The origins of Stonehenge, the 5,000-year-old prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, UK, have amazed archaeologists for centuries.
Now, 5,000 years after it was built, according to a CNN report, archaeologists have solved the mystery surrounding the bluestones that form part of the monument – where they came from, as well as how they were excavated.
CNN reported that in 2019, researchers revealed that the 43 huge bluestones have been moved to their present location, from their place of origin – ‘an old quarry on the north side of the Preseli hills west of Wales’ – ‘a staggering distance of 150 kilometers.’ ‘
“Now archaeologists think that some of the bluestones’ before their arrival at their present site ‘formed another rock circle that was close to the same area as the quarries’, and then’ were rebuilt as part of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain, ‘” reads the report.
CNN cites new research published in the journal Antiquity, which states that “the identical diameters of 110 meters of the stone circle, known as Waun Mawn, and the surrounding ditch of Stonehenge, indicate that at least part of the circle of his place was brought down. in Wales to Salisbury Plain. ”
And there is more evidence. The newspaper added that “both stone circles are in line with the sunrise in midsummer, and that one of the blue stones at Stonehenge has an unusual diameter that corresponds to one of the holes left at Waun Mawn, adding: the same rock type as the Stonehenge stone. ”
Stonehenge consists of two types of stone: “larger sarsen stones and smaller bluestone monoliths,” although “many of the 43 blue stones remain buried under the grass,” CNN said.
The bluestone is thought to have been first erected at Stonehenge 5,000 years ago, CNN said, “centuries before the larger sarsen stones were brought just 15 km from the monument.”
CNN noted that the research project The Stones of Stonehenge is led by Mike Parker Pearson, a professor at University College London.
CNN quoted a news release as saying that “the discovered rock circle at Waun Mawn took place through trial and error.”
The study said that ‘only four rocks were visible’ at the Waun Mawn site, and in 2010 they were thought to be ‘part of a rock circle’, but as initial geophysical studies were unconvincing, ‘the team decided to to focus their energy elsewhere. . ”
Two empty rock holes were found during a test excavation at the site in 2017, but because ground-based radar surveys were not yet successful, the team ‘had no choice but to do it and dig it the old-fashioned way,’ CNN said. .
The study said that “excavations in 2018 revealed empty stone holes, confirming that the four remaining stones are part of a former circle,” CNN was quoted as saying.
The Waun Mawn circle was found to have been erected around 3400 BC, based on ‘dating of charcoal and sediments in the holes’, the study said.
The newspaper also suggested that ‘the stones may have been moved while people from that part of Wales, with the first people buried at Stonehenge, would probably have lived in this region once. ”
CNN quoted Parker Pearson as saying in a news release: “I think Waun Mawn was not the only rock circle that contributed to Stonehenge.”
He added: ‘Maybe there’s more in Preseli waiting to be found. Who knows? Someone will be happy to find them. ”
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