STONEHENGE, a very remarkable structure composed of large artificially raised monoliths, situated on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, England. The an cient Britons called it Main Ambers, or "sacred stones." The spot is surrounded by a ditch 50 feet wide; the outer circle consisted of 60 stones, 30 perpendicular, 20 feet high and nearly 4 feet apart. On the tops of these were 30 imposts, regu larly united; within this was a second circle of 40 stones, smaller and void of imposts. There are indications of two ovals of stones intervening. Within the second circle was a cell, or adytum, in which was the altar, a huge slab of blue marble. The whole structure consisted of 140 stones. There are three entrances from the plain. The whole is surrounded by a bank of earth 15 feet high and 1,010 feet in circumference. Out of the stones composing the outer circle, 17 remain; in the inner circle 8 are entire, and frag ments of 12 others are on the spot. The
average elevation of the stones is 14 feet, the breadth 7 feet, and the thickness 3 feet. The inner oval consisted of about 20 smaller stones, of which 11 are stand ing. Scattered over the plain are about 300 tumuli, or barrows. These, when opened, have been found to contain charred human bones. Accompanying weapons and implements show that they have been utilized both by Britons and Romans for interment.
In 1901, one of the great monoliths fell and was set up again. Excavations then made at the base, brought to light the stone implements originally used in cut ting the monoliths. This seems to place the erection of Stonehenge before the bronze age, and the inference is that the structure is about 3,400 years old. The edifice was sold at auction in 1915 for $15,000.