Glacier Carried Stonehenge's 6-Tonne Altar Stone 700km to Dogger Bank, Study Suggests
Updated
Updated · BBC Science Focus · Jun 4
Glacier Carried Stonehenge's 6-Tonne Altar Stone 700km to Dogger Bank, Study Suggests
3 articles · Updated · BBC Science Focus · Jun 4
Summary
A 6-tonne sandstone slab at Stonehenge may have been carried from northeast Scotland to Dogger Bank by glacier ice, giving scientists a new explanation for part of its 700km journey.
Ice-flow modelling found no viable glacial route into southern England, so researchers say Neolithic people still had to move the stone hundreds of kilometres in stages to Salisbury Plain.
Dogger Bank—part of the now-submerged Doggerland—has no natural source of large stones, strengthening the case that any such boulders there were deposited by glaciers during the last ice age.
The study suggests people may have rescued the stone from rising seas before taking it to Stonehenge, pointing to cultural significance and a higher level of planning and cooperation among Neolithic communities.