# Stonehenge

> Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain was built in stages from about 3000 BC, when a circular ditch and a ring of pits holding cremation burials were made, to…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  
Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:22+00:00  

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**MYS** 0CRWP5JR3NED·Mystery · site

# Stonehenge

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Stonehenge

![Stonehenge, GB](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/stonehenge-lead)

Stefan Kühn · CC BY-SA 3.0

Where

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England⁠[[1]]

Stage 1

about 3000–2920 BC: ditch, bank, Aubrey Holes, cremations⁠[[1]]

Stage 2

about 2620–2480 BC: sarsen circle and trilithons⁠[[1]]

Sarsens

West Woods, 25 km north⁠[[3]]

Bluestones

Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin, Preseli Hills, Wales⁠[[6]]

Altar Stone

Orcadian Basin, north-east Scotland, 750 km or more⁠[[7]]

Status

Partly explained

Questions

1 of 7 answered

People [**Timothy Darvill** Archaeologist, Bournemouth University; critic of the Waun Mawn claim and author of the calendar reading](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP9046RQ6/timothy-darvill)[**Clive Ruggles** Archaeoastronomer, University of Leicester](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP9QJ2E5N/clive-ruggles)[**Gerald Hawkins** Astronomer; author of the observatory reading](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP9FR1Q3C/gerald-hawkins)[**Mike Parker Pearson** Archaeologist, UCL; director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project and the Preseli excavations](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP7S2771Q/mike-parker-pearson)[**Anthony Clarke** Geochronologist, Curtin University; lead author of the Altar Stone study](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP8GG70YD/anthony-clarke)

All 9 people ›

[**Brian John** Geomorphologist; advocate of glacial transport](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP97Y5D0X/brian-john)[**David Nash** Geographer, University of Brighton; sarsen provenance](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP8RA4X0A/david-nash)[**Richard Bevins** Geologist, Aberystwyth University and National Museum Wales; bluestone and Altar Stone provenance](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP80W08QT/richard-bevins)[**Rob Ixer** Petrographer, UCL; bluestone provenance](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/people/FIG0CRWP88P0470/rob-ixer)

Catalog key**MYS** 0CRWP5JR3NED

Stonehenge is a circular earthwork and stone monument on the chalk of Salisbury Plain. The present chronology, built from a Bayesian model of its radiocarbon dates, runs in five stages: the ditch, bank and 56 Aubrey Holes about 3000–2920 BC; the sarsen circle of 30 uprights with lintels and the five trilithons, with bluestones set among them, about 2620–2480 BC; and rearrangements of the bluestones down to about 1600 BC⁠[[1]]. The Aubrey Holes held cremated remains of at least 27 men and women buried between about 3000 and 2500 BC, making the site the largest known cremation cemetery of its age in Britain⁠[[2]].

Three kinds of stone make up the monument. The sarsens, sandstone blocks of up to 30 tonnes, come almost all from West Woods near Marlborough, 25 km north⁠[[3]]. The bluestones, about 80 originally, of 2 to 3 tonnes each, are dolerites and rhyolites from outcrops in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire, where quarrying pits, wedges and hammerstones dated to about 3400–3000 BC were excavated at Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]⁠[[6]]. The Altar Stone, a six-tonne sandstone slab lying at the centre, was shown in 2024 to carry mineral grains whose ages match the Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland, at least 750 km away⁠[[7]].

The open questions follow from the stones. Whether people carried the bluestones from Wales or ice did is argued between archaeologists and a few geomorphologists⁠[[6]]⁠[[8]]. Whether a Welsh stone circle at Waun Mawn was dismantled and its stones re-erected at Stonehenge, as claimed in 2021, has been contested on the excavation evidence and on the geochemistry⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]⁠[[11]]. And what the monument was for has readings from cemetery and ancestral shrine to solar temple, healing centre, calendar and political statement of a united Britain⁠[[12]]⁠[[13]]⁠[[14]]. Of the 7 questions on this site, 1 are answered. The most likely answer to “How did the bluestones get from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain?”, not yet confirmed: people quarried the stones in Preseli and carried them to Wessex, overland or with a water stage, around 3000….

### Key questionsset by the editors

[**How did the bluestones get from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCNA3XRK/how-did-the-bluestones-get-from-the-preseli-hills-to)Most likely: people quarried the stones in Preseli and carried them to Wessex, overland or with a water stage, around 3000…

[**Was a stone circle at Waun Mawn dismantled and its stones taken to Stonehenge?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCX41T8J/was-a-stone-circle-at-waun-mawn-dismantled-and-its-stones)Most likely: waun Mawn is a group of small local stone settings with no connection to Stonehenge

[**What was Stonehenge for?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPDCR161H/what-was-stonehenge-for)Most likely: the first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group

[**Where did the sarsens come from?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGAG7M10/where-did-the-sarsens-come-from)Most likely: fifty of the 52 surviving sarsens share one chemistry, matched to West Woods near Marlborough; the other two…

[**Where exactly did the Altar Stone come from, and how did it travel?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPD4Y0ARZ/where-exactly-did-the-altar-stone-come-from-and-how-did-it)Most likely: the stone came from the mainland Orcadian Basin, in Caithness or around the Moray Firth

[**Who raised the stones?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGJA3775/who-raised-the-stones)Answered: neolithic people of Britain built it in stages from about 3000 to 2500 BC, with stones they quarried and…

 [All 7 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=stonehenge)

## The site

The monument sits in a landscape of earlier and contemporary works: the Cursus, long barrows, the Avenue to the River Avon, and the great henge and timber circles of Durrington Walls 3 km to the north-east, where the builders' settlement and feasting deposits have been excavated⁠[[15]]. The axis of the sarsen settings, at an azimuth of about 49° to the north-east and 229° to the south-west, points to midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, and the first straight stretch of the Avenue runs along it⁠[[16]]. Ruggles and Chadburn, after surveying the alignment afresh, judge it deliberate and accurate to within a degree or so⁠[[13]].

[![The Aubrey Holes](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/1bde51d8e987155f46735217099d5ce3fc83ef7ab33c5ed72f17a4d409ed18ed/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWQG2469FF/the-aubrey-holes)

The Aubrey HolesRachelle Haun, 2008. CC BY 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWQG2469FF/the-aubrey-holes)

The stones stand on an enclosure 110 m across. The sarsens were dressed on site; a core drilled from Stone 58 in 1958 and returned in 2019 gave the sample whose chemistry fixed the source at West Woods⁠[[3]]. The bluestones were set first in the Aubrey Holes, on the excavators' reading, and later moved into the double arc and horseshoe of the later stages⁠[[12]]⁠[[1]].

**Map of the landscape** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/map)

[Stones][Landscape][Where the stones came from]

[+][−]

1

**Stonehenge** Stone circle and henge

Mapped

2

**The Avenue to the River Avon** Earthwork (banked avenue)

Mapped

3

**Stonehenge Cursus** Earthwork (cursus)

Mapped

4

**Durrington Walls** Henge

Within 1 km

5

**Woodhenge** Timber circle and henge

Mapped

6

**Bluestonehenge (West Amesbury henge)** Stone circle and henge

Within 1 km

7

**Bush Barrow** Bowl barrow

Mapped

8

**Normanton Down barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

9

**Cursus barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

10

**Old King Barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

11

**New King Barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

12

**Winterbourne Stoke crossroads barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

13

**Stonehenge Down barrows** Round barrow cemetery

Mapped

MappedWithin 1 kmBase map © OpenStreetMap contributors

### Timeline

**Timeline**

Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out

## What was found

The 2008 re-excavation of Aubrey Hole 7 recovered the cremated bone that Hawley had reburied in 1935: at least 27 individuals, men and women and some children, dated from about 3000 to 2500 BC⁠[[2]]. Strontium isotopes in 25 of them show that about 40 per cent had not lived on the chalk in their last years and had values consistent with west Wales, and the carbon in some bone indicates cremation on wood from outside the region⁠[[17]].

In Wales, excavation at Craig Rhos-y-felin found a recess from which a rhyolite pillar had been detached, a stone-built platform, hammerstones and wedges, with charcoal of the late fourth millennium BC⁠[[5]]; Carn Goedog gave the same tools and a date of about 3400–3000 BC for extraction of the spotted dolerite that matches most Stonehenge dolerites⁠[[4]]⁠[[6]]. At Waun Mawn, 5 km from the quarries, the same team found four standing or recumbent stones and a number of stone holes on an arc which they reconstructed as a 110 m circle, abandoned before completion, with one hole whose shape they matched to Stonehenge's Stone 62⁠[[9]]⁠[[18]].

The Altar Stone's fragments, from excavations of the twentieth century, were studied by automated mineralogy and by dating detrital zircon, apatite and rutile. The grain ages are Mesoproterozoic and Archaean with a mid-Ordovician overprint, a Laurentian signature found in Britain only in the Orcadian Basin⁠[[19]]⁠[[20]]⁠[[7]]. Comparison with Orkney sandstones then excluded the islands and pointed to the mainland basin around Caithness and the Moray Firth⁠[[21]].

[![The Altar Stone (Stone 80)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/dce035b84924d9f70f8130bfac50d024a3f0be994d0f125f83f7a7491c4cdf61/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPRVY71WX/the-altar-stone-stone-80)

The Altar Stone (Stone 80)The Stones of Stonehenge (stonesofstonehenge.org.uk). CC BY 4.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPRVY71WX/the-altar-stone-stone-80)

A rhyolite cobble excavated by Newall in 1924 was re-examined in 2025: it shows no glacial striations or shaping and is read as a fragment of a worked Craig Rhos-y-felin monolith⁠[[22]].

## What is known

The sequence and dates are secure to within a few decades at each stage⁠[[1]]. The sources of all three stone types are fixed by geochemistry⁠[[3]]⁠[[4]]⁠[[7]]. People and animals came to the monument's landscape from across Britain: pigs eaten at Durrington Walls were raised in Scotland, the north of England and Wales as well as Wessex⁠[[15]], and some of the people buried in the Aubrey Holes had lived in western Britain⁠[[17]].

Quarrying of bluestone in Preseli is dated to about 3400–3000 BC, up to several centuries before the first bluestone settings at Stonehenge, which the excavators read as a gap during which the stones stood somewhere in Wales⁠[[6]]. No glacial deposits are known on Salisbury Plain, and the Newall boulder shows no glacial features⁠[[22]].

The Altar Stone's route from Scotland is not known. The authors of the 2024 study favour sea transport along the coast, given the distance and terrain⁠[[7]].

## The explanations

On transport, the archaeological reading is that people moved the bluestones from Preseli, overland or by a combination of land and water, around 3000 BC; the quarry features, the dates and the absence of glacial evidence on Salisbury Plain support it⁠[[6]]⁠[[22]]. The glacial reading holds that Irish Sea ice carried the stones to the Plain and that Neolithic people gathered erratics; it rests on the general extent of glaciation and on the Newall boulder, which the 2025 re-examination does not support⁠[[8]]⁠[[22]].

On Waun Mawn, the excavators' position is that a large circle was begun and abandoned and some stones went to Stonehenge⁠[[18]]. Darvill reads the site as several small settings and the Aubrey Holes as post holes⁠[[10]]. Geochemistry shows the Waun Mawn dolerites come from Cerrigmarchogion, not Carn Goedog, so the site cannot have supplied Stonehenge's dolerites⁠[[11]], and a geomorphological critique finds no demonstrated circle at all⁠[[23]]. The claim stands as possible but not supported.

On purpose, the readings are not exclusive. Parker Pearson's team read the first monument as a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group, and the sarsen rebuilding as a monument whose stones from Wales, Wessex and Scotland made it a statement of unity among communities across Britain, at a time when new people were arriving from the Continent⁠[[12]]⁠[[14]]. The solstitial alignment is accepted as deliberate; the fuller observatory of Hawkins, with eclipse prediction, is not⁠[[24]]⁠[[13]]. Darvill's 2022 calendar of 365.25 days encoded in the sarsen numbers was answered by Magli and Belmonte as numerology⁠[[25]]⁠[[26]].

### Published claims

**Published claims and their status**

| Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1136 | Geoffrey of Monmouth⁠[27] | Merlin brought the Giants' Dance, stones that giants had carried from Africa to Ireland, to Salisbury Plain as a memorial for Aurelius Ambrosius. | Ruled out | The stones are four millennia older than the story and came from Wales, Wessex and Scotland, not Ireland⁠[1]⁠[3]⁠[7] |
| 1963 | Gerald Hawkins⁠[24] | Stonehenge's alignments make it a solar and lunar observatory that could predict eclipses. | Disputed | Reviews of the alignments against the excavated plans accept the solstitial axis but find no case for an observatory⁠[16]⁠[13] |
| 1971 | G. A. Kellaway⁠[29] | Ice carried the Welsh stones to or near Salisbury Plain, and the builders gathered erratics rather than hauling stones from Wales. | Disputed | Quarry workings at the Preseli outcrops, the re-examined Newall boulder and river sediments from the Plain all weigh against it, though its proponents still argue for it⁠[6]⁠[22]⁠[28] |
| 2009 | Mike Parker Pearson and colleagues⁠[12] | Stonehenge began as a cemetery for a select group, with cremations dated from about 3000 BC. | Accepted | The re-excavated Aubrey Hole 7 yielded at least 27 cremated individuals, the largest cremation cemetery of its time in Britain⁠[2] |
| 2015 | Mike Parker Pearson, Richard Bevins, Rob Ixer and colleagues⁠[5] | The rhyolite outcrop at Craig Rhos-y-felin was quarried for a Stonehenge pillar in the late fourth millennium BC. | Accepted | The recess, platform, tools and dates were matched to Stonehenge debris, and a second quarry at Carn Goedog showed the same working⁠[6] |
| 2019 | Mike Parker Pearson and colleagues⁠[6] | The bluestones were quarried by wedging along natural joints at Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin about 3400 to 3000 BC and moved overland to Salisbury Plain. | Most likely | The quarrying is well evidenced and human transport is the field's view, but the route and method are not known⁠[22] |
| 2020 | David Nash and colleagues⁠[3] | Fifty of the 52 surviving sarsens share one chemistry, matched to West Woods, 25 km north. | Accepted | A reanalysis argued that several sources cannot be ruled out, and the authors replied; the exchange is unresolved in print but the field holds the match⁠[30]⁠[31] |
| 2021 | Mike Parker Pearson and colleagues⁠[9] | Waun Mawn was a 110 m stone circle, dismantled about 3000 BC, and some of its stones were re-erected at Stonehenge. | Disputed | The authors later conceded the circle was never finished, and the dolerites left at Waun Mawn come from a different outcrop from Stonehenge's⁠[18]⁠[11] |
| 2022 | Timothy Darvill⁠[10] | Waun Mawn is a series of small local stone settings, not a great circle, and the Aubrey Holes held posts, not bluestones. | Most likely | The geochemistry and a geomorphological critique also find no link between Waun Mawn and Stonehenge⁠[11]⁠[23] |
| 2022 | Timothy Darvill⁠[25] | The sarsen settings encode a solar calendar of 365.25 days. | Disputed | Two archaeoastronomers rejected it as numerology with astronomical errors and no supporting analogy⁠[26] |
| 2022 | Richard Bevins, Nick Pearce, Mike Parker Pearson and Rob Ixer⁠[11] | The dolerites at Waun Mawn come from Cerrigmarchogion, not Carn Goedog, so Waun Mawn cannot have supplied Stonehenge's dolerite bluestones. | Accepted | No later analysis disputes the geochemistry, and the circle's excavators are among the authors⁠[11] |
| 2023 | Giulio Magli and Juan Antonio Belmonte⁠[26] | Darvill's sarsen calendar is numerology, with astronomical errors and no analogy to support it. | Accepted | No archaeoastronomer has taken up the calendar since⁠[13] |
| 2024 | Anthony Clarke, Christopher Kirkland and colleagues⁠[7] | The Altar Stone came from the Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland, at least 750 km away. | Accepted | A follow-up study ruled out Orkney, narrowing the source to the mainland basin; the outcrop itself has not been found⁠[21] |
| 2024 | Brian John⁠[8] | The Newall boulder, excavated at Stonehenge in 1924, is a glacial erratic, so ice brought the bluestones to Salisbury Plain. | Disputed | A re-examination found no glacial surface features and read it as a piece of a worked Craig Rhos-y-felin monolith⁠[22] |
| 2024 | Ronald Hancock and colleagues⁠[30] | The geochemistry of Stone 58 does not show a single source, and three to six sources cannot be ruled out. | Disputed | The West Woods authors replied that the method suits silcrete poorly; the response added no new analyses⁠[31]⁠[32] |
| 2024 | Clive Ruggles and Amanda Chadburn⁠[13] | The solstitial axis is deliberate and precise, the lunar claims are weak, and Hawkins's observatory does not survive scrutiny. | Accepted | It agrees with the earlier phase-by-phase review of the alignments⁠[16] |
| 2025 | Richard Bevins, Nick Pearce, Rob Ixer and colleagues⁠[22] | The Newall boulder has no glacial surface features and is a fragment of a worked Craig Rhos-y-felin monolith. | Accepted | River sands draining Salisbury Plain also lack the Preseli zircon ages that glacial delivery would bring⁠[28] |
| 2025 | Mike Parker Pearson and colleagues⁠[14] | With stones from Scotland, Wales and Wessex, the rebuilding of about 2500 BC was a political act uniting communities across Britain. | Most likely | The far-flung sources are established, but what the builders meant by gathering them is interpretation⁠[7]⁠[3] |
| 2026 | Anthony Clarke and Christopher Kirkland⁠[28] | Mineral ages in river sands draining Salisbury Plain show local sediment only, so the Plain was not glaciated. | Most likely | It is a single recent study, but it agrees with the absence of glacial deposits on the Plain⁠[22] |
| 2026 | Anthony Clarke and colleagues⁠[33] | Ice could have carried the Altar Stone part of the way toward Dogger Bank, but not to Salisbury Plain, so people hauled it most or all of the way. | Still possible | The model allows a partial ice stage, but Dogger Bank was under the sea before the stone arrived⁠[33] |

## What would settle it

The transport question would be settled by finding the bluestones' route: Neolithic deposits of bluestone debris or a trackway between Preseli and Wessex, or, for the glacial reading, any glacial till or erratics on Salisbury Plain with Preseli lithologies⁠[[6]]⁠[[8]]. Waun Mawn would be settled by full excavation of its circumference with control trenches outside it, and by matching Stonehenge bluestones other than the dolerites to its remaining stones⁠[[10]]⁠[[11]].

The Altar Stone would be settled by a geochemical match to a specific outcrop in Caithness or Moray, and the route by finds of worked Orcadian sandstone along the coasts⁠[[7]]⁠[[21]]. Purpose will not be settled by one find; isotopes and DNA on more of the cremated dead, and the dating of the Welsh and Scottish connections, would say who came and when⁠[[17]].

## Questions

1 of 7 questions are answered.

**Key questions** [All 7](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=stonehenge)

 **0**

[How did the bluestones get from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCNA3XRK/how-did-the-bluestones-get-from-the-preseli-hills-to)

0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0

Most likely: people quarried the stones in Preseli and carried them to Wessex, overland or with a water stage, around 3000…



 **0**

[Was a stone circle at Waun Mawn dismantled and its stones taken to Stonehenge?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCX41T8J/was-a-stone-circle-at-waun-mawn-dismantled-and-its-stones)

0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0

Most likely: waun Mawn is a group of small local stone settings with no connection to Stonehenge



 **0**

[What was Stonehenge for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPDCR161H/what-was-stonehenge-for)

0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0

Most likely: the first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group



 **0**

[Where did the sarsens come from?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGAG7M10/where-did-the-sarsens-come-from)

0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0

Most likely: fifty of the 52 surviving sarsens share one chemistry, matched to West Woods near Marlborough; the other two…



 **0**

[Where exactly did the Altar Stone come from, and how did it travel?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPD4Y0ARZ/where-exactly-did-the-altar-stone-come-from-and-how-did-it)

0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0

Most likely: the stone came from the mainland Orcadian Basin, in Caithness or around the Moray Firth



 **0**

[Who raised the stones?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGJA3775/who-raised-the-stones)

0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0

Answered: Neolithic people of Britain built it in stages from about 3000 to 2500 BC, with stones they quarried and…



## Evidence 47 findings

[How did the bluestones get from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCNA3XRK/how-did-the-bluestones-get-from-the-preseli-hills-to)9 findings

[People quarried the stones in Preseli and carried them to Wessex, overland or with a water stage, around 3000…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPDMJ1XAS/people-quarried-the-stones-in-preseli-and-carried-them-to)Most likely

+[Extraction recesses, platforms, wedges and hammerstones at Craig Rhos-y-felin and Carn Goedog, dated about 3400–3000 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPDWC2XZM/extraction-recesses-platforms-wedges-and-hammerstones-at)Established

+[Most dolerite bluestones match Carn Goedog and the rhyolite debris matches Craig Rhos-y-felin to within metres.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPE467XVP/most-dolerite-bluestones-match-carn-goedog-and-the-rhyolite)Established

+[The Newall boulder shows no glacial features and is read as a worked monolith fragment; no glacial deposits are known on Salisbury Plain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPEC037SW/the-newall-boulder-shows-no-glacial-features-and-is-read-as)Supported

+[Some people cremated at Stonehenge had lived in western Britain, consistent with west Wales.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPEKT51MJ/some-people-cremated-at-stonehenge-had-lived-in-western)Supported

−[No route, trackway or lost stone between Wales and Wessex has been found.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPEVM490A/no-route-trackway-or-lost-stone-between-wales-and-wessex-has)Suggestive

[Irish Sea ice carried the stones to or near Salisbury Plain and the builders collected erratics.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPF3E185T/irish-sea-ice-carried-the-stones-to-or-near-salisbury-plain)Disputed

+[The Newall boulder was proposed as a glacial erratic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPFB827HD/the-newall-boulder-was-proposed-as-a-glacial-erratic)Speculative

−[Re-examination found no striations or glacial shaping on the boulder.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPFK25HQN/re-examination-found-no-striations-or-glacial-shaping-on-the)Supported

−[The bluestones derive from a small number of outcrops with quarrying evidence, not a dispersed erratic train.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPFTW34CR/the-bluestones-derive-from-a-small-number-of-outcrops-with)Supported

−[River sands draining Salisbury Plain carry local recycled zircons; one grain in 401 is near the 464 Ma Preseli age that glacial delivery would bring in quantity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPK88199K/river-sands-draining-salisbury-plain-carry-local-recycled)Supported

[Was a stone circle at Waun Mawn dismantled and its stones taken to Stonehenge?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPCX41T8J/was-a-stone-circle-at-waun-mawn-dismantled-and-its-stones)6 findings

[A 110 m circle was begun at Waun Mawn around 3000 BC, abandoned, and some of its stones re-erected at…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPGAG2SR2/a-110-m-circle-was-begun-at-waun-mawn-around-3000-bc)Disputed

+[Four stones, several stone holes on an arc, a central hearth and a hole whose shape resembles Stone 62's base.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPGJA4XCV/four-stones-several-stone-holes-on-an-arc-a-central-hearth)Suggestive

−[The Waun Mawn dolerites come from Cerrigmarchogion, not Carn Goedog, and cannot have supplied Stonehenge's dolerites.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPGT45VAW/the-waun-mawn-dolerites-come-from-cerrigmarchogion-not-carn)Supported

−[The features are consistent with several small settings typical of the region, and the circle was never completed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPH1Y7GEQ/the-features-are-consistent-with-several-small-settings)Supported

−[No control studies outside the arc; nothing links the site to Stonehenge.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPH9R2R29/no-control-studies-outside-the-arc-nothing-links-the-site-to)Suggestive

[Waun Mawn is a group of small local stone settings with no connection to Stonehenge.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPHHJ0QEJ/waun-mawn-is-a-group-of-small-local-stone-settings-with-no)Most likely

+[Small stone settings are typical of south-west Wales; the arc is partial.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPHSC54TG/small-stone-settings-are-typical-of-south-west-wales-the-arc)Supported

[The bluestones first stood in another, unlocated monument in Wales before coming to Stonehenge.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPJ166Q4G/the-bluestones-first-stood-in-another-unlocated-monument-in)Still possible

+[Quarrying dates precede the first bluestone settings at Stonehenge by up to several centuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPJ900PSQ/quarrying-dates-precede-the-first-bluestone-settings-at)Supported

[Where exactly did the Altar Stone come from, and how did it travel?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPD4Y0ARZ/where-exactly-did-the-altar-stone-come-from-and-how-did-it)5 findings

[The stone came from the mainland Orcadian Basin, in Caithness or around the Moray Firth.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPJRM1Z47/the-stone-came-from-the-mainland-orcadian-basin-in-caithness)Most likely

+[Detrital zircon, apatite and rutile ages match the Orcadian Basin and exclude Wales and England.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPK0E54XJ/detrital-zircon-apatite-and-rutile-ages-match-the-orcadian)Established

+[Orkney sandstones are excluded by mineralogy and geochemistry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPK8818K0/orkney-sandstones-are-excluded-by-mineralogy-and)Supported

+[Caithness sandstones give the closest match to the stone's zircon age spectrum; candidate areas farther south match less well.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPKG22MWJ/caithness-sandstones-give-the-closest-match-to-the-stones)Supported

−[No specific outcrop has been matched and no transport evidence exists.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPQ5879Y5/no-specific-outcrop-has-been-matched-and-no-transport)Suggestive

[The stone came from Orkney, where Neolithic monuments of the period are concentrated.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPKQW2DCD/the-stone-came-from-orkney-where-neolithic-monuments-of-the)Disputed

−[Orkney sandstones differ in mineralogy and chemistry from the Altar Stone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPKZP0857/orkney-sandstones-differ-in-mineralogy-and-chemistry-from)Supported

[What was Stonehenge for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPDCR161H/what-was-stonehenge-for)7 findings

[The first monument was a cemetery and ancestral shrine for a select group.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPMFA1VKT/the-first-monument-was-a-cemetery-and-ancestral-shrine-for-a)Most likely

+[At least 27 cremated individuals from the Aubrey Holes, dated about 3000–2500 BC, men and women.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPMQ418J2/at-least-27-cremated-individuals-from-the-aubrey-holes-dated)Established

[The sarsen monument of about 2500 BC was a political monument uniting communities across Britain, built with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPMYY7F94/the-sarsen-monument-of-about-2500-bc-was-a-political)Most likely

+[Pigs at Durrington Walls were raised across Britain, including Scotland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPN6R1BBK/pigs-at-durrington-walls-were-raised-across-britain)Supported

+[The Altar Stone is from north-east Scotland, the bluestones from Wales, the sarsens from Wessex.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPNEJ2ZBC/the-altar-stone-is-from-north-east-scotland-the-bluestones)Established

−[When the Altar Stone was set at Stonehenge is not dated.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPNPC70XM/when-the-altar-stone-was-set-at-stonehenge-is-not-dated)Suggestive

[A solar temple aligned on the solstices.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPNY6024R/a-solar-temple-aligned-on-the-solstices)Most likely

+[The solstitial axis is deliberate and accurate to about a degree.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPP603WCJ/the-solstitial-axis-is-deliberate-and-accurate-to-about-a)Established

[An astronomical observatory and eclipse predictor (Hawkins).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPPDT1JWY/an-astronomical-observatory-and-eclipse-predictor-hawkins)Disputed

−[Lunar claims are weak and the eclipse predictor is not supported.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPPNM0591/lunar-claims-are-weak-and-the-eclipse-predictor-is-not)Supported

[The sarsen numbers encode a 365.25-day calendar (Darvill).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPPXE3570/the-sarsen-numbers-encode-a-365-25-day-calendar-darvill)Disputed

−[The proposal rests on numerology, astronomical error and unsupported analogy.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPQ582Q15/the-proposal-rests-on-numerology-astronomical-error-and)Supported

[How did the Altar Stone travel some 700 km from north-east Scotland?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPFTW17XZ/how-did-the-altar-stone-travel-some-700-km-from-north-east)7 findings

[The stone went by sea down the east or west coast of Britain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPR4G7HBZ/the-stone-went-by-sea-down-the-east-or-west-coast-of-britain)Still possible

+[A coastal route avoids the mountains and rivers of an overland haul of over 700 km.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPRCA4719/a-coastal-route-avoids-the-mountains-and-rivers-of-an)Speculative

−[No archaeological trace of the voyage exists.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPRM45V6T/no-archaeological-trace-of-the-voyage-exists)Suggestive

[The stone was hauled overland the whole way.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPRVY502P/the-stone-was-hauled-overland-the-whole-way)Still possible

−[No trace of an overland haul has been reported.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPS3R74R0/no-trace-of-an-overland-haul-has-been-reported)Suggestive

[Ice carried the stone south-east towards Dogger Bank and people hauled it the remaining 400 km.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPSBJ7VRQ/ice-carried-the-stone-south-east-towards-dogger-bank-and)Still possible

+[Ice modelling gives a localised south-eastward path from Caithness towards Dogger Bank.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPSKC65DG/ice-modelling-gives-a-localised-south-eastward-path-from)Suggestive

−[Dogger Bank was drowned by post-glacial sea-level rise before the stone likely reached Stonehenge.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPSV61YY8/dogger-bank-was-drowned-by-post-glacial-sea-level-rise)Supported

[Ice alone brought the stone to Salisbury Plain or near it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPT302Y9V/ice-alone-brought-the-stone-to-salisbury-plain-or-near-it)Disputed

−[Ice from Caithness flowed mostly north-east; glacial transport alone cannot account for the stone's arrival.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPTAT4TF0/ice-from-caithness-flowed-mostly-north-east-glacial)Supported

−[Salisbury Plain river sands show no glacial input.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPTJM52WV/salisbury-plain-river-sands-show-no-glacial-input)Supported

[Where did the sarsens come from?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGAG7M10/where-did-the-sarsens-come-from)6 findings

[Fifty of the 52 surviving sarsens share one chemistry, matched to West Woods near Marlborough; the other two…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPY7T3FXF/fifty-of-the-52-surviving-sarsens-share-one-chemistry)Most likely

+[Portable XRF puts 50 of 52 sarsens in one chemical group; the Stone 58 core's trace elements match West Woods among 20 tested sarsen areas.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPYFM3N7X/portable-xrf-puts-50-of-52-sarsens-in-one-chemical-group-the)Supported

+[The reanalysis's use of absolute concentrations and mobile elements is unsuited to silcrete.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPYQE2Y6P/the-reanalysiss-use-of-absolute-concentrations-and-mobile)Suggestive

−[Read by their geochemistry, the Stone 58 data cannot exclude three to six sources.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPYZ81JYC/read-by-their-geochemistry-the-stone-58-data-cannot-exclude)Suggestive

[The megaliths came from several sources across Wessex, not one wood.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWPZ7279K6/the-megaliths-came-from-several-sources-across-wessex-not)Disputed

+[Sarsen debitage at the site falls in at least three further geochemical families, traced to the Marlborough Downs, Hampshire and East Sussex.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPZEW6TXS/sarsen-debitage-at-the-site-falls-in-at-least-three-further)Supported

+[No definitive geochemical match for Stone 58 can be argued from the available data.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPZYG5067/no-definitive-geochemical-match-for-stone-58-can-be-argued)Suggestive

−[Fifty of the 52 surviving megaliths fall in one chemical group.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWPZPP5WQ0/fifty-of-the-52-surviving-megaliths-fall-in-one-chemical)Supported

[Who raised the stones?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/questions/QST0CRWPGJA3775/who-raised-the-stones)7 findings

[Neolithic people of Britain built it in stages from about 3000 to 2500 BC, with stones they quarried and…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWQ0E44ED3/neolithic-people-of-britain-built-it-in-stages-from-about)Most likely

+[The radiocarbon model dates the enclosure to about 3000 BC and the sarsen settings to about 2620–2480 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ0NY15X4/the-radiocarbon-model-dates-the-enclosure-to-about-3000-bc)Established

+[Quarry recesses, wedges and hammerstones at the bluestone outcrops date to about 3400–3000 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ0XR2MX9/quarry-recesses-wedges-and-hammerstones-at-the-bluestone)Established

+[The cremated dead of about 3000–2500 BC were buried at the monument itself.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ15J20QP/the-cremated-dead-of-about-30002500-bc-were-buried-at-the)Established

[Merlin moved the Giants' Dance from Ireland to Salisbury Plain as a memorial for Aurelius Ambrosius.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWQ1DC65F1/merlin-moved-the-giants-dance-from-ireland-to-salisbury)Disputed

−[Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of about 1136 is the earliest written version; it was widely believed until the 16th century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ1N63VZV/geoffrey-of-monmouths-account-of-about-1136-is-the-earliest)Established

−[The monument was built about 3000–2500 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ1X078EY/the-monument-was-built-about-30002500-bc)Established

−[The stones come from Wessex, the Preseli Hills and north-east Scotland, none from Ireland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ24T50NF/the-stones-come-from-wessex-the-preseli-hills-and-north-east)Established

[Giants, wizards or aliens moved the stones.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/answers/ANS0CRWQ2CM4788/giants-wizards-or-aliens-moved-the-stones)Disputed

−[The quarries, tools and dates show people did the work with Neolithic means.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/evidence/EVD0CRWQ2ME76J5/the-quarries-tools-and-dates-show-people-did-the-work-with)Established

## Artifacts

The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original.

**Artifacts** [See all 15](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts)

Photo1 step from object

[The Altar Stone (Stone 80)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPRVY71WX/the-altar-stone-stone-80)

The Stones of Stonehenge · CC BY 4.0

Photo1 step from object

[The Phillips core from Stone 58](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPSBJ2RJZ/the-phillips-core-from-stone-58)

Nash et al. · CC-BY-NC-4.0

Document2 steps from object

[Cremated remains from Aubrey Hole 7](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPSV63VVJ/cremated-remains-from-aubrey-hole-7)

Willis et al. · publisher

Photo1 step from object

[The Newall boulder](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPT3064XM/the-newall-boulder)

Bevins et al. · publisher

Photo1 step from object

[Extraction recess and platform at Craig Rhos-y-felin](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWPTAT43G5/extraction-recess-and-platform-at-craig-rhos-y-felin)

Parker Pearson et al. · CC-BY-4.0

Photo2 steps from object

[The Aubrey Holes](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts/ART0CRWQG2469FF/the-aubrey-holes)

Rachelle Haun · CC BY 2.0

 [See all 15 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/stonehenge/artifacts)

## See also

 [

**Puma Punku and Tiwanaku** A sixth-century platform of precisely cut andesite at Tiwanaku, Bolivia.

](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku) [

**Göbekli Tepe** A mound in south-eastern Turkey with carved stone pillars of the 10th millennium BC.

](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe) [

**Great houses of Chaco Canyon** Multi-storey great houses built by Ancestral Puebloans in New Mexico, AD 850 to 1150.

](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon) [

**Gunung Padang** A terraced hilltop of andesite columns in West Java, dated to the last centuries BC.

](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gunung-padang)

## References

1. 1.[Darvill, T., Marshall, P., Parker Pearson, M. et al. 2012. Stonehenge remodelled. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWNZ7M3KZ6/stonehenge-remodelled)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00048225)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0CRWNZ7M3KZ6
1. 2.[Willis, C., Marshall, P., McKinley, J. et al. 2016. The dead of Stonehenge. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWNZFE5EMX/the-dead-of-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.26)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0CRWNZFE5EMX
1. 3.[Nash, D., Ciborowski, T., Ullyott, J. et al. 2020. Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge. Science Advances.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP0PG5WHP/origins-of-the-sarsen-megaliths-at-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0133)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0CRWP0PG5WHP
1. 4.[Bevins, R., Ixer, R., Pearce, N. 2014. Carn Goedog is the likely major source of Stonehenge doleritic bluestones: evidence based on compatible element geochemistry and Principal Component Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWNZZ239T9/carn-goedog-is-the-likely-major-source-of-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.11.009)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CRWNZZ239T9
1. 5.[Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R., Ixer, R. et al. 2015. Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP06W1NCV/craig-rhos-y-felin-a-welsh-bluestone-megalith-quarry-for)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.177)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CRWP06W1NCV
1. 6.[Parker Pearson, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C. et al. 2019. Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP0EP4M79/megalith-quarries-for-stonehenges-bluestones)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.111)cited 12 times here**SRC** 0CRWP0EP4M79
1. 7.[Clarke, A., Kirkland, C., Bevins, R. et al. 2024. A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge. Nature.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP1DY3VNT/a-scottish-provenance-for-the-altar-stone-of-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07652-1)cited 17 times here**SRC** 0CRWP1DY3VNT
1. 8.[John, B. 2024. A bluestone boulder at Stonehenge: implications for the glacial transport theory. E&G Quaternary Science Journal.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP3CE1VS0/a-bluestone-boulder-at-stonehenge-implications-for-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-73-117-2024)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CRWP3CE1VS0
1. 9.[Parker Pearson, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C. et al. 2021. The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP25C4SWY/the-original-stonehenge-a-dismantled-stone-circle-in-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.239)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CRWP25C4SWY
1. 10.[Darvill, T. 2022. Mythical rings? Waun Mawn and Stonehenge Stage 1. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP2D65NDK/mythical-rings-waun-mawn-and-stonehenge-stage-1)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.82)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0CRWP2D65NDK
1. 11.[Bevins, R., Pearce, N., Parker Pearson, M. et al. 2022. Identification of the source of dolerites used at the Waun Mawn stone circle in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales and implications for the proposed link with Stonehenge. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP2WT1FSC/identification-of-the-source-of-dolerites-used-at-the-waun)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103556)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CRWP2WT1FSC
1. 12.[Parker Pearson, M., Chamberlain, A., Jay, M. et al. 2009. Who was buried at Stonehenge?. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWNZQ826RK/who-was-buried-at-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00098069)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CRWNZQ826RK
1. 13.[Ruggles, C., Chadburn, A. 2024. Stonehenge: Sighting the Sun. Liverpool University Press / Historic England.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP4KG3Z9A/stonehenge-sighting-the-sun)[doi](https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.12949045)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CRWP4KG3Z9A
1. 14.[Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R., Bradley, R. et al. 2025. Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources. Archaeology International.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP1XJ5HYH/stonehenge-and-its-altar-stone-the-significance-of-distant)[doi](https://doi.org/10.14324/ai.27.1.13)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CRWP1XJ5HYH
1. 15.[Madgwick, R., Lamb, A., Sloane, H. et al. 2019. Multi-isotope analysis reveals that feasts in the Stonehenge environs and across Wessex drew people and animals from throughout Britain. Science Advances.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP43W7BGW/multi-isotope-analysis-reveals-that-feasts-in-the-stonehenge)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau6078)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CRWP43W7BGW
1. 16.[Ruggles, C. 1997. Astronomy and Stonehenge. Science and Stonehenge, ed. Barry Cunliffe and Colin Renfrew, Proceedings of the British Academy 92: 203-229.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP7S24NVW/astronomy-and-stonehenge)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CRWP7S24NVW
1. 17.[Snoeck, C., Pouncett, J., Claeys, P. et al. 2018. Strontium isotope analysis on cremated human remains from Stonehenge support links with west Wales. Scientific Reports.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP3W23MC6/strontium-isotope-analysis-on-cremated-human-remains-from)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28969-8)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CRWP3W23MC6
1. 18.[Parker Pearson, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C. et al. 2022. How Waun Mawn stone circle was designed and built, and when the Bluestones arrived at Stonehenge: a response to Darvill. Antiquity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP2N039P4/how-waun-mawn-stone-circle-was-designed-and-built-and-when)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.132)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CRWP2N039P4
1. 19.[Bevins, R., Pirrie, D., Ixer, R. et al. 2020. Constraining the provenance of the Stonehenge 'Altar Stone': Evidence from automated mineralogy and U–Pb zircon age dating. Journal of Archaeological Science.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CRWP0YA799A/constraining-the-provenance-of-the-stonehenge-altar-stone)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105188)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CRWP0YA799A
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Last edited 27 Oct 2026
