Stonehenge wasn't built by the druids, but who did?

Answer 1

The standard theory is that it was build by "pre-Celts" - the indigenous tribes in England prior to the Celts' arrival. Earliest construction at the site is somewhere around 8000 BC, with the last construction around 1600 BC. That's up to a thousand years before the Celts arrived in Britain, so it's definately not them.

As to exactly who those pre-Celts were, we're not sure. There's not a lot (comparatively) known about them.

Answer 2

I have an old book about stonehenge, in it , it has what is meant to be,...The Oldest Known Drawing of Stonehenge, from the 14th- Century manuscript Inscribed...
'Stonehenge near amesbury situated in England. This year [483] Merlin brought the Giant's dance art not by force from Ireland to Stonehenge.'..no idea what this means..but there you go...
Apparently there are 5 different types of stone:
1) a spotted dolerite, a blue green stone with whitish pink spots the size of a pea to that of nearly a walnut..
2) rhyolite, also bluish green or grey, a hard flinty rock;
3)volcanic ash, a soft slaty greenish rock, none of which is above ground today.Stones of this rock may have stood in the Bluestone circle;
4) micaceous sandstone, a rather brownish grey sandstone rock containing flecks of mica; and lastly
5) another greenish grey sandstone of which only small fragments have been found with the other bluestone fragments in the subsoil... The fourth stone, the micaceous sandstone, which forms the so-called Alter stone, is the only rock of this kind at Stonehenge..The first two stones mentioned came from Presely Hill in Pembrookeshire..I know this doesn't really answer your question..but i found it very interesting to read..In the book that i have it also states'
Now to the purpose of stonehenge, if we regard these alinements as intentional, and they seem so intimatley connected that they may be intentional, then it seems Abercromby is right and the chief purpose of stonehenge was some great festival at the Winter Solstice..It also states..Sir Arthur Evans has said that the form of Stonehenge is sepulchral and has a connection with the Netherworld. It is here suggested that this is symbolically represented by the Winter Solstice sunset, the sun passing as it were throughthe great trilithon representing the door of the tomb tp the netherworld. At midsummer the sun at the height of his glory, but after midsummer he gets weaker as represented by the shortening days till at midwinter the sun god dies...
society ..the book i have about Stonehenge is very old so i am surprised it doesn't state who did erect Stonehenge although after reading the book, it does suggest it was erected/ built by the Druids/ pagan society...

Answer 3

Stonehenge does indeed predate the druids. No one knows for sure how the stone circle was created. I believe we would have a better clue if it were still intact. Some of the stones are missing, but the ones there suggest that it was used as a calendar of sorts, by marking the changing of seasons. Perhaps the earliest inhabitants of the area created it as a way to mark time. In any case, there are many more stone circles than Stonehenge.

Answer 4

Many early historians were influenced by supernatural folktales in their explanations. Some legends held that Merlin the wizard had a giant build the structure for him or that he had magically transported it from Mount Killaraus in Ireland, while others held the Devil responsible. Henry of Huntingdon was the first to write of the monument around 1130 soon followed by Geoffrey of Monmouth who was the first to record fanciful associations with King Arthur which led the monument to be incorporated into the wider cycle of European medieval romance.

In 1615, Inigo Jones argued that Stonehenge was a Roman temple, dedicated to Caelus, (a Latin name for the Greek sky-god Ouranos), and built following the Tuscan order. Later commentators maintained that the Danes erected it. Indeed, up until the late nineteenth century, the site was commonly attributed to the Saxons or other relatively recent societies.

The first academic effort to survey and understand the monument was made around 1640 by John Aubrey. He declared Stonehenge the work of Druids. This view was greatly popularised by William Stukeley. Aubrey also contributed the first measured drawings of the site, which permitted greater analysis of its form and significance. From this work, he was able to demonstrate an astronomical or calendrical role in the stones' placement.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, John Lubbock was able to attribute the site to the Bronze Age based on the bronze objects found in the nearby barrows.

Sounds like we have the age, however, no agreement on who actually built the Stonehenge.

Answer 5

The best thing could suggest is to read STONEHENGE DECODED. What was taught me when I took pre-history in college was that they were known as the "beaker" people because of cups that have been found on sites built by the same people. It was an age of megalithic builders, that is that they built with stone and you will find large stone structures in various places through the mediterrean, up the coast of France, and in other places in Great Britain. T'weren't no druids involved, there are not any Druids to talk abuot it today.

Answer 6

Theories about who built it have included the Druids, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Atlanteans. Speculation on the reason it was built range from human sacrifice to astronomy.

Investigations over the last 100 years have revealed that Stonehenge was built in several stages from 2800 - 1800 BC. It seems to have been designed to allow for observation of astronomical phenomena - summer and winter solstices, eclipses, and more.

Answer 7

neolitic tribes before the druids and celts did.
some legends say it was built by a giant race which used to inhabit the earth long ago, the funny thing is that in some frescoes found in europe and in caves in america some tribes also describe a race of giants similar to the Nephilim who built ceremonial centers in america similar to stonehenge consisting only of stones.. I doubt so tho, people in the americas were really good architects and had a very deep knowledge of mathematics and geometry. and everything was calculated following the planetary cicles. I dunno know if that was the case with the neolitic tribes

Answer 8

Merlin built Stonehenge. The stones were transported from Wales.

Answer 9

As far as they can tell there was a people who lived in Britian and the surrounding area that the historical record of was lost. The Celts who later settled in the area were said to have taken on some of these people's belifes and started using these Megalithes in thier own rites. I am guessing that they were also members of a people called the Tuath Te Danna that settled in Ireland.

Answer 10

I dont know but I am honest enough to admit i dont.
Too many university types claim to know who did build it but there aint no one about who can remember that far back so how can they check.

I reckon that if they did it up a bit and stuck the roof back on it would be obvious that it was in fact the visitor centre to the local cider factory.

Most folk puzzel over what twas, without realising the roof is missing. Morons.