A new study led by archaeologists from Curtin University suggests that Stonehenge’s iconic circle of stones – the Altar Stone, a six-tonne sandstone megalith – was discovered at least 750 kilometres from its current location.
Stonehenge, a Neolithic standing stone monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, provides invaluable information about prehistoric Britain.
Construction of Stonehenge began around 3000 BC and was modified over the next 2000 years.
The megaliths at Stonehenge are divided into two main categories: sarsens and bluestones.
The larger sarsens consist mainly of duriclast silicrite, taken from Marlborough’s West Woods, about 25km north of Stonehenge.
Bluestone is a general term for a variety of locally uncommon rocks, including volcanic tuff, rhyolite, dolerite, and sandstone.
Stonehenge’s central megalith, the Altar Stone, is the largest of the bluestones, measuring 4.9 x 1 x 0.5 metres, lying stone, weighing 6 tonnes, and is composed of a pale green mica sandstone with a distinctive mineral composition.
In the new study, Curtin University PhD student Anthony Clark and his colleagues studied the age and chemical composition of mineral grains within the altar stone fragments.
“Analysis of the age and chemical composition of the minerals in the altar stone fragments showed that they matched rocks from north-east Scotland, but were clearly different to the bedrock in Wales,” Mr Clarke said.
“We found that certain mineral grains in the altar stones are mostly between 1 and 2 billion years old, while other minerals date back to around 450 million years ago.”
“This provides a clear chemical fingerprint suggesting that the stone came from rocks in Scotland’s Auckland Basin, at least 750km from Stonehenge.”
“Given the constraints of Neolithic technology and its Scottish origin, this discovery raises intriguing questions about how such large stones could have been transported long distances around 2600 BC.”
Stonehenge layout and view of the Altar Stone. Image courtesy of Clark. others., doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07652-1.
“This discovery has important implications for our understanding of ancient communities, their connections and transportation,” Professor Chris Kirkland, from Curtin University, said.
“Our discovery of the altar stone’s origins highlights the importance of social co-operation in the Neolithic period and helps to paint a fascinating picture of prehistoric Britain.”
“Transporting such a large amount of cargo over land from Scotland to southern England would have been extremely difficult, so it is more likely that it was transported by sea along the English coast.”
“This suggests the existence of longer-distance trade networks and more advanced social organisation than is widely understood to have existed in the Neolithic in Britain.”
“We have succeeded in determining the age and chemical signature of perhaps one of the most famous stones from any world-famous ancient site,” said Professor Richard Bevins, from Aberystwyth University.
“We can now say that this iconic rock is Scottish rather than Welsh, but further research is needed to establish exactly where in the north-east of Scotland the Altar Stone came from.”
“The discovery is truly shocking, but if plate tectonics and atomic physics are correct, the altar stone is Scottish,” said Dr Robert Iksar, from University College London.
“This work raises two important questions: why and how was the altar stone transported from the far north of Scotland, over 70 kilometres away, to Stonehenge?”
of Survey results Published in the journal Nature.
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AJI Clark others2024. The altar stone of Stonehenge originates from Scotland. Nature 632, 570-575;doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07652-1
Source: www.sci.news
