Crack the mystery of prehistoric Stonehenge! Scientists analyze core samples to find source of stone

Huge stones stand abruptly on the plain. Why do they appear here? Why are they formed in a circle? Are they used for mysterious rituals or are they the work of aliens? For hundreds of years, scientists have tried to unravel the mystery of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument in England. Now, thanks to core samples of the stone that have been preserved in the United States for more than half a century, the mystery of the origins of Stonehenge's stones has finally been solved.

Pixabay

A research team led by David Nash, a topographer at the University of Brighton in England, used X-rays to analyze the 52 shallow slabs that make up Stonehenge. The chemical composition of gray sandstone "sarsens" is found to contain 99% silica, as well as many other chemical components.

Of the 52 pieces of Sarsenite tested by the scientific research team, 50 have similar compositions to rocks in the West Woods, 25 kilometers away; the West Woods is located in Wiltshire, England. South of Marlborough Downs, about 25 kilometers from Stonehenge. "Most of the rocks have different chemicals, indicating they came from the same area," Nash said. "The Sassenite Formation Stonehenge’s iconic outer ring, as well as the central horseshoe-shaped three-stone structure, are very large.” According to English Heritage, the three-stone structure refers to a horizontal stone above two vertical rock supports. Stonehenge was built around 2500 BC. After years of wind erosion and rain, many of the stones have fallen or are missing. The tallest stone is about 9.1 meters tall and the heaviest stone weighs 30 tons.

The key boulder core rod was lost

In 1958, the archaeological team hired the diamond cutting company "Van Moppes" to rescue a set of fallen three-stone structures. Three holes were drilled into the boulder, three boulder core rods were taken out, and metal rods sufficient to support the three-stone structure were embedded.

One of the megalithic core samples, about 25 centimeters in diameter and 108 centimeters long, was given to Robert Phillips, an employee of Wanmo who participated in the restoration project. He was allowed to carry this Stonehenge in 1977 The sample immigrated to the United States, traveled to various states and then settled in Florida; in 2019, on the eve of his 90th birthday, Phillips decided to return the sample to English Heritage, giving the research team the opportunity to explore the origins of the Stonehenge stones.

After the news of the return of the "Phillips core" boulder core sample spread, the second core rod was also found in a nearby museum, but it was not complete and only Only 18 centimeters remained, and the rest and the third core rod are still missing.

English Heritage handed over half of the "Phillips Core" to the Nash team for research and analysis, while the other half was properly preserved by the committee. The Nash team used "Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry" (ICP-MS) to analyze half of the "Phillips core" in detail, accurately identifying more chemical elements, and then compared Rock samples from another 20 locations were found to be the closest in composition to the rocks at Stonehenge and those in the West Woods.

"It is exciting to use 21st century science and technology to explore the history of the Neolithic and finally answer a mystery that archaeologists have debated for centuries," Nash said.

The findings, published in the open science journal Science Advances, echo the theory that Stonehenge was transported to its current location more than 4,500 years ago during the second phase of its construction, highlighting the Builders came from highly organized societies.

Susan Greaney, archeology researcher at English Heritage, said: "It is exciting that new research has been able to pinpoint where the builders of Stonehenge sourced materials in 2500 BC. We It is speculated that the sarsenite may have come from the Marlborough Hills, but this has not been confirmed before. Sarsenite is found in many areas of Wiltshire and the stone may have come from all directions." She said the new evidence reflected "the builders' careful planning at this stage. Consider everything.”

The new research results also overturned the hypothesis of previous documents, which believed that one of the large "Heel Stones" was made from local materials or was already there before other stone pillars were erected.

The 17th-century English natural philosopher John Aubrey hypothesized that Overton Wood might be related to Stonehenge and that Overton Wood might be the West Woods. old name. "The builders wanted to use the largest and most durable stone available at the time, so it made sense to look for it nearby," Grenery said.

”

Where the stones of Stonehenge came from has always been a question that scientists want to understand. Picture/Photo ? Pam Brophy (cc-by-sa/2.0) The origin of the bluestones was confirmed last year

Geologists and archaeologists have long known that the smaller "bluestones" in Stonehenge ) from the Preseli Hills in western Wales, about 200 kilometers from Stonehenge; however, this argument was not supported by precise geological research until last year.

British archaeologist Herbert Henry Thomas claimed in 1923 that bluestone originated from western Wales, but the lack of strong scientific evidence at that time was questioned by the academic community.

A scientific research team led by Mike Parker Pearson, a professor at the Institute of Archeology at the University of London (UCL), used geochemistry to analyze the elemental composition of the stone pillars and confirmed that the bluestone came from western Wales, but not from Tang. The Carn Menyn quarry that Maas refers to is the Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin quarries in the Presili Hills. The results of the study were published in the journal Antiquity in 2019.

Academic circles generally believe that Neolithic builders used human and animal pulling, or wooden rollers to transport boulders, but the transportation route is still a mystery. Nash said: "It must have taken a lot of effort at that time. The construction stones of Stonehenge came from different regions." Nash said that in the future, the research team hopes to use various technologies to further solve the mystery of the transportation route of Stonehenge stones.