Definition: A henge is the term given to a large prehistoric earthwork, usually but not always circular, whether of stones, wood, or earth. Stonehenge was the Saxon name for the famous monument on the Salisbury plain, and the "henge" part is Old English for "hang," not earthwork. Nonetheless, the term henge is in wide use in both popular and scientific literature to refer to megalithic monuments of the Neolithic and Bronze ages. Stonehenge are Megaliths. Megaliths are single large stones, or a group of “standing stones” usually arranged in a circular or semi-circular formation, and that archaeologists believe were religious temples or monuments. The word, “megalith” itself has Greek origins: “mega” meaning “great” and “lithos” meaning “stone.” Certain megalith sites, and there are thousands of them all around the world, were also known burial sites. England seems to have the greatest concentration of megaliths that carry names like Avebury, the Hurlers, the Merry Maidens, and the Rollright Stones. The most famous of these is, Stonehenge. Stonehenge stands on the open land of Salisbury Plain two miles west of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, in Southern England. It is not a single structure but consists of a series of earth, timber, and stone structures that were revised and re-modeled over a period of more than 1400 years. In the 1940s and 1950s, Richard Atkinson proposed that construction occurred in three phases. This sequence has recently been revised in Archaeological Report (10) published by English Heritage. Stonehenge: Phase I (2950-2900 BCE). The earliest portion of the complex dates to approximately 2950-2900 BCE (Middle Neolithic). It is comprised a circular bank, ditch, and counterscarp bank of about 330 feet in diameter. Just inside the earth bank is a circle of the 56 Aubrey holes that held wooden posts.Phase II After 2900 BCE and for approximately the next 500 years (until 2400 BCE), post holes indicate timber settings in the centre of the monument and at the north-eastern entrance. The Aubrey Holes no longer held posts but were partially filled.
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