All posts tagged: Stonehenges

Ancient Britons likely transported Stonehenge’s Altar Stone 700 kilometers from Scotland

Ancient Britons likely transported Stonehenge’s Altar Stone 700 kilometers from Scotland

Published by Jenni Sidey

Stonehenge has always invited big questions, but one of its most stubborn mysteries sits low to the ground. The Altar Stone, a six-ton sandstone block at the monument’s center, appears to have come from northeast Scotland, about 700 kilometers away, and new research suggests that even ice could not have finished the job. That matters because the stone’s journey has often been pulled between two explanations. Either people moved it across Britain, or glaciers did most of the work during the Ice Age. The new analysis does not entirely erase ice from the picture, but it sharply narrows what glaciers could have done and leaves human effort at the center of the story. The research team, led in part by Curtin University, combined two approaches to revisit the puzzle. One traced the stone’s likely birthplace by comparing the ages of mineral grains inside it with rock samples from across Scotland. The other used ice-sheet modelling to test whether shifting glacial flows could have carried a massive sandstone block south toward Salisbury Plain. Their answer is …

Stonehenge’s Altar Stone Was Hauled 430 Miles From Northeast Scotland

Stonehenge’s Altar Stone Was Hauled 430 Miles From Northeast Scotland

Published by Jenni Sidey

Once thought to have originated in Wales, like the rest of the 4,500-year-old monument’s bluestones, Stonehenge’s altar stone has recently been traced through geological fingerprinting to Scotland. The question of how the megalith made the 435-mile journey from there to Salsbury Plain in England is now the focus of a study by scientists at Curtin University in Australia in collaboration with experts from Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Sheffield, Wessex Archaeology, and the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.  Their findings were published June 4 in the Journal of Quaternary Science. Related Articles Stonehenge was built in stages by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples between around 3,000 BC and 1,500 BCE. It consists of an outer circle and inner horseshoe of sandstone trilithons with inner arcs of smaller bluestones. The altar stone at its heart is thought to have been placed there during the second period of Stonehenge’s construction, between 2,620 and 2,480 BCE. Geological evidence has confirmed that the monument’s sandstone boulders came from the Marlborough Downs, 20 miles away, while its …

Humans really did move Stonehenge’s six-ton centerpiece

Humans really did move Stonehenge’s six-ton centerpiece

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. Stonehenge is so much more than just a monumental feat of ancient engineering—it’s also a logistical marvel. Multiple generations of Neolithic designers relied on communal teamwork and clever construction techniques to precisely place each of the site’s gigantic megaliths about 5,000 years ago. Two primary types of stone known as sarcens and bluestones make up the formation. Paleoarchaeologists previously traced most of the sarcens to about 15 miles away to present-day Marlborough, England, while many of the bluestones originated in Wales. The famed Altar Stone is far more perplexing, however. The central, six-ton sandstone megalith likely came from a region in Scotland about 400 miles away. How a prehistoric society managed to scoot the boulder so far without complex tools or transportation methods …

Stonehenge’s altar stone probably wasn’t transported by a glacier

Stonehenge’s altar stone probably wasn’t transported by a glacier

Published by skeptic

The 5-metre-long altar stone lies mostly buried at the centre of Stonehenge Laurence Berger/Getty Images Researchers investigating the origins of Stonehenge’s enigmatic altar stone say it is possible that the 6-tonne rock was carried southwards from Scotland by a glacier – but this hypothesis relies on an unlikely series of events, making it more likely that humans transported it. The 5-metre-long monolith, which is partially buried and overlain by two other stones, has been in its present location, at the centre of Stonehenge’s ring of worked boulders, for around 4500 years. In 2024, researchers including Anthony Clarke at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, determined that the altar stone came from north-east Scotland, based on the chemistry of the rock. “The altar stone is a sandstone – you can imagine grains of sand at the beach that have been squished together,” says Clarke. “We can get an age and the chemical composition for each of those grains and build up a fingerprint, which we can then forensically compare to other rocks throughout the UK and Ireland.” …

Humans, not Glaciers, Moved Rocks Used in Stonehenge’s Construction

Humans, not Glaciers, Moved Rocks Used in Stonehenge’s Construction

Published by José Betancourt

Researchers at Curtin University in Australia have presented evidence that humans, rather than glaciers, moved the rocks used in Stonehenge’s construction to England. Their findings were published January 21 in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. Located on Salisbury Plain in England, Stonehenge was built in stages by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples between around 3000 BC and 1500 BC. It consists of an outer circle and inner horseshoe of sandstone trilithons with inner arcs of smaller bluestones. Related Articles Geological evidence has confirmed that the monument’s sandstone boulders came from the Marlborough Downs, 20 miles away, while the smaller dolomite bluestones were quarried in the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, 180 miles to the northwest. The average sarsen (sandstone block) at Stonehenge weights 25 tons; the average bluestone ranges 2 to 5 tons, and the largest weighs 40 tons. Stonehenge’s Altar Stone, weighing six tons, is now thought to have originated in Scotland. Until this month, there were competing theories as to how the stones traveled such long distances, with some positing that humans …

New evidence reveals how Stonehenge’s stones were transported across ancient Britain

New evidence reveals how Stonehenge’s stones were transported across ancient Britain

Published by Jenni Sidey

Stonehenge, one of the most examined prehistoric structures globally, is located on Salisbury Plain in southern England. The long-standing debate has continued for decades regarding whether glaciers transported some of the stones to Salisbury Plain or whether Neolithic people transported them over long distances. A new geological study led by researchers from Curtin University in Australia employs a novel methodology in order to resolve the controversy by utilizing tiny mineral particles, or grains, from sediment deposited in contemporary rivers rather than the stones of Stonehenge. Researchers from the Curtin University School of Earth and Planetary Sciences collaborated with Curtin University’s John de Laeter Centre in this study to try to establish whether glaciers existed in the region of Salisbury Plain. If they did, then the very presence or absence of a trail of minerals would indicate how the out-of-area stones were transported to Stonehenge. A simplified geological map and stratigraphic column of Salisbury Plain, England. (CREDIT: Communications Earth & Environment) Glacial Sediments Used To Identify Glacial Sources Dr. Anthony Clarke of Curtin University and his …