Excavations at two quarries in Wales, known to be the source of the Stonehenge 'bluestones', provide new evidence of megalith quarrying 5,000 years ago, according to a new UCL-led study.
Geologists have long known that 42 of Stonehenge's smaller stones, known as 'bluestones', came from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. Now a new study published in Antiquity pinpoints the exact locations of two of these quarries and reveals when and how the stones were quarried.
[...] The largest quarry was found almost 180 miles away from Stonehenge on the outcrop of Carn Goedog, on the north slope of the Preseli hills. "This was the dominant source of Stonehenge's spotted dolerite, so-called because it has white spots in the igneous blue rock. At least five of Stonehenge's bluestones, and probably more, came from Carn Goedog," said geologist Dr Richard Bevins (National Museum of Wales).
[...] According to the new study, the bluestone outcrops are formed of natural, vertical pillars. These could be eased off the rock face by opening up the vertical joints between each pillar. Unlike stone quarries in ancient Egypt, where obelisks were carved out of the solid rock, the Welsh quarries were easier to exploit. Neolithic quarry workers needed only to insert wedges into the ready-made joints between pillars, then lower each pillar to the foot of the outcrop. [...] The new discoveries also cast doubt on a popular theory that the bluestones were transported by sea to Stonehenge.
Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones (open, DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2018.111) (DX)
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @08:37AM (4 children)
That may have been the original site but the stones could have been cracked up and transported elsewhere by glaciers, then only minor cleaning up was needed at the final site.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @08:57AM (1 child)
Or, not saying it was aliens, but, it was aliens.
And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbyzgeee2mg [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 20 2019, @09:28AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday February 20 2019, @09:07AM (1 child)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @10:06AM
This is what natural bluestone looks like though (like pillars):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Carn_Menyn_bluestones_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1451509.jpg [wikimedia.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday February 20 2019, @09:06AM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 20 2019, @11:57AM
Oh, those megalithimaniac developers! They have no limits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday February 20 2019, @01:58PM (1 child)
> The new discoveries also cast doubt on a popular theory that the bluestones were transported by sea to Stonehenge.
All this wondering about how the stones were transported has a silly component. They were moved very slowly, and, yeah, it took a lot of time. What's with this subconscious assumption that the builders were as impatient as we are today, and would not have tolerated a slow method? So what if it took years to move a stone? Medieval people initiated church building projects that took 4 centuries to finish.
One of the best examples of our impatience is the infestation of Faster Than Light travel throughout our science fiction. I find it funny and sad whenever I hear whining that transoceanic flights take such a looong time. Not compared to travel by ship, it doesn't! Travel time across the Atlantic went from 1 month by sailboat, to 1 week by steam powered boat, to 8 hours by airplane. And it could be done a little faster yet, with such jets as the Concorde able to make the flight in 3.5 hours. But the Concorde finally had too many compromises in other areas for people to feel like the approximately 50% shortening of the flight time was worth it. Messages went from the same 1 month by sailboat, to mere seconds by telegraph wire about the same time that steam power was cutting the travel time to 1 week. Seems that such rapid advances in travel have spoiled us.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @10:04PM
Medieval people expected their churches to be built in 5-10 years, but ran into problems with their contractors (and their contractors great-great grandchildren).