Stonehenge Central Stone Didn't Come From Wales As Previous
Aug 15, 2024 22:45:07 GMT 10
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Post by brillbilly on Aug 15, 2024 22:45:07 GMT 10
Stonehenge Central Stone Didn't Come From Wales As Previously Thought
The six-tonne Altar Stone at the center of Stonehenge, the world's most famous neolithic monument in southern England, is from northern Scotland, not southwest Wales, as previously thought.
The Altar Stone, which sits at the center of Stonehenge’s iconic 5,000-year-old stone circle, is a 20-inch (50cm) thick sandstone block measuring 16x3 feet (5x1 meters). It lays flat in two pieces.
Chemical Fingerprint
“Our analysis found specific mineral grains in the Altar Stone are mostly between 1000 to 2000 million years old, while other minerals are around 450 million years old,” said Anthony Clarke, a PhD student from the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and lead author of a paper published in Nature this week. "This provides a distinct chemical fingerprint suggesting the stone came from rocks in the Orcadian Basin, Scotland." That's about 466 miles (750 kilometers) from Stonehenge.
The researchers studied the age and chemistry of mineral grains within fragments of the Altar Stone. The conclusion relies not only on atomic physics but also on an understanding of plate tectonics.
It's hard to believe even them getting some megaliths from Wales but now they say one megalith came from Scotland
The six-tonne Altar Stone at the center of Stonehenge, the world's most famous neolithic monument in southern England, is from northern Scotland, not southwest Wales, as previously thought.
The Altar Stone, which sits at the center of Stonehenge’s iconic 5,000-year-old stone circle, is a 20-inch (50cm) thick sandstone block measuring 16x3 feet (5x1 meters). It lays flat in two pieces.
Chemical Fingerprint
“Our analysis found specific mineral grains in the Altar Stone are mostly between 1000 to 2000 million years old, while other minerals are around 450 million years old,” said Anthony Clarke, a PhD student from the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and lead author of a paper published in Nature this week. "This provides a distinct chemical fingerprint suggesting the stone came from rocks in the Orcadian Basin, Scotland." That's about 466 miles (750 kilometers) from Stonehenge.
The researchers studied the age and chemistry of mineral grains within fragments of the Altar Stone. The conclusion relies not only on atomic physics but also on an understanding of plate tectonics.
It's hard to believe even them getting some megaliths from Wales but now they say one megalith came from Scotland
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