A team of archaeologists in England made a “surprising” discovery in recent days, surprising scientists and historians, confirming that one of the keystones at the heart of the Stonehenge monument is of Scottish, not Welsh, origin. , as previously thought.
The scientific community had previously established that some of the stones from the mysterious prehistoric monument had somehow been transported 200 kilometers between Wales and the Salisbury Plain in southern England.
According to a paper published Wednesday in the journal NatureResearchers now believe that the largest “blue stone” at Stonehenge, known as the “altar stone” and originally erected, was transported from 800 kilometers north-east of Scotland. This would indicate that the builders of the monument dragged the megalith or moved it to float along the beach, which is now the most plausible thesis.
The stone in question is not one of the famous triliths, the vertical compositions that form the perimeter of Stonehenge and have made the monument one of the most visited and studied in the world. The triliths were placed later and collected about 25 kilometers from the Stone Age town of Salisbury.
The “altar stone” is a block five meters high and weighing six tons, partially buried in the center of the monument, rarely visible to visitors.
Rob Ixer, one of the researchers at University College London and a member of the team that published the study, made no secret. The Guardian Excitement over the discovery has prompted the British archaeological community to consider it a “genuine surprise”.
“It completely rewrites the relationship between Neolithic people and the entire British Isles. The science is beautiful and amazing, and it will be discussed for decades. It’s stunning”, said Ixer, adding that the megalith may have originated in the Scottish territory, located between Inverness and the Orkney Islands, thousands of years ago in the British Archipelago. A remarkable feat for living prehistoric humans.
A connection with Wales was made when archaeological studies of the minerals at Stonehenge showed that a group of “blue stones” had been excavated in Pembrokeshire, in the west of Wales. But the “altar stone” has always been a mystery to historians, who continue to study it.
In a study published in the journal Nature, experts from Australian, Welsh and North American universities are examining the chemical composition of these relics, hoping the stones and minerals will “tell” what the planet was like thousands of years ago, when humans began to form societies around the world.
The conclusion is made possible by analyzing the “age” of the minerals in the stone and comparing it to other rocks spread across the UK. “The ‘age’ correspondence hits home in the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland”, whose sedimentary rocks were once underwater and were used in many prehistoric structures. “It was completely unexpected for us,” said Nick Pearce, a professor at Aberystwyth University, one of the institutions involved.
While there is some skepticism about the Stonehenge-related studies, Pearce reiterated that there is nothing controversial about the results released this Wednesday. “It’s very established science,” he insisted.
The Stonehenge stones have long attracted scientific interest and conspiracy theories alike. Until now, the actual reason for the construction of the monument is still unknown, and it is believed that it may have served as an astronomical clock or as a sacred site (and possibly a tomb). Construction began around 5000 years ago and was carried out by various peoples over a period of 1500 years, but many of the stones have now disappeared and several excavations over the centuries have badly damaged the monument.