Mysteries of ancient Britain SOLVED

As you cross the open grassland of Salisbury Plain, the low sun sends raking shadows across dozens of ancient earthworks. As you near the stones, rooks croak and wheel away in the breeze. The sense of history – and mystery – is palpable.

For hundreds of years, Stonehenge – the most famous stone circle in the world – has been a focus of wonder and speculation. Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the 1100s, declared that the wizard Merlin had stolen a stone circle from a mountainside in Ireland and brought it to this site with the help of giants.

In the 1600s, it was accepted that Stonehenge must have been built by the Romans because, well, surely it was a bit too complicated for the native Brits to have