Stonehenge, as we see it to-day, is probably contemporary with the Avenue and is a reconstructed Stonehenge; an earlier and more simple circle of sarsens, contemporary with the ditch, hav ing preceded it. The blocks of sarsen, Tertiary sandstone, were obtained from the Marlborough Downs ; for sarsens in the im mediate neighbourhood were scanty and small of size. The blue stones were brought from Prescelly in Pembrokeshire—a locality rich in stone circles. Two theories as to the purpose of Stone henge exist today, the sun-worship theory and the sepulchral. The former was promulgated by Sir Norman Lockyer in 1901, but for many reasons, too many to recapitulate here, is probably erroneous, and the sepulchral theory is more likely to be the correct one. But all is surmise and analogy our only guide. Stone henge is a stone circle, albeit an elaborate one, and most of those stone circles that have been carefully excavated have been proved to be sepulchral. With regard to the date of erection of the present Stonehenge, we have also to rely chiefly on analogy.
Most stone circles and their contemporaries, long barrows, can be ascribed to the Aeneolithic period. We may here suggest a Bronze Age date. As regards the primary structure and the earth work, the flints found in the ditch are no criterion, because they are implements roughly fashioned for rough work. The two
pieces of pottery, however, found in the first silting of the ditch are almost certainly of the type called neolithic, and since the silting in the ditch must have been rapid we can speculate on a Stonehenge of the late Neolithic period superseded by an im proved Stonehenge in the early Bronze Age.