Guest Senior Sojourner: When we studied ancient civilizations, the history of early England went only as far back as King Arthur in the 9th Century. We knew little of an ancient English monument at Stonehenge that dates back an amazing 5,000 years!

From London, it’s an 85-mile drive to the Wiltshire area. As we neared, the massive structures became even more impressive. The stones stood more than 20 feet high, each weighing from 25 to 30 tons. How could primitive people haul those enormous rocks to the Stonehenge field? Even more amazing, with no modern machinery, how could they lift them straight up, then raise the other rocks to sit on top?

The guide said no written records exist of how and why the structure was built. He said Stonehenge was an ancient astrological observatory, and if we stood in a certain spot on June 21, the longest day of each year, we’d see the sun rise directly in line with the largest stone.

The stones were from coastal Wales. loaded onto rafts and floated the 250 miles along the Avon River in England’s Bristol area. There are still nearby traces of the logs and tracks where the rafts were pulled along to their permanent site.

We could only imagine the heavy labor it took for hundreds of people to pull each stone, and then stand them up to complete the monument. Our visit to Stonehenge was memorable , and we came away with new respect for the creativity of England’s long-ago ancestors.