4. Stonehenge took thousands of years to build
We’ve already seen that Stonehenge began as just a henge, a circular bank-and-ditch enclosure. But the stones weren’t just suddenly put up. Stonehenge, as it exists today, is the product of thousands of years of design and redevelopment. At some stage, timber posts were probably erected, leaving the mysterious holes. In the stone phase, the Bluestones were the first to arrive around 2900 BC, suggesting that it took a lot to encourage the ancient builders to use stone. They placed these Welsh stones in an incomplete double circle, right in the middle of the henge.
Finally, about 400 years later, the giant Sarsens arrived. The Bluestones were rearranged to make a horseshoe, and the Sarsens formed an outer concentric ring. This was when Stonehenge got its more familiar appearance, with massive Sarsens topped by lintels in a circle around the Bluestones. The sides of the Sarsens facing the inside of the circle were smoother and better developed than the outer face, perhaps suggesting the safety that came from being inside. At this point in history, c.2500 BC, Stonehenge had its heyday, as archaeological evidence suggests up to 4, 000 people gathered there for Solstice celebrations.