New Stonehenge Mystery? Altar Stone to Come from Northern Scotland, Not Wales

There are archaeological sites whose simple name evokes mystery, mysticism and even magic. Stonehenge, in southern England, is certainly the most emblematic. This huge complex of megaliths was built between 2900 and 1500 BC. It never ceases to attract strange and nourishing myths and legends. Some wanted to see the work of Merlin, the wizard in the Arthurian legend, who was to transport the stones of Ireland in tribute to the nobles killed by the Saxons. Others tried to take a more scientific approach and wanted to see it as a Druid temple with a strong connection to astronomy. If we can safely rule out the hypothesis linked to Merlin and even the one linked to the Druids, the role of this building remains a mystery that scientists are trying to unravel little by little.

The consensus now tends to see Stonehenge as a sanctuary dedicated to the dead where large numbers of people regularly gathered for large celebrations. A new study published inReviewed nature It presents us with a new mystery by revealing the origin of the central stone of the sanctuary, the “altar”, which dates back to around 2200 BC and was probably transported from northern Scotland, 750 kilometres away by sea. A discovery that confirms the central role of Stonehenge for the whole of Brittany, but not without opening up new secrets!

There are two types of stones that make up Stonehenge. The first, monolithic blocks weighing an average of 20 tons, which when assembled form huge horseshoes, are said to have originated in the Marlborough Downs, 29 kilometers north of the site. The other stones, the bluestones, are smaller (but each block still weighs between 2 and 7 tons). They form the inner part of the circles. They were dragged, carried or rolled from west Wales, 180 miles away. Anyway, that’s what a 2020 study in the journal Science advances But this group of blue stones is not homogeneous. One of them, and not just any, because it is located in the center of the sanctuary, comes from Scotland.

Read alsoTunnel of Disagreement: Downing Street and UNESCO in Battle over Stonehenge

“ If this discovery is surprising, it confirms other archaeological and archaeological data.Judge Cyril Marsigny, archaeologist at the National Institute of Preventive Archaeology (INRAP). Stonehenge plays a central role in a very vast area. Isotopic analysis of skeletal remains discovered at the nearby Durrington Walls site tells us that some of them were transported from Scotland. » In an article published in 2023 in Review Journal of Archaeological Sciences part of the authors of the new publication in nature “I had already noticed that the geological signature of the altar did not match the Welsh Basin. The scientists then contacted teams from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. A laboratory specialising in the study of ancient rocks and equipped with the latest geochemistry technology.” By analyzing the grains using ultrasound, we can create a fingerprint of the age of the minerals, making it possible to create the equivalent of a DNA record of the stone.“This is a very important finding for the future of science,” says first author Anthony Clarke, a PhD student at Curtin University. Once we have created this DNA sheet, we need to find the closest basin to it. » According to these data, the chemical signature of the altar stone matches rocks from the Orcadian Basin, in north-east Scotland at least 750 kilometres from Stonehenge. “ We examined the signatures of all surrounding basins, including the French region of Brittany.Authors' explanation. It's the only one that matches 95%. » « The altar is believed to have been moved around 2500 BC. Advertisement“These are the most important findings of the study,” adds Nick Pearce, co-author of the work and a geologist at Aberystwyth University in Wales. But this date is uncertain. Other bluestones arrived about 400 years earlier.. »

Read alsoDelving into the mystery of Stonehenge

Moving a stone weighing between 6 and 7 tons such a distance would imply far-reaching trade networks and a higher level of social organization than is conceivable at this time in Britain. According to the authors, transporting such a heavy load by land would have been extremely complicated, especially since the stone was probably taken from one of the many Orkney islands. For them, the builders of Stonehenge used a sea route, perhaps along the British coast. “ A completely credible hypothesis.Judge Cyril Marsigny. We know from archaeology that the inhabitants traveled long distances to reach the site, and many data confirm that they did indeed use boats. »

The meaning of this gathering remains a mystery. It is also difficult to explain why you would collect a seven-ton stone and have it travel several hundred kilometers, just to place it in the center of such a structure.. This is the big question that is not answered in this work.authors' comment. It's really a mysterious operation these guys have been doing. » « In Europe, two other similar sites have been discovered.Comments by Cyril MarsignyThe sanctuaries of Pömmelte and Schönebeck in Germany, but unlike Stonehenge, are made of wood. All we can say is that we are going through a crucial period in Europe, the beginning of the Bronze Age. With the demographic shift that accompanies the strong social transformation. » Settled communities settled in the Pontic steppes, north of the Black Sea, across the continent. They brought with them new cultural and religious practices. These vast sanctuaries certainly had a special place in their symbolism. Many of the burial cavities and some of the 56 Aubrey pits surrounding Stonehenge accommodate cremation cemeteries.

Read alsoIn the Neolithic era, men would gather at Stonehenge to celebrate.

The numerous animal remains discovered at the English site indicate that large meals were frequently consumed. Food was even carried back alive for several hundred kilometres. The participants therefore deliberately chose to allocate to these gatherings animals that they had raised themselves and had not been hunted on site. These pilgrimage sites were undoubtedly responsible for a very strong representation as caravans crossed the entire region. “ These feasts are considered the oldest known events of this type and seem to have initiated a new dynamic in the relationship between men, Cyril Marcini addsWe can imagine hundreds of people gathering around these places to celebrate. We know that Stonehenge has special acoustics. It is likely that men played music there as well as eating the pigs they brought with them. »