Stonehenge‘s Altar Stone Origin Rewrites Neolithic History
SALISBURY PLAIN, ENGLAND – A groundbreaking geological study published in the journal Nature has overturned long-held beliefs about the origins of the Altar Stone, a key component of Stonehenge. Researchers have traced the massive sandstone slab not to the Brecon Beacons of Wales, as previously theorized, but to a quarry in southeast Scotland – a revelation that dramatically shifts understanding of Neolithic-era capabilities and societal organization in Britain.
For decades, the prevailing theory pinpointed the stone’s source to the old Red Sandstone formations of southeast Wales. However,chemical fingerprinting conducted by a team from Aberystwyth University and Curtin University has definitively linked the Altar Stone to a source in Scotland,initiating a new search to pinpoint the exact quarry location.
“Our discovery of the Altar Stone’s origins highlights a significant level of societal coordination during the Neolithic period and helps paint a interesting picture of prehistoric Britain,” said study co-author Chris Kirkland, a professor at Curtin University, in a statement.
The implications of this finding are substantial. Transporting the large slab – composed of greenish Old Red Sandstone – from Scotland to Salisbury Plain, roughly 2,600 BC, would have presented an immense logistical challenge. The authors suggest the feat required an unexpectedly advanced transport method and a complex, well-organized society.
“transporting such massive cargo overland from Scotland to southern England would have been extremely challenging,” Kirkland explained, “indicating a likely marine shipping route along the coast of Britain. This implies long-distance trade networks and a higher level of societal organization then is widely understood to have existed during the Neolithic period in Britain.”
Study co-author Richard Bevins, a professor at Aberystwyth University, stated that the team is now focused on identifying the precise origin point within Scotland.The discovery not only re-writes the story of Stonehenge’s construction but also offers a new lens through which to view the capabilities and interconnectedness of Neolithic Britain.