British researchers, reporting in the journal Time & Mind: the Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture, may have cracked the mystery of why the builders of Stonehenge chose to haul some of its giant bluestones 320 km away from Wales to Salisbury Plain.
Admitting that their decade-long beliefs about the bluestones of Stonehenge were largely inaccurate, scientists say a particular sample of the stones – known as the spotted dolerite – could lead a path to the Pembrokeshire hills in the latest investigations surrounding the famous site.
Geochemical scrutiny of rock and debris has revealed that most of the dolerites come from Carn Goedog – about 1.5km away from the tors suggested by Herbert Henry Thomas, the geologist whose original theories about the samples were made in 1923.
“The geology of Pembrokeshire is unique,” says Dr Richard Bevins, of National Museums Wales, having spent more than 30 years studying the geology of the area, producing papers in successive years since 2011 with the help of Dr Rob Ixer, of University College London, and Aberystwyth University’s Professor Nick Pearce.
... nearby pools which never froze over
- Warm spring is just walking distance from the stones
- They explain why mesolithic settlers were in the area
- Post ice-age wildlife would have flocked to the water
Britain's greatest treasures from the mysterious golden Age of Stonehenge are to go on permanent display for the first time ever.
This will be the largest collection of Early Bronze Age gold ever put on public display. ...
They will be displayed in the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, 15 miles north of Stonehenge, is exhibiting 500 Stonehenge period objects, including 30 pieces of gold treasure which have rarely been seen by the public before ...
'Many of the items may well have been worn by Bronze Age priests and chieftains as they worshipped inside Stonehenge itself,' said Mr [David] Dawson.
