History Main / CircleOfStandingStones

Subtrope of LandmarkOfLore. When one appears in a work expect strange occurrences, [[FirstContact alien encounters]], TheReveal, a PlotTwist, or TheClimax to occur in or around the circle. If it is used as a portal of some kind it overlaps with CoolGate.

* Such stones often indicate a Banshee outpost in ''WesternAnimation/RoswellConspiracies'', which they use as teleportation hubs.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': When [[OurTrollsAreDifferent trolls]] attack Enoch Village, [[ChildMage Schierke]] [[SummonMagic summons spirits]] in order to cast her magic. One of them is [[ElementalEmbodiment a river spirit]], who used to have a shrine where now stands a church. When Schierke goes into trance seeking the attention of the spirit, there's a glimpse of what the shrine used to look like: [[http://www.mangareader.net/96-1145-120/berserk/chapter-25.html a circle of standing stones.]]

* In ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' the band does a song based on the mysterious giant megaliths of Stonehenge. Owing to Nigel confusing the difference between feet and inches, the "giant" megalith produced is small enough to get tripped over by someone playing one of the Little People.
** In a quite brilliant example of [[LifeImitatesArt life imitating art]], the gift shop at Stonehenge now sells trilithon-shaped neck pillows that are approximately the same size as the 'Stonehenge' props in the movie.

* In ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' the band does a song based on the mysterious giant megaliths of Stonehenge. Owing to Nigel confusing the difference between feet and inches, the "giant" megalith produced is small enough to get tripped over by someone playing one of the Little People.[[/folder]]

->''"Discount Stonehenge."''
-->-- '''Jeremy''' (sinning this trope in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''), ''WebVideo/CinemaSins''

* Music/LoreenaMcKennitt has a song called ''Standing Stones'' about a [[StarCrossedLovers tragic young couple]] who pledge their love at a circle of standing stones in the Orkney Islands.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E3TheStonesOfBlood The Stones of Blood]]" takes place in and around a stone circle in which is one of the fragments of the Key to Time.

* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series, Claire Beachamp Randall uses stone circles to travel between the 20th and 18th centuries.

* Jungle Island in ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'' is home to a circle of stones with animal symbols on them, which must be pushed into the ground in a specific order to access [[spoiler:the Age of [[LaResistance the Moiety]], Tay.]]

* The Ring of Brodgar in ''Videogame/{{Arcanum}}'' stands at the point where Arronax the Destroyer was [[SealedEvilInACan banished]] by Nasrudin, the Messiah figure of the Panarii.

* In the adventure game ''VideoGame/BarrowHill'', a stone circle in Cornwall has been breached by an archaeological dig, and the player must re-sanctify the circle to placate its guardian.

* In ''Videogame/{{Civilization}} V'', "stone circles" is an available pantheon belief, which offers faith for every quarry. Stonehenge is also an available Wonder.

* In ''Dragontorc'' on the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, the stone circles, once activated with the Leyrod spell, form a PortalNetwork that transports the player between different areas of the game.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' literally has a "Stonehenge", and...would you look at that? There's an alien base beneath it.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, various types of magical stone formations dot the landscapes of Tamriel bestowing different blessings upon those who seek them out. Some, such as the Doom Stones in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', have specific requirements like only being usable at night or after a certain amount of renown is acquired. ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s Standing Stones bestow various birthsign powers on those who activate them, but only one can be active at a time. (Two with a unique artifact.) Most of the Standing Stones in Skyrim will also have their own circle of stones around them, as do the All-Maker's stones on Solstheim in the ''Dragonborn'' expansion.

* Five stones for the entrance to the Forbidden City in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness''; one of the stones is inscribed with the runes for the three [[EldritchAbomination Ancients]], Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath.

* Surprisingly underplayed in ''The Omega Stone'': while there's plenty of creepy going on in the British segment of the game, all the mystical aspects happen at Bathelwaite's estate or the mysterious swamp; Stonehenge itself only offers a few (mundane) clues and a single ancient scroll that's not entirely crucial to the mission.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series has [[CoolGate Moongates]], a circle of standing stones that create a magic gateway when a pebble is dropped in them.

* Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, USA, has a half-scale model of Stonehenge crafted from local granite. The stones were carved with water jets. It is also functional in that it tracks the position of the sun over the course of a year, showing the date (roughly) by the shadow cast at noon.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, [=SpongeBob=] creates a stone statue of himself, complete with holes, to distract the jellyfishes who are attracted to the sound coming from SB's holes when the wind blows through them (it's a very windy day). Turns out that one small statue doesn't work, and then SB creates more, bigger ones and arranges them in a circle. It works very well, with the stones even creating music.

* In ''ThisIsSpinalTap'' the band does a song based on the mysterious giant megaliths of Stonehenge. Owing to Nigel confusing the difference between feet and inches, the "giant" megalith produced is small enough to get tripped over by someone playing one of the Little People.[[/folder]]

* In Arthurian story ''Literature/TheCrystalCave'' by Mary Stewart, Stonehenge has long stood in disrepair, its use forgotten. Merlin spruces it up to make a grave for his father Ambrosius, king of all Britain.
** He also takes stone from Ireland, reputed to be the Heart of Ireland, to place in Stonehenge to show his father's conquest of the island.

[[/folder]]

Subtrope of LandmarkOfLore. When one appears in a work expect strange occurances, [[FirstContact alien encounters]], TheReveal, a PlotTwist, or TheClimax to occur in or around the circle. If it is used as a portal of some kind it overlaps with CoolGate.

* In "Literature/AngelDownSussex", Angel Field has a long history of strange events attributed to angels, TheFairFolk, or similar beings. For most of its history the field had a stone circle in it that was associated with the phenomena, but in 1872 the farmer who owned the field demolished it after his daughter disappeared from inside the circle.

* Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Life of Merlin'' tells us that King Arthur's uncle, along with Arthur's father and Merlin, led an army into Ireland to steal stones with magical healing powers which were used to build Stonehenge. AnachronismStew is very much in play, since Stonehenge is a lot older than the dates he gives for the lives of Arthur's pops.

* ''Series/MysteryHunters'': There is an episode where both Araya and Christina try to investigate who built the Stonehenge and what it's purpose might have been.
* In the final episode of ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' the demon queen, Bansheera, attempts to complete a ritual that will bring a horde of demons and a literal Hell to Earth, but the ritual requires a solar eclipse, and, you guessed it, a circles of standing stones surrounding her palace, which is in the center of the city. Out of monsters at this point, her second-in-command steals one of the Power Ranger's megazords to put the large stones in place. Despite the Power Rangers succeeding in destroying the renegade megazord, the last stone that it was holding is dropped, and the circle is completed.

* ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' has several important scenes take place around a circle of standing stones, particularly the [[BookEnds first and last episodes]].

* In ''VideoGame/DarkCloud2'', Kazarov Stonehenge is a large formation of stones that the have slots for some key items to go in.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': The Temple building is a Stonehenge-inspired ring of stones with cave paintings until its replacement in the Iron Age by a Parthenon-looking building. It prevents disasters such as plague, volcanoes and earthquakes from being cast nearby.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheComet'': There is one in the forest which is both an ancient IndianBurialGround and the cultists main area of worship.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': The Moonhenge, once an edifice that was a nexus to a realm beyond life and death, but now all that's let are bases the full structure was built on.

* In southeastern Turkey, there's a hill called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe Göbekli Tepe]], which has more than one circles of standing stones. The fact that they were made between 10th-8th millenium BCE makes this the UrExample of the trope, and makes this trope much OlderThanDirt. Unlike Stonehenge or other examples, the monoliths were carved with pictures of animals and linked to eachother with walls, so it was both older and more sophisticated than the other examples.

* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' literally has a "Stonehenge", and...would you look at that? There's an alien base beneath it.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series has [[{{Coolgate}} Moongates]], a circle of standing stones that create a magic gateway when a pebble is dropped in them.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, various types of magical stone formations dot the landscapes of Tamriel bestowing different blessings upon those who seek them out. Some, such as the Doom Stones in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', have specific requirements like only being usable at night or after a certain amount of renown is acquired. ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s Standing Stones bestow various birthsign powers on those who activate them, but only one can be active at a time. (Two with a unique artifact.)

* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' has these set up as part of a ward that protects the Valley of the Mystics.
* In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', the meeting with "God" takes place in a circle of stones that rise up out of the ground as Kirk and company approach.

* ''Literature/OverSeaUnderStone''. The Standing Stones at the end of Kemare Head are 3,000 years old and are landmarks used in the search for the Grail. Simon and Jane go out to them at night and are almost captured by the forces of the Dark.

* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series, Claire Beachamp Randall uses stone circles to travel between the 20th and 18th centuries.
* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/JustAfterSunset'' short story "N" has one of these in a field which the eponymous "N.", a man with a [[SuperOCD crippling case of OCD]] thinks is a gateway to another world, and an [[EldritchAbomination Elder God]] is on the other side. The question is, whether or not he's wrong. [[spoiler: Probably not]].
* The [[Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime Nantucket Trilogy]] features Stonehenge in all its Bronze Age glory. It's a sacred site for the Fiernan Bohulugi, who call it the Wisdom.

* ''The Walking Stones'' by Mollie Hunter revolves around a stone circle in Scotland and a legend that once a century the stones walk down to the river for a drink.
* The climax of ''[[Literature/PeterAndTheStarcatchers Peter and the Shadow Thieves]]'' takes place at [[spoiler:the most famous circle, Stonehenge]], where the heroes intend to send the [[GreenRocks starstuff]] back into space.
* Subverted in the ''Literature/VillageTales'' series. Wiltshire or no, there are relatively few henge-and-cursus monuments in the District, and those few are the subject only of proper archaeological interest. In fact, the archaeological team led by Professor Den Farnaby and Professor Millicent the Baroness Lacy is engaged in ''looking'' for places where more might once have been.
* ''Literature/GravityFallsJournal3'': Stonehenge is described as "either a spell-amplification center or a place for the druids to play hide-and-seek".
* Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Life Of Merlin'' tells us that King Arthur's uncle, along with Arthur's father and Merlin, led an army into Ireland to steal stones with magical healing powers which were used to build Stonehenge. AnachronismStew is very much in play, since Stonehenge is a lot older than the dates he gives for the lives of Arthur's pops.

* In ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' standing stones were (and may still be) used to repel species from parallel earths described as "elves" and "trolls".
* In "Literature/AngelDownSussex", Angel Field has a long history of strange events attributed to angels, TheFairFolk, or similar beings. For most of its history the field had a stone circle in it that was associated with the phenomena, but in 1872 the farmer who owned the field demolished it after his daughter disappeared from inside the circle.

* ''Series/ChildrenOfTheStones'' takes place in a fictionalised version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury,_Wiltshire Avebury]], where the stones are part of a mystical [[GroundhogDayLoop time-loop]] phenomenon.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E3TheStonesOfBlood The Stones of Blood]]" takes place in and around a stone circle in which is one of the fragments of the Key to Time.

* In the fourth ''Franchise/{{Quatermass}}'' serial (also released in re-edited form as a movie, and variously called ''The Quatermass Conclusion'' or just ''Quatermass''), young people are drawn to stone circles and apparently ascended to a higher plane. But all is not as it seems. It is eventually revealed that standing stones and other ancient sites [[spoiler:are warning markers at places where an alien device killed people in the past -- and is doing so again]].
* ''Series/MysteryHunters'': There is an episode where both Araya and Christina try to investigate who built the Stonehenge and what it's purpose might have been.
* ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' has several important scenes take place around a circle of standing stones, particularly the [[BookEnds first and last episodes]].
* In one episode of ''Series/MidsomerMurders'', the (first) VictimOfTheWeek is found in a stone circle. A local Druid sect that uses it as a holy place is quickly suspected.

* In the ''Series/FatherBrown'' episode "The Standing Stones", one such circle is the scene of a murder. Folk custom in the region holds that the stones have ancient healing powers, which [[spoiler:some villagers hope to invoke to end a polio epidemic through HumanSacrifice on the [[LiminalTime summer solstice]]]].

* Music/{{Ayreon}} has a song on Universal Migrator Part 1 called "And the Druids Turn to Stone" giving a rather bizarre take on how Stonehenge came to be.

* Some of these ancient monuments exist in Barovia, which is part of the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting. Their origins are lost to history.

[[folder:Theater]]

* ''VideoGame/GoatSimulator'' features "Goatstone Henge". Which you can promptly ruin for points and an achievement. If it sounds silly, it's because...it is. That's the point.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, various types of magical stone formations dot the landscapes of Tamriel bestowing different blessings upon those who seek them out. Some, such as the Doom Stones in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', have specific requirements like only being usable at night or after a certain amount of renown is acquired. ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s Standing Stones bestow various birthsign powers on those who activate them, but only one can be active at a time. (Two with a unique artifact.)
* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has one of these at Geosenge town. They turn out to be standing on top of [[DoomsdayDevice The Ultimate Weapon]]. As Kalos is based on France, these correspond to the real-life site of Carnac.

* In ''Dragontorc'' on the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, the stone circles, once activated with the Leyrod spell, form a PortalNetwork that transports the player between different areas of the game.
* In ''Videogame/{{Civilization}} V'', "stone circles" is an available pantheon belief, which offers faith for every quarry. Stonehenge is also an available Wonder.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheComet'': There is one in the forest which is both an ancient IndianBurialGround and the cultists main area of worship.
* ''VideoGame/AtlantisTheLostTales'': There's one where the Hidden Knowledge is. A ritual unearths it as a metal OracularHead.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': The Chozo cipher that [[TailorMadePrison contains]] the titular [[AntagonistTitle Metroid Prime]] is shown as a series of stone monoliths in two rings. [[SceneryGorn Until Meta-Ridley starts breaking them.]]
* Surprisingly underplayed in ''The Omega Stone'': while there's plenty of creepy going on in the British segment of the game, all the mystical aspects happen at Bathelwaite's estate or the mysterious swamp; Stonehenge itself only offers a few (mundane) clues and a single ancient scroll that's not entirely crucial to the mission.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'', the title character marries Myth/KingArthur in the center of one of these. Even within the setting of the game, the origin of it is shrouded in mystery and mysticism - Guen speculates it was made by a wizard or perhaps some artistic giants.
* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': The Temple building is a Stonehenge-inspired ring of stones with cave paintings until its replacement in the Iron Age by a Parthenon-looking building. It prevents disasters such as plague, volcanoes and earthquakes from being cast nearby.
* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'', there are the so called [[http://ageofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Ruins ruins]]. These are circles of standing stones that the players can take control of. Once one player controls all the ruins, a countdown starts at 2000 years (five minutes in real time) after which the player automatically wins.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'', Bayek can visit twelve stone circle locations around Egypt and complete stargazing mini-games that will help him gain access to the [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes Isu Armor]].
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' has this again with Eivor discovering a variety of each henge around England where they're marked by the travels of Brendan of Clonfert, who speaks of the Isu, or as he calls them, the Nephililm. His final journey goes all the way out to Vinland, aka North America. The gameplay for each stone involves using Odin Vision to make the runes visible, then moving yourself and the camera until the rune is aligned, giving yourself a new experience point.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' reveals that [[spoiler:the new]] Organization XIII has one of these in the [[FieldOfBlades Keyblade]] [[WeaponTombstone Graveyard]]. It serves as a gathering place for members [[spoiler:in lieu of Where Nothing Gathers, the round room in The Castle That Never Was which hosted a throne for each of member of the ''original'' Organization]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' literally has a "Stonehenge", and...would you look at that? There's an alien base beneath it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Startopia}}'' uses these as the walls of a Zedem Temple built on the station's Biodeck after the initial obelisk is summoned, 12 hired Monks are necessary to summon all of the stones and any that quit or are fired will cause that stone to disappear. VAL also makes reference to Terra's Stonehenge saying that the indigenous fauna built it for him [[AncientAstronauts when he visited the planet]] but caused part of it to collapse as he left, pity.

* The ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' version of the United Kingdom has [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181203#.XAgpPuKYSUk Queen's Henge]], a glowing pretzel of standing stones, that can't be seen unless you approach it from exactly the right angle. It is almost as ancient as the immortal Queen Albia, being her first great work after she "[[TheSparkOfGenius broke through]]" the ''second'' time.

* Some are found in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' in the first episode, indicating the Maximals and Predecons are not the first advanced races to visit this world. [[spoiler:The aliens in question are eventually identified as the Vok.]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', some druids were found to have a bone to pick with the [=McDuck=] clan, since one of Scrooge's ancestors had built his castle on their land. Why? Because there was a ring of large stone pillars already there, which made building it faster...and cheaper. It runs in the family.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': The Moonhenge, once an edifice that was a nexus to a realm beyond life and death, but now all that's let are bases the full structure was built on.