Neolithic Humans, Not Glaciers, Likely Transported Stonehenge’s Altar Stone Over 400 Miles: study
Researchers say glaciers may have moved the six-ton stone partway, but prehistoric Britons still carried it hundreds of kilometers to Stonehenge.
- Researchers from Sheffield Hallam University and Curtin University reported that Stonehenge's Altar Stone likely travelled via glacier to Doggerland before prehistoric Britons transported the six-tonne monolith 700km to Salisbury Plain.
- Co-Lead author Dr. Anthony Clarke from Curtin explained that glaciers could not have reached southern England, meaning the monolith required "deliberately" and "carefully planned" human transport across a challenging landscape.
- Dr. Remy Veness said climate-induced migration likely drove the "audacious" decision to move the stone, as rising sea levels submerged Doggerland at the end of the last Ice Age.
- Using advanced mineral "fingerprinting" on more than 500 zircon crystals, researchers found no glacial evidence near Salisbury Plain, reinforcing that Neolithic communities organized the stone's multi-stage relocation.
- Future research will aim to pinpoint the stone's exact source in north-east Scotland, while Professor Chris Kirkland noted the study adds an important piece to understanding Stonehenge's original purpose.
64 Articles
64 Articles
Stonehenge Mystery Deepens as Glaciers May Have Moved Six-Ton Altar Stone
Stonehenge Altar Stone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain The massive Altar Stone at Stonehenge may have received some help from ancient glaciers on its long journey to southern England, but people still likely carried it much of the remaining distance, according to new research. The study, led by Anthony J. I. Clarke and published in the Journal of Quaternary Science, examined the possible origins and transport routes of the six-ton san…
Stonehenge altar may have travelled hundreds of miles away, scientists believe
Scientists now believe that Stonehenge's Altar Stone may have been carried partway from Scotland by glacial movement.Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University and Curtin University in Perth, Australia, have developed models indicating Ice Age glaciers could have shifted rocks from Scotland as far south as Dogger Bank in the North Sea.This glacial transport would have occurred during the late Devensian glaciation.The period spanned roughly 33,00…
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