Stonehenge: Scientists Discover Origin of Iconic Sarsen Stones

These hulking great rocks have given up one of their secrets: where they came from. New scientific research has found the large boulders at Stonehenge, known as sarsens, were brought here from West Woods, in another part of Wiltshire in England.

For Professor David Nash of Brighton University, this was an exciting discovery.

"We found it and you're like, oh, my goodness. One of those kinds of hairs on the back of the neck, moments," he says.

Nash and his team analyzed the stones using X-rays and a core sample from the 1950s.The results matched with rocks found a short distance away.

"Compare the chemistry of this rock against samples from across southern Britain, where sarsen stones also occur. And by doing that, we're able to identify a direct chemical match with one area about 15 miles to the north of here, at a place called West Woods on the Marlborough Downs," he explains.

The discovery contradicts another theory that one large sarsen, the Heel Stone, came from the immediate vicinity of the monument and was erected earlier than the others. It now seems the boulders were brought to the site at around the same time.

Similar large boulders can still be found in West Woods today.

"I was surprised to know that West Woods was that was the match for all bar two of Stonehenge's sarsens. And the reason I was surprised is because I really thought they would have come from from further afield and from different locations," says Katy Whitaker, Archaeologist, University of Reading.

Scientists already knew that Stonehenge's smaller 'blue stones' came from Wales. Uncovering the origin of the larger sarsens unlocks a little more of the puzzle.

But there are still mysteries that have not been solved.

"We now know where these stones come from. And that means we can ask new questions: which route do they bring them over? How exactly did they extract them? Can we find the sites where the individual stones actually came from?" says Susan Greaney, English Heritage.

"So this is opening up a whole number of other avenues of research. But at least we've answered one big question about Stonehenge."

The sarsens stand 30 feet tall and weigh as much as 25 tons each. Even at a distance of 15 miles, it's an impressive feat for the ancient builders of Stonehenge to have brought them there.

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[The.End.Begins]

Wait, , it took scientist 100 years to go 24 km up the road.

[JimD]

Imagine getting paid to spend years figuring out how ancient people dragged rocks across the ground

[KreativeHogwartsLegacyGUIDES]

we did not find who built them. nothing to see here

[Christian_Prepper]

*STONEHENGE STILL UNSOLVED!*
*"Who built them & why" are the only questions most people care about.*

[dustinsmith]

"Samples taken in the 1950s" Was there anything new discovered recently??

[spencerfried]

I’m surprised they never found this out earlier lol

[PremiereHell]

I seen a video that showed that this was rebuild for a torest attraction. I Wounder why that video was removed 🤔

[owochar]

The Greatest Mystery of the world, a giant game of janga that never ended.

[MrDjmaidi]

That was a clickbait if I’ve ever seen one. Mystery solved! We know they were rocks from nearby! Hazaaa!

[randomsasquatchwithwifi]

Everyone knows they were carried over by the red haired giants that Smithsonian conveniently lost the skeletons of. Geez. Or possibly bigfoot.

[feeberizer]

My father and I were fortunate enough to get an after hours private tour with one of the security guards back in 1980. I wish I'd been able to make a recording of all his anecdotal stories from the 25+ years he'd worked there...

[Infamous]

Who cares i wanna know how they lifted those blocks

[williamreese]

Wait Stonehenge was made of STONE this whole time!?!😱

[CrimsonSurvival]

And here I thought it was just an ancient barbecue pit.

[SuperToughnut]

A giant wheel was formed around a rock formation. The stones were chiseled out of this formation so that the stones were positioned inside the wheel as they are now. They wrapped the stones together and to the wheel. Then they brought the wheel upright and simply rolled it as far as they could. This was the best way to move a large amount of rock over a great distance. The hardest part is lifting the wheel upright.

They didn't reach their destination. It fell over. Instead of repairing the wheel they left it there. They either chopped the wheel off of the stones or it withered away and the stones have been there ever since.

[ashleycastle]

Not news if it’s already known Bloomberg!!

[mq]

I'm guessing the guy that suggested to use stones further afield was the bog mummy with the rope around his neck.

[scosco]

Hair chilling, goosebumps on the skin moment!! We have found out that these rocks are the same rocks in my back yard !!! Astonishing scientific discovery gents.

[thisistheaccountname]

Probably a prehistoric calendar by the looks of it.

[nobreadnation]

God these comments are cancer, only in 2020 can STONEHENGE be politicised