What’s Stonehenge got to do with the summer solstice?published at 03:50 British Summer Time
Stonehenge in Wiltshire has been an important landmark for thousands of years and has become a focal point for both summer and winter solstices each year.
The stones are believed to have been moved there at about 2500 BC and are deliberately placed to line up with the Sun’s movement during the two solstices.
No-one really knows why Stonehenge was built, but its connection with the Sun’s movement and burials uncovered at the site mean it’s believed to have played a spiritual role.
The changing seasons would’ve meant a lot to the people who lived at the time, defining what would grow and the general living conditions, according to English Heritage’s website.
The history charity adds that “we can imagine that people came here [to Stonehenge] to celebrate midsummer and midwinter”, with its design suggesting that winter solstice – rather than summer – may have been the most important focus for the people who built the stone circle.
“We have few clues as to what they did here,” it says, adding excavations show the area within the circle seems to have been kept clean of everyday debris.
