Stonehenge was moved from Wales

[The Judge]

Coud it have been a glacial erratic?

Apparently unlikely as the ice sheets covering the Basin don't appear to have travelled south. From the report in Nature A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge - Nature (my bolding):

Some postulate a glacial transport mechanism for the Mynydd Preseli bluestones to Salisbury Plain. However, such transport for the Altar Stone is difficult to reconcile with ice-sheet reconstructions that show a northwards movement of glaciers (and erratics) from the Grampian Mountains towards the Orcadian Basin during the Last Glacial Maximum and, indeed, previous Pleistocene glaciations. Moreover, there is little evidence of extensive glacial deposition in central southern Britain, nor are Scottish glacial erratics found at Stonehenge. Sr and Pb isotopic signatures from animal and human remains from henges on Salisbury Plain demonstrate the mobility of Neolithic people within Britain. Furthermore, shared architectural elements and rock art motifs between Neolithic monuments in Orkney, northern Britain, and Ireland point towards the long-distance movement of people and construction materials.​

Following on from that comment about glacial deposition on the Plain:

Putting aside Merlin’s magic or space aliens’ tractor beams, there are two alternatives: glacial dumping on Salisbury Plain or physical manhandling by Neolithic people, either overland or by boat. There is no evidence for any glacial erratics on Salisbury Plain; the nearest erratics to the west of Stonehenge abut the Somerset coastline and to the north of Stonehenge they are more than 100km distant.​

​

Stonehenge’s massive central Altar Stone, a gift from Scotland

A new analysis of Stonehenge’s central six-tonne Altar Stone, undertaken by Rob Ixer (Honorary Senior Research Fellow, UCL Institute of Archaeology) and collaborators, indicates that it has come from Northeast Scotland.

www.ucl.ac.uk

 

[Orcadian]

Apparently unlikely as the ice sheets covering the Basin don't appear to have travelled south. From the report in Nature A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge - Nature (my bolding):

The Nature paper is indeed interesting, @The Judge. Thanks for the link. So it seems a glacial origin is ruled out! There are a number of interesting figures but I'm not a geologist and will have to pore over them for a bit to see why they've concluded that NE Scotland is the most likely source of this stone.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

As impressive as it is, Stonehenge feels more like what it has become - a prehistoric fairground attraction.

Avebury, and the adjacent Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow feel like the real deal. Walking around them, often in solitude or with only a handful of other people, you can easily imagine being transported back several thousand years.

Stonehenge, with its conveyor belt of buses, tourists and railings elicits far less. If it was a toss up between visiting Stonehenge and Avebury, the latter would win hands down every time.

Completely agree!

 

[The Judge]

A follow up to the report in Nature last month:

The quest for the origins of Stonehenge's six-tonne Altar Stone continues as new research has found it did not come from mainland Orkney.
Last month it was revealed the iconic stone came from north-east Scotland and not Wales, like the monument's bluestones do.​

Orkney has its famous Neolithic sites with standing stones, like the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness.​

While the Altar Stone seems similar to these, the study shows they are not from the same place, which means the hunt continues.​

​

Study finds Stonehenge Altar Stone not from Orkney

The findings follow a previous study which said the six-tonne stone came from north-east Scotland.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Ursa major]

The Orcadian Basin is quite extensive** and the mainland portion of it is not short of standing stones and circles, so while the most obvious places to look first would be on the Orkneys, it isn't that surprising that they could be from elsewhere in the Basin.


** - Of course, this means it could take some time to discover the stone's origin.

 

[Montero]

@Stephen Palmer and @paranoid marvin my late mother cycled to Stonehenge in the fifties, arriving quite early on a beautiful summer morning. It was pre-railings and she had the place nearly to herself - never went back for another visit as she said it would not be as good.

I would observe that I thought Stonehenge was possibly thought to be a ceremonial/gathering place - so maybe it was quite busy at some times of year way back when it was built.

 

[Orcadian]

A follow up to the report in Nature last month:

The quest for the origins of Stonehenge's six-tonne Altar Stone continues as new research has found it did not come from mainland Orkney.​

Last month it was revealed the iconic stone came from north-east Scotland and not Wales, like the monument's bluestones do.​

Orkney has its famous Neolithic sites with standing stones, like the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness.​

While the Altar Stone seems similar to these, the study shows they are not from the same place, which means the hunt continues.​

​

Study finds Stonehenge Altar Stone not from Orkney

The findings follow a previous study which said the six-tonne stone came from north-east Scotland.

www.bbc.co.uk

It did seem to me to be a far-fetched idea.

 

[The Judge]

It did seem to me to be a far-fetched idea.

Not sure if I'm misunderstanding your comment, but the idea that the stone is from the Orcadian Basin is still in play, it's just not from the mainland -- as Ursa says, it was the obvious place to start looking but there's still a lot more of the OB to search.

 

[Ursa major]

it's just not from the mainland

Well, it's not from the Mainland (or the rest of the Orkneys), but it is from the mainland.

 

[paranoid marvin]

@Stephen Palmer and @paranoid marvin my late mother cycled to Stonehenge in the fifties, arriving quite early on a beautiful summer morning. It was pre-railings and she had the place nearly to herself - never went back for another visit as she said it would not be as good.

I would observe that I thought Stonehenge was possibly thought to be a ceremonial/gathering place - so maybe it was quite busy at some times of year way back when it was built.

I visited Stonehenge as part of a group who traipsed across fields to reach the outskirts of the stones shortly before dawn. As the Sun rose into the sky, the mist around Stonehenge slowly dissipated to reveal the edifice in all its glory; it was a truly remarkable experience.

It feels very odd to see pictures from half a decade or so ago, of people walking around the stones and even sitting on them. And onevof the reasons why fence-free (for now) Avebury is the preferred place to visit

 

[mosaix]

It feels very odd to see pictures from half a decade or so ago, of people walking around the stones and even sitting on them.

I was able to walk amongst the stones when I first visited them, probably in the late 60s.

 

[Ursa major]

I've only visited them once (also in the late 60s). Some relatives, who were staying with us (on the south coast), were returning to Cumberland and we drove with them as far as Stonehenge.

 

[Hugh]

I visited Stonehenge as a child in the late 50s. I was really disappointed by it.

I visited Avebury for the first time in the early 1980s, I liked it so much more.

 

[Montero]

Did Avebury as an 11 year old and Stonehenge seen from a car on the A303. I liked the tombs best at Avebury.