Stonehenge is famous for its alignment with the sun, which is why visitors flock to the ancient site at the start of summer.
But 5,000 years ago, the ancient Wiltshire monument may also have been carefully built with our lunar satellite in mind.
Experts think some of the famous upright stones were arranged to align with the moon during an event called ‘major lunar standstill’.
Occurring just once every 18.6 years, this is when moonrise and moonset are furthest apart along the horizon, as viewed from Earth.
Thousands of years ago, ancient Brits may have worshipped at the site during major lunar standstill, just like they did for the summer and winter solstice.
Stonehenge is famous for its alignment with the sun, but the ancient monument may have also been carefully designed to align with the movements of the moon
Occurring just once every 18.6 years, major lunar standstill is when moonrise and moonset are furthest apart along the horizon, as viewed from Earth
A project to investigate Stonehenge’s link with the major lunar standstill is being led by experts at the universities of Oxford, Leicester and Bournemouth.
Dr Fabio Silva, senior lecturer in archaeological modelling at Bournemouth University, said this ‘major lunar standstill season’ runs from February 2024 to November 2025.
‘It happens twice a month for about 1.5 to two years,’ he told MailOnline.
‘For example, this past Saturday the moon was at its northernmost limit, and in a fortnight it will be at its southernmost.
‘This will repeat every month for the rest of 2024 and most of 2025.’
How exactly the moon will align with Stonehenge’s individual stones is yet to be seen.
But experts think that during the major lunar standstill, the moon will be in alignment with Stonehenge’s ancient ‘Station Stones’.
Although only two are still standing, the Station Stones marked the corners of a perfect rectangle with its central point in the exact centre of the monument.
One of the sides of this rectangle appears to be pointing in a southeast direction, corresponding to where the moon will be rising during major lunar standstill.
‘We want to assess whether this is likely to be by chance or whether it was intentional,’ Dr Silva told MailOnline.
Experts think that during the major lunar standstill, the moon will be in alignment with Stonehenge’s ancient ‘Station Stones’. Although only two are still standing, the Station Stones marked the corners of a perfect rectangle with its central point in the exact centre of the monument
The Station Stones are elements of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. Originally there were four stones, resembling the four corners of a rectangle. Pictured is Station Stone ‘S93’ at the south-west corner of the Station Stone Rectangle
‘So we want to assess where one needs to stand, how many people could effectively witness the alignment, whether after rising/before setting the moon will be obscured by other stones that may diminish the experience, whether moonlight casts shadows inside the circle.
‘These are the things that, put together, may help us build an argument for or against these alignments.’
It’s already well known that the whole layout of Stonehenge is positioned in relation to the summer and winter solstices – when the Earth’s tilt towards the sun is at its most extreme, either at the north or south pole.
In the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs when Earth’s north is most greatly tilted towards the sun, and the winter solstice occurs when it’s titled away from the sun.
Stonehenge was deliberately built to align with the sun on the solstices, according to English Heritage, which manages the site.
It explains: ‘At Stonehenge on the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone in the north-east part of the horizon and its first rays shine into the heart of Stonehenge.
‘Observers at Stonehenge at the winter solstice, standing in the enclosure entrance and facing the centre of the stones, can watch the sun set in the south-west part of the horizon.’
In the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs when Earth’s north is most greatly inclined towards the sun, and the winter solstice occurs when it’s titled away from the sun
Largely because it’s a whopping 5,000 years old, the origins of Stonehenge, including why and how it was built, are still a source of frenzied debate.
Professor Timothy Darvill, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University, thinks Stonehenge served as an ancient solar calendar, helping people track the days of the year.
The British researcher behind the theory thinks Stonehenge’s great sandstone slabs, called sarsens, each represented a single day in a month, making the entire site a huge time-keeping device.
However, another team of experts poured cold water on this theory, describing it as ‘totally unsubstantiated’ and based on ‘forced interpretations, numerology and unsupported analogies’.
Other theories include that it was a cult centre for healing, a temple, a place where ancestors were worshipped or even a graveyard.
Between 3000 and 2500BC, several centuries before the large stones were brought to Stonehenge, people were burying cremated remains in the ditch and bank that now surrounds the stone circle, English Heritage says.
The Stonehenge monument standing today was the final stage of a four part building project that ended 3,500 years ago
Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago.
According to the monument’s website, Stonehenge was built in four stages:
First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC.
The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms.
Stonehenge (pictured) is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain
They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter.
Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony.
After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years.
Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It’s thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts.
They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire.
The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle.
During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones.
They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge).
The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it’s suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes.
Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge.
These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels – horizontal supports.
Inside the circle, five trilithons – structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel – were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today.
Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today.
The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level.
Source: Stonehenge.co.uk
