Stonehenge

I had never thought of Stonehenge in relation to it's significance in terms of it being part of a sacred landscape. I have over the years developed a fascination with the birth and development of faith or religion.

Therefore, in terms of the why, how, in this case would appear to be a convergence of peoples, due to migrations, with the construction of Stonehenge around the time of the Beaker peoples, I believe can be no coincidence.

The action of dragging stones over miles, the coordinated effort, the team building, would have created naturally strong bonds between, perhaps, divergent peoples.

With an influx of new people from the continent, I think perhaps there was a general need for a more monumental structure.

Further, I believe the archaeology would suggest that there was little change in material culture, or a change so much in beliefs, but rather there is a change in scale. With a larger, perhaps more dynastic context, and a new shared identity.

Stonehenge (and it's related landscape) represents a sacred meeting ground, perhaps sacred hunting grounds, and it is entirely possible that it (and environs associated) served many functions, much like a church today - daycare, worship, weddings, community gatherings, funerals, counseling; and in the past even representing a seat of power for the wider community that surrounded it - with the pinnacle ceremony, the grand feast, being held at the Midwinter solstice.