Australian Researchers Find Evidence Suggesting Stonehenge Altar Stone Originated in Scotland

A team of researchers from Curtin University in Western Australia has determined that the altar stone at Stonehenge, originally believed to have Welsh origins, is actually from Scotland.

Scientists from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences analyzed the minerals in fragments of the altar stone and found that they closely matched rocks from northeast Scotland, distinct from those found in Wales.

The stone, measuring 5 x 1 meters and weighing six tonnes, is a sandstone block that sits at the center of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, where it was placed approximately 5,000 years ago.

Lead researcher Anthony Clarke explained that the analysis revealed specific mineral grains in the stone that are between 1,000 million and 2,000 million years old, while others are around 450 million years old.

“This distinct chemical fingerprint indicates that the stone originated from the Orcadian Basin in Scotland, over 750 kilometers away from Stonehenge,” Clarke said.

Study co-author Professor Chris Kirkland suggested that the stone likely traveled by sea along the coast of Britain, as transporting such a massive stone by land from Scotland to southern England would have been extremely challenging.

This discovery has significant implications for understanding ancient trade networks and societal organization in the Neolithic period in Britain.

For Clarke, who grew up in Wales near the Preseli Mountains where some of Stonehenge’s stones came from, this finding has personal significance, as he returned from Australia at 25 years old to help make this scientific discovery.

The research was conducted at Curtin University’s John de Laeter Centre using specialized mass spectrometers to analyze various materials such as rocks, archaeological artifacts, and biological substances.

The study, titled “A Scottish Provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge,” was published in the journal Nature.