Dale Allen, Jr., age 14, of Sarasota, Florida, for his question:

Why was Stonehenge built?

The dramatic circle of enormous stones was erected in southern England about 3,500 years ago. Its origins were forgotten but people remembered that certain stones were oriented in line with the rising sun on the morning of the summer solstice. Many fantastic tales were told about the people who built it    and its purpose. Then, in 1963, the ancient riddle was tackled by American researchers. And, of all things, their computer identified one of its remote ancestors.

Scientists now believe that Stonehenge was erected as an astronomical computer to track the passing of time. Slits between certain stones provided peep holes for observing the rising and setting of the sun and moon. Other stones may have been aligned with solar and lunar eclipses. The great computer of the Neolithic Age may have been capable of other astronomical predictions. Recent research indicated that the site was built as a place of whorship. But so far the geniuses who built it have not been identified.