After years of research, scientists have released a new theory on the origins of the 5,000 year old Stone Henge including where the stones came from and what they mean
A new study of Stone Henge has revealed the origins of the spectacle – and it’s not what you’d expect.
Built around 5,000 years ago, the stone structure has been a mystery to experts. Some believed it could be a prayer circle or a religious symbol, others ‘alien rocks’ but a new study has found that the stone circle represents a symbol of unification between three distinct corners of Britain. Thee rocks were transported from afar around the country, as far as south west Wales and north east Scotland.
From this information, experts from University College London and Aberystwyth University have devised a new theory. They say people from three areas brought their own local stones down to Wiltshire and joined them as a contribution to assembling the structure. It is thought to be a sign of friendship between counties.
A paper in Archaeology International was compiled and released with news of the findings. They described “political unification and shared identity across much or even all of Britain.”
They continued: “Bringing together these extraordinary and alien rocks… symbolised and embodied far and distant communities within a complex material. [Stonehenge was a] monumental expression of unity between people, land, ancestors and the heavens.”
The Neolithic monument may be a sign of friendship, which was not something previously considered. “The fact that all of its stones originated from distant regions, making it unique among over 900 stone circles in Britain, suggests that the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose,” explained lead author Professor Mike Parker Pearson at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology.
“[It was] a monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos.” At the time of building, England, Scotland and Wales were not established, but the stones did come from these ‘areas.’
Stonehenge is known today as a formation of huge standstone slabs located on the side of the A303. The stones are known as sarsens which are picked from West Woods in Wiltshire.
The formations are also home to 80 smaller bluestones, which give a blue tinge when exposed to the rain. While not known where they’re from, many experts agree they’r likely from Craig Rhos-y-Felin in the Preseli Hills of south-west Wales.
It is not known how the stones arrived to the location, however they said the Altar Stone, the largest bluestone at the centre of Stonehenge, actually came from northern Scotland, which further proves their unification theory.
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