Druids led thousands of people in a celebration of the summer solstice on Thursday at Britain's Stonehenge, a world heritage site famed for its iconic, 4,500-year-old stone circle.
People filled the circle before dawn for the solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, which began at 4:52 am (0352 GMT) in Britain.
"It's a great opportunity for friends and families to come together and mark the longest day of the year, as people have done for thousands of years," Kate Davies, the manager of Stonehenge, in the southern county of Wiltshire, told the BBC.
Superintendent Dave Minty, who led the Wiltshire Police operation, said the event was "a great success," estimating that some 9,500 people celebrated the solstice at Stonehenge and another 600 at the nearby Avebury stone circle.
"There was a really great atmosphere and we are really pleased to say there were no arrests at Stonehenge," Minty said.
Druids base their worship of natural forces on ancient spiritual and shamanistic practices in Britain and other parts of Europe, especially Celtic traditions.
Archaeologists believe the main 30-metre-diameter circle at Stonehenge was built for religious, political or other ceremonial use.
Seasonal agricultural cycles are thought to have inspired Neolithic people to align the huge, 25-ton silicified sandstone boulders to the movements of the sun.
The stone circle is normally off limits to visitors, to protect the site from damage, but it is opened to the public for the summer and winter solstices and other special events.
