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In the middle of Salisbury Plain, in the south-west of England, stands one of the most famous ancient sites in the world.

Stonehenge.

For millennia it has been a focal point of myth and mystery.

Whichever culture constructed it, they left no further trace of themselves.

No writings or firm indication as to who they were, or why they went to such great effort to build their monument.

Theories range from the practical to the mystical.

The Australian science writer Lyn Kelly posits that Stonehenge served as a mnemonic resource for Neolithic Britons,

that the mathematics and information encoded in its

construction could be a way of passing down crucial knowledge in an era before written language.

Some people think it has things to tell us about the stars. Modern archaeologists have pointed

to the site's astronomical alignments,

perfectly framing the dawn rays of the summer solstice and the setting sun on the winter solstice.

In 1963, the British astronomer Gerald Hawkins published a paper identifying dozens of

lunar and solar correlations in the ancient complex.

Two years later he co-authored Stonehenge Decoded with J.B. White, in which they described the site as a Neolithic computer,

able to not just map but to accurately predict astronomical events.

Others suggest that Stonehenge lies at an important junction of laylines, the theoretical

grid network of energies said to connect prehistoric edifices and important natural features

across Britain and the world.

Still more esoteric theories about the megalith include its supposed healing abilities,

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