Many archaeologists think Stonehenge may have been a stone version of earlier wooden structures found across Salisbury Plain, such as those at nearby Durrington Walls. Research by Mike Parker Pearson and Ramilisonina suggests that in prehistoric cultures:

• Timber represented the living

• Stone represented the ancestors or the dead

They propose that Stonehenge marked the final stage of a ritual journey:

• Beginning at Woodhenge/Durrington Walls at sunrise

• Travelling down the River Avon

• Ending at Stonehenge at sunset

This path from wood → water → stone may have symbolised the transition from life → death.

While Stonehenge aligns with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, most experts believe these alignments were symbolic rather than scientific.

Instead, the monument likely served a ritual or ceremonial role, supported by the large number of burials and its position within a wider sacred landscape.

Religious historian Mircea Eliade compared Stonehenge to other global megalithic sites associated with ancestor veneration. He described Stonehenge as:

• A ceremonial centre surrounded by burial mounds

• A “sacred centre” connecting the living world with the heavens and the underworld

• Similar in purpose to megalithic sites in Malta and other cultures

Some researchers suggest Stonehenge symbolised life and rebirth rather than death. Dr. Anthony Perks and Darlene Bailey proposed that its circular form resembles the human vulva or birth canal, symbolising:

• Fertility

• Earth Mother worship

• The cycle of life

Although unconventional, this “birth canal theory” highlights how Stonehenge may have been viewed as a place connected to creation and renewal.