When you purchase through connection on our site , we may bring in an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it work .
research worker now know the exact part in Scotland whereStonehenge ’s Altar Stone uprise , thanks to a chemical analysis of the behemoth rock ’s geologic make-up .
The finding , which is part of a new study publish Wednesday ( Aug. 14 ) in the journalNature , offer further grounds that the builders of the immense repository would have used advanced methods to carry the or so 13,200 - dog pound ( 6,000 kilograms ) stone from its original placement to its current site in southern England , where it now sits in the internal rope of Stonehenge , grant to a statement from Aberystwyth University in Wales .
Stonehenge’s monolithic stones appear to have travelled great distances across the British Isles before reaching their final resting place in the south west of England.
For twelvemonth , it was thought that the Altar Stoneoriginated in Wales . However , a 2023 analytic thinking of the large stone find out that it may havecome from as far north as Scotland , since it contained large amounts ofbarium , exchangeable to other gem in that area . This discovery helped researcher narrow down down the rock ’s rightful origin .
" The Altar Stone was always group with the other blue stones , which are the smaller stones in the ring , " study Centennial State - authorNick Pearce , a professor of geological chemical science at Aberystwyth University , told Live Science . " It was long believed the dismal Stone could only be found in southern piece of the UK , such as South Wales . After examining the mineralogy of the stones , it did n’t contribute up that the Altar Stone was from Wales . "
Related : Stonehenge was a hunting hotspot long before the memorial was built
For years it was thought that Stonehenge’s Altar Stone came from England. A new analysis reveals that it originated in northeastern Scotland.
For this fresh analytic thinking , researcher studied mineral grains from two fragment of the Altar Stone , which revealed that it contains an abundance of minerals such as zircon , apatite and rutile . research worker discovered that the mineral makeup matched that of stone from the Orcadian Basin , an arena that embrace northeastern Scotland as well as the Orkney and Shetland islands and sits roughly 466 miles ( 750 kilometre ) from Stonehenge today , accord to the assertion .
They also determined that some of the Altar Stone ’s mineral grains were between 1 billion and 2 billion years old . " We were able to get a fingermark of the age of the rock music , " Pearce said . " It matches perfectly with aqueous careen in Scotland ’s Orcadian Basin . "
So how did Stonehenge ’s creators transmit the enormous John Rock such a long length ?
" That ’s the $ 64,000 enquiry , " Pearce said , especially since it ’s reckon that the massive stones that make up Stonehenge were placed around 2600 B.C. , accord to the affirmation .
" If the Altar Stone come from one of the islands , it would have get going its journeying on water and would have involved marine and overland rapture , " Pearce said . " That ’s not a simple challenge . "
— Original ' Stonehenge ' discovered , echoing legend of the wizard Merlin
— ' Spinal Tap'-size Stonehenge reveals how the ancient monument really sound
— Ritual monument see in Scotland see to the time of Stonehenge
While research worker can only speculate about the stone ’s journey , they think transporting such a heavy load would have call for " societal coordination " between the Orcadian Basin and southern England that may have require a " marine merchant marine road , " according to the statement .
" This clearly commute what we know about where it came from , " Pearce said . " Coordinating this would have take hundreds of people probably . They had to have had a salutary reason to transport something that press 6 [ metrical ] tons so far away . "
The Altar Stone is n’t the only link between the two locations .
" There have also been similar pieces of pottery and houses in the two sphere , " he said . " This strengthens the depth of the connection . "
