Study Says Humans Hauled Stonehenge's 6-Ton Altar Stone 700 Kilometers From Scotland
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Jun 15
Study Says Humans Hauled Stonehenge's 6-Ton Altar Stone 700 Kilometers From Scotland
3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Jun 15
Summary
Curtin University researchers concluded Stonehenge’s Altar Stone was moved about 700 kilometers from northeast Scotland by people, not delivered to southern England by glaciers.
Mineral-grain dating and ice-sheet modeling traced the six-ton sandstone to Scotland and found no viable glacial pathway to Salisbury Plain, though ice may have carried rocks only as far as Dogger Bank.
The study suggests the journey happened in stages, likely mixing overland hauling with river or coastal transport across difficult terrain.
Researchers say moving a stone that size over such a distance implies substantial planning, coordination and landscape knowledge in Neolithic Britain.
Next work will try to pinpoint the stone’s exact Scottish source and reconstruct the routes prehistoric communities may have used.