This passage focuses on England's most prominent prehistoric monument, Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of Amesbury.
1. A Reading A-Z Level N Leveled Book Word Count: 625 cea ee} Why do you think Stonehenge was built? Write some sentences about it using details from the book to support your answer. Social Studies Make a poster about Stonehenge. Indude a picture, a map that shows its location in England, and at least five facts about the landmark. Share your poster with your dass. Ne ne eat RU ee RULES LEVELED Book « N
UN inet Book Correlation Clearing AZ ia Founta: & Pannell | M. ‘All nghts eserved Reading Recovery| 20 DRA 2
3. Table of Contents An Ancient Monument ......... 4 Earth and Giant Stones ......... 5 Where Is Stonehenge? .......... 7 Building Stonehenge ........... 8 An Outdoor Temple ........... 10 Stonehenge Today ............- 13, Ancient Wonder .............. 15 Glossary ...........-.02220005 16 Stonehenge ote! 3 An Ancient Monument Out in the countryside in southern England is a monument formed of dirt and giant stones. Built thousands of years ago, it is known as Stonehenge. Scientists called archaeologists have been studying it for a long time. They are trying to learn how and why it was built. They also want to know more about the people who built it. They search for clues about the mysteries of this ancient monument.
4. Earth and Giant Stones From the sky, Stonehenge looks like a small circle inside a big circle. The bigger circle is a ditch around a raised mound of dirt. The giant sarsen stones in the outer stone circle are made of a type of sandstone. Stones called lintels once lay atop the sarsen stones, connecting them all together. The inner stones form a horseshoe shape. They are sarsen stones called trilithons, which means they're made of three parts. Two stones stand upright and one lintel lies across them. Other rocks in the circle are made of ‘An artist shows how Stonehenge might have looked when the cicle fl was complete and no stones had fallen over Stonehenge ote! 5
+ The whole monument of Stonehenge & about the length of a footbal field. * Today, seventeen upright sarsen stones form the Sarsen Circle at Stonehenge. Experts think there used to be thirty. «The sarsen stones are very tall and heavy. Some of them weigh more than a schoo! bus—22,680 kilograms (50,000 Ib)!
5. Where Is Stonehenge? Stonehenge sits in an open field in southern England. Experts say people have been living in that area for about ten thousand years. The settlement may have been one of the biggest in England at one time. Long, ago, the area was covered in trees. People cut them down to clear land for farming. Stonehenge ote! 7 Building Stonehenge Experts believe that people started building Stonehenge about five thousand years ago. Back then, people only had simple stone tools like deer antlers and animal bones, not powerful machines. They did almost everything with their clever minds and muscles. The stones must have been brought to Stonehenge from far away. Researchers have done tests to prove it was possible to move the stones to Stonehenge. They put huge stones on wooden sleds and dragged them on wooden rails greased with animal fat. Volunteers help pula heavy stone lke those used at Stonehenge during an experiment in May 2016.
6. Lifting the standing stones must have been very difficult. Experts think the builders might have dug holes and then tipped —_thebuidersofstonehenge might have buit wood platforms beneath the bottoms of the stonesas they were pul into place. stones into the holes. Then they could be pulled upright using ropes. Workers might have slid the tops of the arches up ramps built of dirt and wood. Then the tops could be set on the standing stones. No one knows exactly how the builders built Stonehenge. They did not leave pictures or writing to explain how they did it. That is why Stonehenge remains a big mystery. Stonehenge tel 9
An Outdoor Temple Why was Stonehenge built? Archaeologists continue to look and dig for clues about its purpose. One clue is that it was built away from where most people lived. Experts think Stonehenge was a temple of some kind. People probably came there for special events like crowning a king. They might have visited to remember dead relatives.
7. Stonehenge was also a graveyard. Archaeologists have found the bodies of about 240 people nearby. Some are skeletons, while others were burned.
‘pot (eft) and ‘stone used on ‘type of weapon called a mace (bottom) were found buried near Stonehenge tel 1
Thousands of people gathered on June21, 2014, to watch the sun shine ‘through the stones of Stonehenge at sunrise Another idea about Stonehenge is that it lines up with the sun’s movements. The sun shines through certain parts of the monument when the seasons change. This was important information for farmers long ago. It helped them figure out the best time to plant their crops.
8. Stonehenge Today Today, Stonehenge is a popular site for visitors. More than nine hundred thousand people go there each year. The visitor center has stone tools and other ancient objects. There are huts to show what life was like long ago. Volunteers show visitors ancient skills such as pottery and rope making. Tourists can visit huts made to look tke thase in which the builders cof Stonehenge lived lang ago. Stonehenge Lev! 13
Archaeologists continue to explore the Stonehenge site. They use new tools such as radar that can find objects underground. This helps. them make more discoveries faster.
In June 2005, archaeologists research a place in Wales where bluestones, rare stones used at Stonehenge, might have been taken ftom,
9. ‘A gorgeous sunset colors the sky above Stonehenge. Ancient Wonder No one knows for sure why ancient people built Stonehenge. How they did it is also a mystery. Still, Stonehenge continues to fill people with wonder thousands of years after it was built. Stonehenge ete! 5 archaeologists (1.) _ scientists who study the remains of ancient cultures ditch (n.) a low, narrow area on the side of a road or field (p. 5) experts (n.) people who have a lot of knowledge about a subject greased (adj.) covered with a thin layer of an oily or fatty substance (p. 8)
lintels (n.) pieces of stone or wood lying across the top of an opening, such as a window or door monument (n.) __a building, statue, or other structure built as a memorial toa person or event (p. 4) radar (n.) a device that finds or monitors objects by sending out radio waves and picking them up again when they reflect off the object (p. 14) sandstone (n.) a type of soft rock made up of small pieces of sand and minerals that are stuck together (p. 5) temple (1.) a building thats a place of worship (p. 10)