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Scientists claim this is the reason why Stonehenge was built

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A panoramic shot of Stonehenge.
(Photo by Toasted Pictures via Shutterstock)

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Stonehenge served the ancient inhabitants of Wiltshire as a calendar, according to new research.

It helped them keep track of time using a solar year of 365.25 days, say scientists.

They followed the movement of the sun and moon - holding rituals and ceremonies to mark the changing seasons.

The stone circle is one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments.

Its use has been an enduring mystery. Suggestions range from a healing centre or burial ground - to an alien landing site.

Now an analysis of the giant, seven metre tall 'sarsens' has identified a calendar in the lay out.

Lead author Professor Timothy Darvill and colleagues found they were a "physical representation" of the year.

The finding was based on their numerology and comparisons with other known diaries from the period.

Prof Darvill, of the University of Bournemouth, explained: "The proposed calendar works in a very straightforward way.

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"Each of the 30 stones in the sarsen circle represents a day within a month, itself divided into three weeks each of 10 days."

He pointed out distinctive stones in the circle mark the start of each week.

Additionally, an inserted month of five days and a leap day every four years were needed to match the solar year.

Prof Darvill said: "The intercalary month, probably dedicated to the deities of the site, is represented by the five Trilithons in the centre of the site."

A trilithon consists of two large vertical stones supporting a third set horizontally across the top.

Added Prof Darvill: "The four Station Stones outside the Sarsen Circle provide markers to notch-up until a leap day."

As such, the winter and summer solstices would be framed by the same pairs of stones every year.

One of the trilithons also frames the winter solstice, indicating it may have been the new year.

The alignment also helps calibrate the calendar. Any mistakes in counting the days would be easily detectable as the sun would be in the wrong place on the solstices.

Such a calendar, with 10 day weeks and extra months, may seem unusual today. But such calendars were adopted by many cultures of the time.

Prof Darvill said: "Such a solar calendar was developed in the eastern Mediterranean in the centuries after 3000 BC and was adopted in Egypt as the Civil Calendar around 2700 and was widely used at the start of the Old Kingdom about 2600 BC."

It raises the possibility Stonehenge may stem from the influence of one of them. Nearby finds hint at connections.

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The Amesbury archer, buried around 2300BC about three miles away, was born in the Alps and moved to Britain as a teenager.

It had long been thought Stonehenge might have been a calendar. The study in Antiquty is the first to show how it might have worked.

Prof Darvill said: "The clear solstitial alignment of Stonehenge has prompted people to suggest the site included some kind of calendar since the antiquarian William Stukeley.

"Now, discoveries brought the issue into sharper focus and indicate the site was a calendar based on a tropical solar year of 365.25 days."

Crucially, recent research had shown the sarsens were added during the same phase of construction around 2500 BC.

They were sourced from the same area and subsequently remained in the same formation. This indicates they worked as a single unit.

Professor Darvill hopes future research might shed light on these possibilities.

Ancient DNA and archaeological artefacts could reveal connections between these cultures.

Nevertheless, the identification of a solar calendar at Stonehenge should transform how we see it.

Prof Darvill added: "Finding a solar calendar represented in the architecture of Stonehenge opens up a whole new way of seeing the monument as a place for the living.

"A place where the timing of ceremonies and festivals was connected to the very fabric of the universe and celestial movements in the heavens."

Stonehenge dates back 5,000 years but was built in several stages. The unique circle was erected in the late Neolithic about 2500 BC.

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