TV special puts Stonehenge in spotlight

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Barack Obama pronounced England's Stonehenge "cool" during a side trip there earlier this month.

TV viewers can check it out for themselves with Smithsonian Channel's two-hour special on the ancient stone circle.

"Stonehenge Empire" focuses on the results of a five-year, high-tech effort to map the site and surroundings — including evidence of other monuments and burial mounds.

Using the new data, "Stonehenge Empire" employs computer-generated imagery and dramatic reconstructions to illustrate the area's prehistoric culture.

Archeologists discuss why and how Stonehenge developed, the channel said, as well as evidence that it was the center of a civilization that had mastered astronomy and mathematics.

"Stonehenge Empire" airs Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT on the Smithsonian Channel.