More than 5,000 years ago, the farming people of what is now southwest England began an epic construction project. Its creation would span one and a half millennia, in stages that saw it grow from a ditch-encircled earthen mound to a mighty circle of colossal standing stones – some of them brought from the mountains of distant Wales. But why was Stonehenge built? And what was its true purpose?

What prompted them to embark on such a colossal project, without the wheel and with only primitive stone tools? How did they move and raise the gigantic blocks that make up Stonehenge’s celebrated circle? And what do the alignments of the stones, which track the Sun and Moon with pinpoint precision, really signify?

This fascinating film delves deep into the mysteries of our long-lost past in the search for clues – and comes up with answers that are as surprising as they are thought-provoking. Lionel Sims, anthropologist of the University of East London, looks at the social and religious setting of the henge. He also studies the construction of Stonehenge, as well as other ancient monuments in England (Avebury Circle and West Kennet Long Barrow) and Ireland (Newgrange).

Incredibly, we see that Stonehenge frames both the light of the setting sun and of the setting moon.
Sims’ theory is that Stonehenge was not just built to take account of the sun, but particularly also of the moon. Lunar movements were as important to Neolithic man as the solar movements.

This DVD is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated 24-page hardcover book. Watch and discover the secrets of cultures that thrived for centuries and then disappeared, and at the same time read the captivating book packed with intriguing facts, illustrations, photography and more.

English narration by John Shrapnel
Produced by Parthenon Entertainment in association with NDR (2003).

 To watch a pre-view of this DVD please visit YouTube or watch it at the bottom of this page