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What was Stonehenge for?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·6 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: the first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select groupAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Six answers have been proposed. A solar temple aligned on the solstices. leads, with evidence 1 for: supported by its tests. Five are still possible.

Why it matters

The purpose readings have driven interpretation since Stukeley; the evidence of burials, feasting and the distant stones now lets them be tested⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 6

Evidence: 1 for
Most likely
Evidence: 1 for
Most likely
Evidence: 2 for, 1 against
Most likely
Evidence: 1 against
Disputed
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 1 against
Disputed
Show 1 more answer

History

  1. Hawkins puts forward: an astronomical observatory and eclipse predictor (Hawkins).
  2. Parker Pearson et al. puts forward: the first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group.
  3. Willis et al.: at least 27 cremated individuals from the Aubrey Holes, dated about 3000–2500 BC, men and women.For: The first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group.
  4. Madgwick et al.: pigs at Durrington Walls were raised across Britain, including Scotland.For: The sarsen monument of about 2500 BC was a political monument uniting communities across Britain, built with…
  5. Darvill puts forward: the sarsen numbers encode a 365.25-day calendar (Darvill).
  6. Magli & Belmonte: the proposal rests on numerology, astronomical error and unsupported analogy.Against: The sarsen numbers encode a 365.25-day calendar (Darvill).
  7. Ruggles & Chadburn puts forward: a solar temple aligned on the solstices.
  8. Clarke et al.: the Altar Stone is from north-east Scotland, the bluestones from Wales, the sarsens from Wessex.For: The sarsen monument of about 2500 BC was a political monument uniting communities across Britain, built with…
  9. Ruggles & Chadburn: the solstitial axis is deliberate and accurate to about a degree.For: A solar temple aligned on the solstices.
  10. Ruggles & Chadburn: lunar claims are weak and the eclipse predictor is not supported.Against: An astronomical observatory and eclipse predictor (Hawkins).
  11. Parker Pearson et al. puts forward: the sarsen monument of about 2500 BC was a political monument uniting communities across Britain, built with…
  12. Parker Pearson et al.: when the Altar Stone was set at Stonehenge is not dated.Against: The sarsen monument of about 2500 BC was a political monument uniting communities across Britain, built with…
  13. Asked on this site
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