Dramatic Discovery
The second most visited attraction in the UK during 2019, Stonehenge always leaves it’s visitors with a sense of awe and wonder, but poses more questions than it has answers. Why was it built and by whom, when was it built and what was it’s function are just some of the questions asked about this ancient site. But one of the mysteries of Stonehenge has recently been solved by a dramatic discovery. For over 10 years Professor Mike Parker Pearson of University College London has lead a team trying to find the precise origin of the Blue stones of Stonehenge. It has been known for over a hundred years that the Blue Stones were from the Preseli Hills in West Wales 140 miles away from Stonehenge but Mike and his team wanted to know the exact location from where they were quarried. This was an amazing achievement in itself but there was much more to come.
Early Construction of Stonehenge
It is believed that the first stone circle to stand at Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain was a large circle made of the Blue Stones about 3000BC. The much larger Sarsen Stones were erected about 500 years later. Many believe that the Blue Stones were transported by boat along the Bristol Channel and along the nearby Avon River but in a recent experiment by experimental archaeologists resulted in the stones sinking only a few miles out to sea. It is unlikely that the Neolithic people of 5000 years ago had the capability of transporting these heavy stones by boat.
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