Researchers believe they have solved the mystery of how the altar stone at Stonehenge travelled from Scotland to England. The six-tonne sandstone monolith, which originated in the Orcadian Basin in northern Scotland, ended up around 435 miles away on Salisbury Plain.
A study by Sheffield Hallam University and Curtin University in Australia suggests the stone may have been carried by glacier during the last Ice Age to Doggerland, a neolithic site now submerged under the North Sea. Prehistoric Britons are then thought to have transported the block to its final resting place, possibly via the Berkshire Ridgeway.
Dr Remy Veness, co-lead author from Sheffield Hallam University, said: 'We recently discovered that the origin of the altar stone is north-east Scotland, but how it travelled 700km to Salisbury Plain is widely debated. Our research gives a new plausible explanation for part of the journey.' She added that the stone's movement may have been driven by rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age.
Dr Anthony Clarke, co-lead author from Curtin University, said: 'Rather than being carried naturally by ice, the evidence points to a deliberate, carefully planned movement across a challenging and varied landscape.' The study, published in the Journal of Quaternary Science, indicates that no glacial pathways linked the source directly to Stonehenge, reinforcing the conclusion that human transport was required.
