The original Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic stone structure which is located on Salisbury Plain in the South of England, just a few miles north of the town of Salisbury.

The Archaeologists who study these ruins report that they believe the monument to have been built beginning about 5,000 (or possibly only 4,000) years ago, which span of dates would be from about 3000 BCE to 2000 BCE.)

Also, those very same Wise Men tell us that much earlier, hunter-gatherers dug pits and erected a pine post woodhenge in the same area prior to the Stonehenge monument, within less than 650 feet from the where the Stonehenge later would be built. Furthermore, prior to the Stonehenge, there were no comparable structures to those in this area, in all of northwestern Europe.

Too, within a three mile radius from the Stonehenge, archaeologist have discovered at least 17 burial mounds (known as long barrows), and two cursus monuments, (know as long enclosures) which date to from 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE.

Also dating from more recent times, some time between about 2200 BCE and 1700 BCE, the two mile area from The Stonehenge to the Woodhenge near Durington, there were found more than 1000 burial mounds (know as round barrows). Yes, this part of the Salisbury Plain was a populace location during the early Wayfarer Period.

The following paragraphs list what the modern Wise Men believe to be the actual dates of the delvelopement of the Stonehenge Site, going through several different periods of completion.

The oldest work at the Stonehenge site consisted of earthwork, which was the digging a large circular henge with an entrance to the northeast. This henge consists of a circular ditch depression that is about 330 feet in diameter (100 meters), about eight feet wide and about five or more feet deep. This ditch was flanked on the inside by a large bank (300 feet diameter) and on the outside by a low bank (360 feet in diameter), which outer bank is commonly called a counterscarp. Having the larger bank on the inside of the henge is contrary to all the other contemporary henge type monuments.

Except for numerous human burials, sifter this initial earthwork was completed, there is no evidence of any additional work done at the Stonehenge site between the end of this period and the beginning of the second period about one hundred years later.

Some believe that the Heel Stone(s) was placed in its position at this time.

This period work includes the digging of 56 holes, which the purpose of these holes is unknown to Archaeologists. However, like many of the other ancient sites, these holes could have been used as a temporary woodhenge, or even to hold some of the Welsh bluestones. These 56 holes were located just inside of the large inner bank, and were dug in a circle having a diameter of 270 feet,

However, there has been found human cremation burials within and around most of the holes, as well as in the encircling ditch and bank. The number of cremation burials at Stonehenge is estimated to be from 150 to as many as 250, the majority of which were adult males, dating from about 3000 BCE to 2300 BCE.

Sometime near the end of the Second period, it is possible that the Sarsen Stones were beginning to arrive on the site. Upon arrival of the Sarsen stones, they were temporary placed outside the northeastern entranced and this is where workers dressed them to a smooth finish by pounding the stones with a sarsen hammer.

After the preparation of the first sarsen stones, the actual moving of these finished stones from outside of the henge through the northeast entrance began. They were taken to within the henge and then into the permanent location. The Heel Stone(s) and the Slaughter Stone(s) are believed to be among the first to arrive and be set in their places.

The current Heel Stone is a single un-worked naturally shaped sarsen stone made composed of sandstone and weighs about 30 to 35 tons. It was about 8 feet wide, 7 feet thick and 20 feet long with four feet of its length buried in the ground, surrounded by the Heelstone Ditch. The location of the Heel Stone is 254 feet from the center of the Stonehenge circle and fractionally to the east of main solstice axis.

In 1979, a hole for another similar-sized stone was discovered next to it, which could indicate that there likely had been two side by side stones at this location, with this second Heel Stone fractionally to the west of the main solstice axis.

The Slaughter Stone(s), originally standing upright near the northeast entrance of the Stonehenge, are believed to be two in number, but currently only one exists and lies horizontally. This stone gets it name from an overactive imagination of some from a more moderns time, who when seeing the stone with shallow depression on its surface that collect rainwater, and that water subsequently reacting with the iron rich sandstone and turning a rusty red, became the inspiration for the stone to be called the Slaughter stone.

This would be followed installation of the four Station Stones of which these would helped with the alignment of remaining stones of the Stonehenge.

Originally, there were four stones positioned in the four corners of a rectangle, located just inside of the henge and outside of the Stonehenge. Two of the stones stood on earth mounds at opposing corners, one in the north of the site and one in the south. These mounds are called the North barrow and South barrow respectively although neither contained burials.

The other two corners of the rectangle are occupied by the two surviving Station Stones which are undressed sarsens.

In some studies, these four Station Stones are called the Lunar Stones.

Also, during this period, the side ditches and banks of a ceremonial Avenue about 2 miles long were dug from the Stonehenge area to the River Avon. This avenue was from 60 to 115 feet wide and ternimates at the small Bluestonehenge at the riverside. This avenue is believed to be the path of bluestones that were moved from that henge located near that river.

About 1600 feet of the Avenue leaving from Stonehange are aligned in the same direction as the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset.

The original configuration of the bluestones which were raised before the larger Sarsen stones appear, seemed to consist of two circular horseshoe rings in the center of the henge which opened on the north side. This is indicated by a couple of the maps that I have found as indicated in the map entitled The Early Bluestones just above.

Although the origin of these stones are believed to be in West Wales, these stones likely had a previous henge placement at Bluestonehenge, also known as the West Amesbury Hence, located at the henge site along the River Avon. Those Bluestone were later moved from the River Avon along The Avenue to their final resting place at the Stonehenge near Salisbury.

Bluestone is the term used to refer to the smaller stones at Stonehenge. There are of about twenty to forty different rock types that make up these stones, including rhyolites, dolerites and calcerous ashes but it is believed that all of these stones come from the Preseli Hills in south-west Wales. Since there are so many different rock types represented, the term bluestone is a label of convenience rather than a geological term. It is assumed that there were originally up to about 80 of these monoliths, but now only 43 remain.

The bluestones have a bluish tinge when wet or freshly broken. These thirty bluestones are smaller than the Sarsens and weigh between 2 and 5 tons each (1.8 and 4.5 metric tons). The bluestones were aligned precisely with the same arc-degree as are the Sarsens, but with a shorter radius distance from the center of Stonehenge.

These bluestones are believed to have come from quarries in the Preseli Hills in Wales, which is located in Southwestern England and north of the town of Rosebuse. The distance if traveled by roadway now would be about 180 to 200 miles and the journey would take about four hours to travel, if you did it using a car. However, if the route was measured as the bird flies, the distance would be 140 miles (225 km) and the birds would have to cross over the east end of the Bristol Channel.

Further, those who study these ancient monuments are still unsure exactly how prehistoric people moved these stones over such long distances.

The arrival of both the Sarsen Stones likely continued to arrive through most of period four, stored outside the northeast entrance where they were dressed by the workers. As each of the stones preparation became complete, they were then moved to the inside of the henge and then raised into their position.

Too, it makes sense that the stone portion of the Stonehenge construction was built from the center outward. Thus, it is likely that the Trilithon Horseshoe stones were installed before the outer Sarsen stone ring.

This fifth period is marked with the raising of the large sarsen stone and were raised in two concentric arrangements.

The inner one is in a horseshoe arrangement of five trilithons consisting of two verticle stones capped by a horizontlal.

The outer one is the thirty outer sarsen circle, capped with thirty lintels

Today, only 52 of the original 80 or so sarsen stones remain at the monument, which include all fifteen stones forming the central Trilithon horseshoe, thirty-three of the sixty uprights and lintels that composed the outer Sarsen circle, the peripheral Heel Stone, Slaughter Stone and two of the four original Station Stones.

It is likely that the five trilithon stones are the first to be moved into position and raised into place, and they were arranged in the middle of the Stonehenge in a horseshoe-shaped setting.

Each of these Trilithon structures consist of two vertical sarsen standing stones capped with a horizontal lentelstone. The central trilithon was and largest of the five Trilithon structures and is know as the giant Trilithon.

This circular structure of the Stonehenge once consisted of an outer ring of thirty vertically erected Sarsen Standing Stones, each about thirteen feet in height, seven feet wide and weighting up to about twenty-five tons each. These cut-block standing-on-end Sarsens are of silicified sandstone, which stone is found extensively across southern England and believed to have been brought from Marlborough Downs which is 20 miles to the north of the Stonehenge site.

After these Sarsen Stones had been raised in place, they were then topped by thirty connecting horizontal stones called lintel stones, which stones were likely of the same material and source, only somewhat smaller in size.

Today, of the sarsen outer circle many have fallen and most of the lintels and a few uprights are missing from the Stonehenge site.

However, a later configuration of the bluestones at Stonehenge include thirty bluestones which were located just inside of the outer circle of the Stonehenge, the huge Sarsen Standing Stone capped with lentils.

Then, inside the Trilithon stones was another row of 15 bluestones, themselves in the same horseshoe configuration as the Trilithon stones.

The horseshoe circles both open to the northeast, which is the same direction towards the Heel Stone over which the sun rises on the morning of the summer solstice, and occurring each year on 20-21 June.

Finally, in the center of the horseshoe and near the center of the Stonehenge is the Alter Stone. From the Alter Stone, through the open end of the horseshoe aligned stones and out through the bluestones, outside of the Sarsen Standing Stones and somewhat of a short distance from the Stonehenge, the Heel Stone stands alone.

The Altar Stone is a flat, rectangular sandstone block nearly about 16 and a half feet long (5 meters), weighs about six tons and much larger than all of the bluestones.

This stone, is made of a purplish-green micaceous sandstone and although no source can be proven, it is believed to have originated from outcrops of the Senni Beds formation of the Old Red Sandstone in Wales

Outside the north-east entrance is the Heel Stone, a huge unshaped Sarsen boulder. This stone is believed to be one of the early stone at the site, raised upright from its original position nearby. Also near the north-east entrance is the Slaughter Stone, a fallen Sarsen that once stood upright with one or two other stones across the entrance causeway.

Around Stonehenge there are several outlying stones. There were four of these Station Stones but only two now remain in their position and mark the corners of a rectangle. These stones are believed to be related to the setting up and initial alignment of Stonehenge, possibly even to help with the solstice alignment.

In my travels, I have come upon replicas of the ancient Stonehenge circular monument and below is the story the one that I found in Texas.

If Stonehenge was built before the Noachian flood (2370 BCE), in 2024 CE, Stonehenge would be 4394 years in age or older and that would agree with the estimates made by the Archaeologists. However, it is more likely that the construction of Stonehenge happened after that flood and even then, it would have taken many years, possibly centuries for Noah′s son Japheth and his descendants (who are the ones that are credited with migrating to and inhabiting England) to travel from Mesopotamia across the European continent, then build ships to traverse the English channel and arrive on the English islands.

My estimation is that Stonehenge is closer to 2,500 or more years old. Even if it was 2,500 years ago, that is still quite a long time ago.

Awake, drive to the trash receptacle to dump my garbage and then exit the parking lot, drive south on SH 349 two blocks and then turn right onto IH 20 but remain on the frontage road for about five miles because the interstate is under construction. I continue west and eventually enter the interstate and soon after leave the highway at exit 121 where I return to the frontage road and take the first right onto SH Loop 338 and drive north.

My GPS has me turn left at University Blve and then right onto University of Texas at Permiam Basin (UTPB) Main Road and drive north to UTPB Circle and turn right again until I arrive at the parking lot for the Stonehenge Replica. I find that this reproduction was built as a replica from the how original monument looks currently, which is in ruins in Southern England.

Methinks, although I am impressed with the mammoth stones being set up to look like the current Stonehenge, I would have thought that to build one with all the original stones in place and functional would have been more practical. Still, to each his own is the old proverb and I can not fault the local builders from building what they thought was the best idea.