Mystery over Stonehenge origins deepens after 'jaw-dropping' discovery
15 August 2024, 00:10 | Updated: 15 August 2024, 00:12
The mystery over Stonehenge's origins has deepened after a "jaw-dropping" discovery.
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Most of the monument's bluestones were sourced from the Preseli Hills in Wales - around 150 miles from the site.
But fresh research suggests the largest Altar Stone at the heart of Stonehenge is actually Scottish.
The "remarkable" discovery has left experts "stunned" and busts a century-long held belief about the origins of the bluestone.
It is unclear when the stone arrived at the site on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, but the scientists say it may have been placed within the central horseshoe of stones during the second construction phase at about 2620-2480 BC.
The new discovery implies that one of the most famous stones in the world was moved much further than had been believed - at least 435 miles.
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For the last century, the six-tonne sandstone was believed to have come from Wales, with the rest of the bluestones.
After work to examine the stone's chemical composition and mineral grains, scientists can say with 95% confidence that the sandstone is very likely to instead have come from north-east Scotland.
The study involved scientists at Aberystwyth University, University College London and, in Australia, Curtin University and the University of Adelaide.
The findings indicate a striking similarity between the Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland and the Stonehenge Altar Stone.
Co-author Professor Richard Bevins, from Aberystwyth University, said: "These findings are truly remarkable - they overturn what had been thought for the past century.
"We have succeeded in working out, if you like, the age and chemical fingerprints of, perhaps, one of the most famous of stones in the world-renowned ancient monument.
"It's thrilling to know that our chemical analysis and dating work has finally unlocked this great mystery.
"We can now say that this iconic rock is Scottish and not Welsh.
"Although we can say that much, and confidently - the hunt will still very much be on to pin down where exactly in the north-east of Scotland the Altar Stone came from."
The scientists used their analysis of the ages of the mineral grains in the stone to create a fingerprint of the source of those grains.
They matched ages found in rocks of the Orcadian Basin found in the north-east of Scotland, and are completely different from Welsh-sourced stones.
Anthony Clarke, from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at Curtin University, in Perth, Western Australia, said: "Considering the technological constraints of the Neolithic, our findings raise fascinating questions about how such a massive stone was able to be transported over the vast distance implied.
"Given major overland barriers en route from north-east Scotland to Salisbury Plain, marine transport is one feasible option."
Commenting on the findings, he added: "All four of us were stunned. We couldn't believe it."
Co-author Dr Robert Ixer, of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, said: "This is a genuinely shocking result, but if plate tectonics and atomic physics are correct, then the Altar Stone is Scottish.
"The work prompts two important questions: why and exactly how was the Altar Stone transported from the very north of Scotland, a distance of more than 700 kilometres, to Stonehenge?"
