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Why was Stonehenge built?
Giant stones on Salisbury Plain
Stonehenge was built in stages over many centuries. Some of its stones were hauled from Wales. Proposed purposes include a burial site, a calendar and a place of ceremony.
The monument began as a circular ditch and bank around 3000 BCE. The large sarsen stones were raised around 2500 BCE, and the smaller bluestones were added and rearranged over several phases. Dating relies on radiocarbon from antler picks, bone and charcoal found during excavations.
Geologists have matched many bluestones to outcrops in the Preseli Hills of Wales, roughly 150 miles away. The larger sarsens came from much closer, probably within about 15 to 20 miles. How such weights were moved is debated, with sledges, ropes and timber trackways all proposed.
Cremated human remains were buried at the site from its early phase, which supports the burial interpretation. The main axis aligns with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, which supports ideas of seasonal ceremony. Other proposals include healing and ancestor commemoration.
The surrounding landscape includes many other monuments, and the whole area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Fresh survey and dating work keeps adjusting the details, so the building sequence is a working scientific model and not a final answer. The monument was already ancient when written history began in Britain.