Unlock the secrets of Stonehenge through rare artifacts

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 10:56 AM ET, Sat February 19, 2022

The Nebra Sky Disc was unearthed in Germany and is about 3,600 years old. It's the earliest known depiction of the cosmos. The artifact's inlaid gold is from Cornwall, England, showing the world at that time was deeply interconnected. Photo courtesy of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Juraj Lipták
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
The Nebra Sky Disc was unearthed in Germany and is about 3,600 years old. It's the earliest known depiction of the cosmos. The artifact's inlaid gold is from Cornwall, England, showing the world at that time was deeply interconnected. Photo courtesy of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Juraj Lipták
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Seahenge, a timber circle with an upturned oak stump at the center, was revealed by shifting sands on Holme Beach in Norfolk, Eastern England, in 1998. Some think the oak stump might have supported a dead body during funeral rituals.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
Seahenge, a timber circle with an upturned oak stump at the center, was revealed by shifting sands on Holme Beach in Norfolk, Eastern England, in 1998. Some think the oak stump might have supported a dead body during funeral rituals.
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This finely worked jadeite ax-head was made from material quarried in the high Italian Alps 6,500 to 5,500 years ago. It would have belonged to some of the first farmers to arrive in Britain.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
This finely worked jadeite ax-head was made from material quarried in the high Italian Alps 6,500 to 5,500 years ago. It would have belonged to some of the first farmers to arrive in Britain.
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This bone-bead necklace was found in Skara Brae, Orkney, and is 5,100 to 4,500 years old. Many of the objects on display reveal that Stonehenge was not home to an isolated community but one with long-distance connections.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
This bone-bead necklace was found in Skara Brae, Orkney, and is 5,100 to 4,500 years old. Many of the objects on display reveal that Stonehenge was not home to an isolated community but one with long-distance connections.
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The monument of Stonehenge was built at the same time as the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
The monument of Stonehenge was built at the same time as the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt.
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Many individuals were buried in the shadow of Stonehenge with remarkable grave goods. This gold lozenge, regarded the finest example of gold craftmanship in Bronze Age Britain and dating back to 1950 to 1600 BC, was buried on the chest of the Bush Barrow chieftain.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
Many individuals were buried in the shadow of Stonehenge with remarkable grave goods. This gold lozenge, regarded the finest example of gold craftmanship in Bronze Age Britain and dating back to 1950 to 1600 BC, was buried on the chest of the Bush Barrow chieftain.
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This dagger, with a replica handle, was also buried at the Bush Barrow site near Stonehenge.
Photos: The surprising world of Stonehenge
This dagger, with a replica handle, was also buried at the Bush Barrow site near Stonehenge.
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This ceremonial gold cape, found in Wales, is about 4,000 years old and would have marked its wearer as an extraordinary person. It would have been part of an outfit that included more than 200 amber beads sewn to woven fabric.