, done Bath yesterday and next up was Portsmouth.

One of them, George Tong, who spoke excellent English, said: “I thought there might have been more to see. Been here a quarter of an hour and that’s it really. There’s an awful lot of people here, is it always this busy?” The site was indeed heaving, perhaps due to the fact that everybody has to stay on the roped path.

Rohak and Anchal Singh and their three-year-old son had travelled from India. Rohak was on his third trip to Stonehenge. “This time I’ve brought my wife and son. Otherwise two visits were more than enough. What do I think? Well it’s cold and dreary, but a duty to take my family here.” Mrs. Singh was clearly unimpressed; perhaps she just wanted to see her relatives in Birmingham.

A group of Americans from Michigan listened intensely as their guide explained to them they had one hour before the coach left for Salisbury Cathedral, the rest rooms were over there and you were not allowed to touch the “ruins” as she called them.

Kathleen Barbour asked me when the fog would disappear so they could see something, whilst Mike Guinn was just astounded at “how old everything was here”. “It’s incredible people could have put this together all those thousands of years ago, but I have to tell you it’s not as impressive as our Grand Canyon.” With that they headed back to the coach.

Many of us will remember visiting the stones in our childhood, cars parked on the field, walking up to and touching the monument. In British archaeologist Christopher Chippendale’s book, Stonehenge Complete, he traced the first tourist back to 1562.

A Swiss chap, by the name of Hermon, escaping religious persecution, took refuge at the Bishop of Salisbury’s residence. With time on his hands he asked the bishop to take him to “something that will astound me”. The bishop duly obliged with a day out at Stonehenge, at that time owned by Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. What an experience he must have had.

About 20 French students were listening to their audio sets, and I asked their tutor, Claude Thierry, for his views. “Very honoured to be here, much interest and questions from my pupils. This visit will be high on a list for our practical work. Have you noticed how well behaved the group is?” Yes, I had, and how several of them had chosen the English language audio sets. Again I was asked to take a picture of a couple, this time from Hong Kong. They were so polite, and obviously enjoying the experience. Chen Qingi said that back home the stones were very well known and had been on their wish list for years. “What an amazing place, it was so mysterious early on with the mist surrounding. Glad we came.”

There were at least two dozen Japanese tourists there, one young couple dressed up against the chill in reindeer and rabbit hats. They said they had bought them in London. Sadakazu Nogami told me: “It is 6,000 miles from our home. We had been planning this journey for many months, and despite the tsunami, our parents wanted us to go ahead. “We’re very pleased with what we see here. Stonehenge deserves our respect.

The birds nesting in the cracks are from the past, that’s what we believe.” Coaches and different languages were piling up all over the place. There was Polish, Russian, Danish and Dutch, plus Australian and New Zealand accents. I didn’t ask who was who, as from previous experience I know how our Antipodean cousins can get upset if you get it wrong. Perhaps something to do with rugby and cricket. There was no mistaking the Germans though. Herr Schroder said he had all the time in the world to give his views. He and his wife had travelled over in their own car from Munich, calling in at Avebury before here. “This is fascinating, what skill to have put these stones up, and get them here in the first place. You do know we Germans were involved,” he said. No, I did not, but please go on. “A long time ago, when there was no sea separating us, people moved around. Remember there was no borders then. “If I had my way that road (A303) wouldn’t be there. In Germany we would have solved problems like that years ago. We could still solve it for you, but you haven’t got the money now,” he concluded. You can’t help but notice, and indeed feel, how both roads completely throw the whole experience for visitors.

Even English Heritage staff whom I spoke to now find the whole situation an “embarrassment”. “These people, who have travelled in many cases thousands of miles to see the stones, are being let down. A proper Stonehenge Experience would be a world beater,” said one staff member. With a fair wind, work on a new visitor centre, one and a half miles away at Airman’s Corner, could start in April 2012, plus low noise surfacing for the main road, at a total cost of £30 million.

So there is the prospect of a proper experience and existence for Stonehenge. The people who built Stonehenge, wherever they came from, must have felt proud when the work was finished, I think the least we can do is put the pride back into the Stonehenge Experience.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk

Merlin @ Stonehnenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

Sponsored by ‘The Stonehenge Tour Company’ – www.SonehengeTours.com

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Categories : Stonehenge, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, Stonehenge tours, Stonehenge Visitor Centre, UNESCO, wiltshire, world heritage site

Prehistoric man ‘used crude sat nav’

20 04 2011

Prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a crude version of sat nav based on stone circle markers, historians have claimed.

: Silbury Hill, Wiltshire which may have been part of an ancient navigational aid for prehistoric

They were able to travel between settlements with pinpoint accuracy thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments.

These covered much of southern England and Wales and included now famous landmarks such as Stonehenge and The Mount.

New research suggests that they were built on a connecting grid of isosceles triangles that ‘point’ to the next site.

Many are 100 miles or more away, but GPS co-ordinates show all are accurate to within 100 metres.

This provided a simple way for ancient Britons to navigate successfully from A to B without the need for maps.

According to historian and writer Tom Brooks, the findings show that Britain’s Stone Age ancestors were ”sophisticated engineers” and far from a barbaric race.

Mr Brooks, from Honiton, Devon, studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research.

He said: ”To create these triangles with such accuracy would have required a complex understanding of geometry.

”The sides of some of the triangles are over 100 miles across on each side and yet the distances are accurate to within 100 metres. You cannot do that by chance.

”So advanced, sophisticated and accurate is the geometrical surveying now discovered, that we must review fundamentally the perception of our Stone Age forebears as primitive, or conclude that they received some form of external guidance.

”Is sat-nav as recent as we believe; did they discover it first?”

Mr Brooks analysed 1,500 sites stretching from Norfolk to north Wales. These included standing stones, hilltop forts, stone circles and hill camps.

Each was built within eyeshot of the next.

Using GPS co-ordinates, he plotted a course between the monuments and noted their positions to each other.

He found that they all lie on a vast geometric grid made up of isosceles ‘triangles’. Each triangle has two sides of the same length and ‘point’ to the next settlement.

Thus, anyone standing on the site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire could have navigated their way to Lanyon Quoit in Cornwall without a map.

Mr Brooks believes many of the Stone Age sites were created 5,000 years ago by an expanding population recovering from the trauma of the Ice Age.

Lower ground and valleys would have been reduced to bog and marshes, and people would have naturally sought higher ground to settle.

He said: ”After the Ice Age, the territory would have been pretty daunting for everyone. There was an expanding population and people were beginning to explore.

”They would have sought sanctuary on high ground and these positions would also have given clear vantage points across the land with clear visibility untarnished by pollution.

”The triangle navigation system may have been used for trading routes among the expanding population and also been used by workers to create social paths back to their families while they were working on these new sites.”

Mr Brooks now hopes his findings will inspire further research into the navigation methods of ancient Britons.

He said: ”Created more than 2,000 years before the Greeks were supposed to have discovered such geometry, it remains one of the world’s biggest civil engineering projects.

”It was a breathtaking and complex undertaking by a people of profound industry and vision. We must revise our thinking of what’s gone before.”

‘Prehistoric Geometry in Britain: the Discoveries of Tom Brooks’ is now on sale priced £13.90.

Sponsored by the Stonehenge Tour Company – www.StonehengeTours.com
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8461290/Sat-nav-Prehistoric-man-used-crude-sat-nav.html

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : silbury hill, stonehenge guide, stonehenge map, stonehenge new theories, Stonehenge tours

Stonehenge is a landing strip.

5 04 2011

Aircraft at Stonhenge for first time in 90 years

AIRCRAFT landed at the former Stonehenge airfield on Friday for the first time in 90 years.

Stonehenge landing

The event was arranged by the National Trust to commemorate the centenary of the formation of the first British military aeroplane unit.

Although overcast weather and strong winds hampered the occasion, three Auster planes, the oldest dating back to 1942, did manage to land.

A number of other planes including some replica First World War aircraft were due to take part but were unable to take off because of the conditions.

The airfield, RFC Stonehenge, was part of the Royal Flying Corps, although part of the site was also used by the Royal Naval Air Service as RNAS Stonehenge.

It became part of the Royal Air Force when it was formed in 1918 and the airfield remained open until March 1921.

The fly-in commemorated the formation of No 2 (Aeroplane) Company, Air Battalion, Royal Engineers which was formed at Larkhill on April 1, 1911.

“We are delighted to bring this aspect of the history of Stonehenge to life again, with the fly-in by this wonderful collection of aircraft,” said Stonehenge project officer Lucy Evershed.

National Trust volunteer guide Ted Mustart added: “Although No 2 Company was based at Larkhill, much of their flying in 1911 and 1912 was over the Stonehenge landscape.

“The Austers which have visited were used in the same roles as those of the first military aeroplanes – scouting, artillery co-operation and liaison in the period immediately after World War II.”

The National Trust has also organised a series of walks revealing the aviation history of the Stonehenge landscape.

The Wings over Stonehenge walks have taken visitors to the former airfield and more walks are planned for the summer, including one commemorating the first fatal military aircraft accident.

More information is available at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stonehengelandscape
http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk
http://www.StonehengeTours.com

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : national tust, Stonehenge, stonehenge guide, stonehenge new theories, Stonehenge news, world heritage site

£5.5million announced for Stonehenge project

5 04 2011

AN extra £5.5million to help transform the Stonehenge landscape was announced this morning. Should be enough to install a new coffee machine.

On a visit to the monument, Roads Minister Mike Penning said the government has agreed to give £3.5million to close the A344 junction with the A303 and improve the Long Barrow roundabout to cope with extra traffic.

The work will include resurfacing a mile-long stretch of the A303 with a ‘low noise’ road surface so visitors to the stones should not be able to hear the passing traffic.

Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose said English Heritage will be allowed to take £2million from its reserves to put towards the £27.5million it needs to move the visitor centre to Airman’s Corner and install a road train system to take visitors to the stones.

Chief executive Simon Thurley said the organisation is now just £3million short of its target and hopes to raise this from private sources such as trusts and charitable funds.

A public inquiry will be needed to authorise the permanent road closure.

But Dr Thurley said: “I am confident that we will be able to start work next year.”

If all goes well, English Heritage says the entire project could be completed by spring 2014.

Link: http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk

Is it enough ?

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : Stonehenge, stonehenge funding, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, Stonehenge Visitor Centre, wiltshire, world heritage site

Stonehenge Spring Equinox 2011

22 03 2011

Stonehenge Spring Equinox 2011

Stonehenge Spring Equinox 2011: Stonehenge Spring Equinox 2011

I will upload more Equinox pictures and video shortly

sponsored by ‘The Stonehenge Tour Company’

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : Solstice, special access tours, spring equinox, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, stonehenge photograph, Stonehenge tours

Stonehenge Folklore

16 03 2011

The stones have inspired many legends and folklore over the centuries. Much of the folklore seems to try and explain the origin of the circle structure as the work of giants, gods or wizards. It was probably easier to accept this than to believe that a past culture could have better technology.

During the Middle Ages Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose colourful writing have had great influence on British mythology, wrote that the stones were originally brought from Africa to Ireland by a race of giants. They were then transported across the sea by the magic of Merlin during the beginning of the Dark Ages on the request of Ambrosius Aurelianus, who was king of the Britons at the time. They were needed as a monument to the treachery of Hengist, a Saxon leader who killed Prince Vortigern

The heel stone is said to have been thrown by the Devil at a monk who was spying on him between the stones. The stone pinned the unfortunate clergyman to the ground by his heel.

Other folklore suggests that the stones are uncountable, a baker tried to count them by placing a loaf of bread on each stone. He came up with a number but then made the mistake of going through the whole process again, and could never get the sets of numbers to tally.

According to folklore African giants came and settled in Ireland many thousands of years ago, they brought with them a temple of stone from their country and re-erected it in County Kildare.
The stones were renown for their healing properties especially when infused with water, known as the Giant’s Dance they still existed in Ireland long after the giants had died out as a race.

In the 5th Century Merlin brought the stones over from Ireland in ships and with the aid of magic, and erected them on Salisbury Plain. They were to mark the graves of some British nobles who were slaughtered by the invading Saxons under the command of Hengist.

In times gone by it was said that the Devil had made Stonehenge, transporting all of the great stones from the heathen shores of Ireland using his magical powers. He was so proud of this work that he was want to boast about the number of stones to the local populace. In one particularly fine display of pride he bet the residents of nearby Amesbury that no one would be able to count the numerous stones. Many tried but as the Devil belived none was able to count them all accurately. A dozen different totals were arrived at. Then finally a local Friar who had come late to the game sidled up to the Devil and claimed to know the answer. Not unaturally the Devil, sure that he had won asked the Friar to give his answer. The Friar said “More than be counted”. The Devil was so cross at being caught out in the way that he picked up one of the stones and threw it at the Friar. It bounced of the Friars heel which was so hard that it dented the stone and landed upright a short distance away from the circle and so became the “Heel Stone”.

Some say that the stones were a circle of dancing wizards who were turned to stone by the enchantment of another wizard.

Sponsors: The Stonehenge Tour Company

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle News Website

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Categories : Druids, mythology, Pagans, Stonehenge, stonehenge guide, Stonehenge news, Stonehenge tours

Laser scan for Stonehenge secrets

10 03 2011

Stonehenge is being scanned using modern laser technology to search for hidden clues about how and why it was built.

All visible faces of the standing and fallen stones, many of which are obscured by lichen, will be surveyed. Some ancient carvings have previously been found on the stones, including a famous Neolithic “dagger”. The survey is already in progress and is expected to finish by the end of March.

“The surfaces of the stones of Stonehenge hold fascinating clues to the past,” said English Heritage archaeologist Dave Batchelor. The team will be looking for ancient “rock art”, but also for more modern graffiti, in a comprehensive survey of the site.
Among those who have left their mark in the stones is “Wren” – thought to be Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who designed London’s St Paul’s Cathedral.

Wren’s family had a home nearby, where he is known to have spent time, adding credibility to the claim.

The new survey will be the most accurate digital model ever for the world famous prehistoric monument, measuring details and irregularities on the stone surfaces to a resolution of 0.5mm.

Graffiti on one of the stones is thought to have been made by Sir Christopher Wren

The previous survey in 1993 was photographic, and only measured to an accuracy of about 2cm.

“This new survey will capture a lot more information on the subtleties of the monument and its surrounding landscape,” said Paul Bryan, head of geospatial surveys at English Heritage.

Laser scanning is also being used to map the earthworks immediately around the stone circle, and the surrounding landscape, as part of a wider project.

English Heritage has proposed a new £25m visitor centre at Stonehenge and closing parts of the A344, which runs just yards away from the landmark.

Government funding was withdrawn last year, but the Heritage Lottery Fund has promised £10m. English Heritage is seeking additional funds and is confident of raising the money it needs

Links: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12688085
Sponsors: The Stonehenge Tour Company

This new survey will no doubt capture a lot more information on the subtleties of the monument – wath this space………..

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Website