Anthropology

CHRISTOPHER PLAIN·AUGUST 14, 2024

Researchers from Curtin University in Australia say a new analysis of the six-ton Altar Stone at the center of Britain’s Stonehenge monument was likely transported at least 750 kilometers from a quarry in Scotland.

The discovery seems to “point to the existence of unexpectedly advanced transport methods and societal organization at the time of the stone’s arrival” in England nearly 5,000 years ago.

“Transporting such massive cargo overland from Scotland to southern England would have been extremely challenging, indicating a likely marine shipping route along the coast of Britain,” explained Professor Chris Kirkland from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at Curtin and the co-author on the recently published study outlining the team’s research.

“This implies long-distance trade networks and a higher level of societal organisation than is widely understood to have existed during the Neolithic period in Britain.”

More:
https://thedebrief.org/5000-years-ago-advanced-transport-methods-were-used-to-move-massive-altar-stone-at-the-center-of-stonehenge/